Mommy Dearest

I Don’t Know How She Does It: The Life of Kate Reddy, Working Mother, by Allison Pearson (Knopf, 352 pp., $23)

THE central question of this much-talked-about book isn’t: How does Kate Reddy, working mother, do it? It is, rather: Why is she such a bitch? British novelist Allison Pearson’s debut effort has enjoyed a smashing success in her homeland, and her brittle, bitter title character has been engulfed in a tide of public empathy; but if Kate Reddy is indeed the new symbol of working mothers, then working mothers are in real trouble.

CH

About the Author

Charlotte Hays

Charlotte Hays is the director of cultural programs at the Independent Women’s Forum and the author, most recently, of When Did White Trash Become the New Normal? A Southern Lady Asks the Impertinent Question.

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I Don’t Know How She Does It: The Life of Kate Reddy, Working Mother, by Allison Pearson (Knopf, 352 pp., $23)

THE central question of this much-talked-about book isn’t: How does Kate Reddy, working mother, do it? It is, rather: Why is she such a bitch? British novelist Allison Pearson’s debut effort has enjoyed a smashing success in her homeland, and her brittle, bitter title character has been engulfed in a tide of public empathy; but if Kate Reddy is indeed the new symbol of working mothers, then working mothers are in real trouble.

CH

About the Author

Charlotte Hays

Charlotte Hays is the director of cultural programs at the Independent Women’s Forum and the author, most recently, of When Did White Trash Become the New Normal? A Southern Lady Asks the Impertinent Question.