Smothering - Hardcover

"Fabulous, funny, and rings frighteningly true!"--Melissa Senate, author of See Jane Date "Wendy French's debut is a mother of a novel."--Valerie Frankel, author of The Accidental Virgin "Unexpectedly poignant. . . . the emotions ring true."--Entertainment Weekly "This debut is warm, tender and more substantive than most of its type. . . . Female readers of all ages should relate. . . . French's novel stands out from its fluffy chick-lit sisters with a snappy humor, charged family dynamics and a plot twist that will throw readers for a loop."--Publisher's Weekly "French asks deeper questions about trust and boundaries while deftly offering up all the ususal delights: acid wit, farcical misunderstandings and plot twists, and a few existential questions about moving up versus selling out."--Booklist "Smoothly written first outing and, all told, really pretty amusing."--Kirkus Reviews

First there was Bridget Jones. Then came the Nannies. Now meet Claire McLeod, a twenty-something American girl living in Portland, Oregon. Claire's got big problems: her mother's a tyrant, her sister's a lesbian, her father's in Omaha. Claire's peaceful, if dull, existence is shattered when her mother arrives in Portland for an unexpected--and unwelcome--visit. Armed with a sharp tongue, a critical eye, and enough Weekender Wear to make anyone nervous, Mom has mysteriously left Dad at home in the Midwest. It's not enough that Claire's job as a telephone survey-taker is excruciatingly irritating and her boyfriend has dumped her. No, now, embarrassed by her dead-end job and flatlining love life, she must also bear the weight of Mom's critical eagle eye while trying to close the rift between her mother and her sister, solve the riddle of her missing father, climb a shaky corporate ladder, stalk a cute coworker, reinvent herself, and maybe--just maybe--find a little happiness. By turns tender and insightful--but always hilarioulsy funny--sMothering is a novel you can't put down.