Why Mummy Swears: The Sunday Times Number One Bestseller

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Why Mummy Swears was like reading all about my own thoughts and struggles, but it helped me to laugh at them, which for this sweary mummy was a welcome relief. The style of writing is almost “stream of consciousness” which does lead to some very long-winded sentences and I got a bit lost sometimes. She is staring down the barrel of a future of people asking if she wants to come to their advanced yoga classes, and polite book clubs where everyone claims to be tiddly after a glass of Pinot Grigio and says things like 'Oooh gosh, are you having another glass? Her first book Why Mummy Drinks was the bestselling hardback fiction debut of 2017, spending over six months in the top ten of the Sunday Times Bestseller Charts, and was shortlisted for Debut Novel of the Year in the British Book Awards.

The eponymous “Mummy” (aka Ellen) has two fairly typical children, a husband who is constantly off travelling the world on business trips and a loyal dog who remains fairly sane whatever the world throws at him. Where I had envisaged childish faces glowing with wonder as they took in the treasures of our nation’s illustrious past, we instead had me shouting ‘Don’t touch, DON’T TOUCH, FFS DON’T TOUCH! One of my favourite sections was when Ellen’s mother’s stepdaughter goes into labour and Ellen steps up to the plate to help her out. I brightly announced that perhaps it might be a lovely idea to go to a stately home and learn about some history.

You can follow the passage of time through the story way easier and it just feels a bit more personal when you think you’re reading someone else’s diary – a glimpse into their inner thoughts as written down by them. Having said that, the logic and syntax of these “stream of consciousness” ramblings is actually impeccable – it just takes a bit of following! Sims is the author of Why Mummy Drinks which was the Sunday Times Fiction Bestseller of 2017, Why Mummy Swears published in 2018, and Why Mummy Doesn't Give A **** published in 2019. Trying to live up to her single party-girl image at work as well as running a household single-handedly proves to be something of a challenge. This leaves her torn between her beloved “moppets” and her career, plus her “People”-hating hubby Simon.

With a house that needs constant upkeep and children who are making constant demands, Ellen decides she needs to go back to work to earn some much needed cash. She seemed a bit too ditzy to me – though maybe that’s how all of us mums are and we’re just too sleep deprived to realise it!I wanted to punch the air and shout “hell yes” when Ellen finally stood her ground against her sexist work colleagues. As she lurches from one crisis to another with the kids running wild, Daddy totally oblivious and the pressure mounting at work, Ellen somehow manages to find the time to keep a diary which she shares with us in this book.

I had already read this book before It was chosen for our reading group, and I enjoyed it even more the second time round. I loved how this book made me howl with laughter, while also being like reading my own views on life and motherhood written down for me to read. Recount and reflect on the ups and downs, the joys and the trials of motherhood with this honest and laugh-out-loud journal companion. Married life isn’t about adoring each other all of the time, rather it’s about accepting each other’s little foibles even if they are as annoying as nails on a chalkboard.

This hilarious novel – written in diary format – was so brilliantly observed and packed with so many true-to-life incidents that I found myself nodding along and laughing out loud frequently. You don’t have to have read Why Mummy Drinks to follow this story, but I thoroughly recommend that you do because it’s on my reading list now. The observations are extremely perceptive and there are numerous situations which I could relate to, despite neither being married or a Mum.

We are led to believe that once the dream wedding has happen and the kids have arrived, that that’s it.

Now after reading the sequel, Why Mummy Swears, to Gill Sims debut novel I can honestly say that I’m itching to go back to the start and read that first book.