Welcome to another Friday Reads blog. My featured book this week is the hilarious novel Hot Mother by the talented Nancy Peach. Nancy is going to tell us what inspired her to write this book, so grab yourself a cuppa, get cosy and let’s get chatting to Nancy. 😊
Blurb
Penny Baker is winning at life. Sort of.
Her work is demanding, her kids are demanding and her husband seems to be undergoing some weird midlife crisis but she is juggling it all – with the added delights of the menopause.
But when the charity she works for is thrown into crisis and her mother’s dementia advances, the strain starts to show.
Can she navigate it all and still somehow keep a smile on her – flushed – face?
A witty, relatable story of motherhood, menopause and managing the heck out of it all.
Praise for Hot Mother:
‘A book that looks at what it means to be a middle-aged woman in today’s society. Funny, wise and downright wonderful.’ Nicola Gill
‘Warm, witty and entirely relatable.’ Jenni Keer
‘Hilarious, sharply observed and oh so heartfelt, Peach is a Queen of Momcom.’ Pernille Hughes
‘A beautifully crafted, intelligent and moving story.’ Rebecca Rogers
‘Wonderfully witty writing which had me laughing right from the start. Beautifully crafted, funny and tender. Chuffing brilliant!’ Kirsty Eyre
‘Had me laughing – and yes, weeping – in recognition. Nancy Peach is a talented writer, full of joy.’ Faye Brann
‘Hilarious and scarily relatable! Nancy Peach…brings warmth and humour to a situation that so many women face…I cried frequently, but mainly with laughter. A five-star read.’ Kathleen Whyman
‘Hot Mother hits the perfect note between laugh-out-loud funny and poignantly moving. It should be prescribed alongside HRT. I laughed, I cried and totally related to Penny Baker and her beautiful, chaotic life.’ Annie Lyons
‘Heartbreaking, hilarious and wonderful… So refreshing to read a story about a woman from this oft-neglected demographic.’ Zoe Allison
‘I absolutely LOVED it… funny, real, moving and heartwarming all at once.’ Hannah Dolby
Buying links
Welcome to my blog, Nancy. Can you tell us What inspired you to write Hot Mother?
Hot Mother is a relatable comedy exploring the trials and tribulations of middle-age, motherhood and menopause, and is closely related to my own experience and life stage. The novel features Penny, a fully paid-up member of the Sandwich Generation struggling to look after her three children alongside her elderly parents, whilst also trying to have a life of her own. To add to the general chaos Penny is now approaching menopause and when she’s not drowning in her own sweat or feeling inexplicable fury about her husband’s triathlon training regime, she’s being completely ignored by half the population due to a newly discovered phenomenon unique to the middle-aged woman – total invisibility. She’s also trying very hard to navigate the complex and conflicting advice of her well-meaning, but very opinionated friends – one of whom is evangelical about HRT, testosterone gel and power lifting, and another who swears that perimenopause is a natural part of life best managed with mindfulness and herbs.
Hot Mother seeks to address many of the key issues affecting middle-aged women in a humorous and light-hearted way. As a doctor I regularly see patients who feel that they have been relegated to the scrapheap once their fertile years have passed – women who have worked tirelessly in and outside the home, raising children, caring for family members and holding communities together, who suddenly become invisible, and as a result feel their lives lack meaning. Being perimenopausal myself I am keen to increase representation of this still-marginalised group in commercial fiction, and for women like me to feel seen.
The recent explosion in publicity around menopause led by high profile campaigners has been a welcome addition to the national discourse but there remains an underlying confusion amongst ‘normal women’ about what this time of life feels like or looks like, and a fear amongst younger women about what is in store for them. I worry that menopause may in fact have become yet another stick to beat women with, making them feel that they’re simply not doing it right. With Hot Mother my intention is to address that confusion directly by showing that there is no correct way to be menopausal, just like there’s no universally correct way to be anything. We’re all individuals and we’re all just muddling along in our own hilarious fashion.
With Hot Mother I wanted to write a novel that could lend itself to both a weighty book-club discussion or a simple snort of personal recognition snatched in a quiet moment of solitude. The key thing for me was to make it relatable so that potential readers feel less alone in what can be an isolating time of life. I hope it’s also useful for any men out there seeking to understand what their partner is going through, and reassuring for younger women who haven’t reached menopause yet.
It’s certainly a topical subject and one that many women will relate to, Nancy. I’m sure your book will soar.
Meet Nancy
Nancy Peach – Author bio
Nancy Peach is a writer of commercial women’s fiction, a mother of three, and an owner of various ridiculous-looking pets including a splodgy cat, a rescue dog with wonky legs, and another dog who unexpectedly grew to be the size of a small horse. She is also a practicing doctor working for the NHS and for a national cancer charity, and has been writing (in a terribly British, embarrassed, secretive sort of way) for as long as she can remember.
Nancy has been longlisted for the Comedy Women in Print Prize 2020, nominated for the Joan Hessayon Award 2021, and shortlisted for the Harper Collins / Gransnet competition 2019. She is a member of the Romantic Novelists Association and is represented by Katie Fulford at Bell-Lomax-Moreton.
Love Life is Nancy’s first novel; a heartwarming, uplifting rom-com with a nod to Jane Austen, described as ‘Pride and Prejudice set in a hospice.’ Her second novel, The Mother of All Problems, is a comedy about the trials and tribulations of the Sandwich Generation and is out now, with a third book, Hot Mother (managing midlife, motherhood and menopause) publishing this summer. Night Shift is Nancy’s fourth novel – described as ‘The Love Hypothesis meets The Kiss Quotient’ it marks a return to romantic comedies with a medical theme, and is publishing later this year.
Contact Nancy
Instagram @nancy.peach
Twitter @mumhasdementia
FB @nancypeach
Website www.nancy-peach.com
Thanks so much for popping by to talk to us today, Nancy. Wishing you lots more writing success.
Karen King 