Meet Kate Reddy, fund manager and mother of two. A victim of time famine, Kate counts seconds like other women count calories. Factor in a manipulative nanny, an Australian boss who looks at Kate's breasts as if they're on special offer, a long-suffering husband, her quietly aghast in-laws, two needy children and an e-mail lover, and you have a woman juggling so many balls that some day soon something's going to hit the ground.

In an uproariously funny and achingly sad novel, Allison Pearson brilliantly dramatises the dilemma of working motherhood at the start of the twenty-first century.

Allison Pearson was born in South Wales. An award-winning journalist, she was named Newcomer of the Year at the British Book Awards forI Don't Know How She Does It. Allison has written for many magazines and newspapers including theIndependent on Sunday,Observer, theSunday Timesand the LondonEvening Standard. She is a contributing editor toHarper's Bazaarand, for four years, she was the popular Wednesday columnist of theDaily Mail. Allison is now a staff writer at theDaily Telegraph. She lives with her family in Cambridge.

Now a major motion picture starring Sarah Jessica Parker.