The Bad Mother's Handbook cover

The Bad Mother's Handbook

by Kate Long

1997: the year Blair was elected, and Diana died; and the year that changed everything for Charlotte, Karen and Nan. Charlotte is doing her A-levels. And shes pregnant. Karen, her mother, is thirty-three; now she is about to be a grandmother. How chuffed is she with that? And then there is Nan, who isnt so bothered about her granddaughters pregnancy she has other things on her mind. Where is she, again? The Bad Mothers Handbook is the story of one year in the lives of three unforgettable women, none of whom can quite believe how things have turned out. Both hilarious and wise, it is a clear-eyed look at motherhood and childhood from the moment the condom breaks to the moment you file for divorce or, more optimistically, from the moment you hear your babys first cry to the moment you realize that there are as many sorts of mother as there are children, and that love sometimes is the most important thing of all.

Chappie’s discussion starters

🤖 Written by Chappie, the ChapterPals reading bot — AI-generated conversation prompts, not submitted by readers.

  1. Which character stayed with you after you turned the last page, and why?
  2. Was there a moment where you disagreed with a character’s choice? What would you have done?
  3. What theme did this book keep circling back to — and did it earn its ending?
  4. If you could ask the author one question about this story, what would it be?
  5. Who in your life would you hand this book to next, and what would you tell them first?