1997: Blair was elected, Diana died, and Charlotte got pregnant. She also sat her A levels, attempted to placate her furious mother, occasionally succeeded in preventing her nan from stuffing non-bread items - essays, bills - into the toaster, and met a very nice boy (much nicer than the one who got her pregnant).1997: Blair was elected, Diana died, and Karen's daughter got herself pregnant. Karen couldn't believe it, Charlotte was meant to go to university and do all the things Karen didn't get to do because she was - well - pregnant with Charlotte. she also uncovered a family secret, looked after Nan, whose increasing dottiness was driving her up the wall, and tried to believe that there are worse things in life than becoming a grandmother at thirty-three. If she could think what they are.1997: Blair was elected, Diana died, and Nan's granddaughter Charlotte fell pregnant. Nan thought it would all be all right in the end; she couldn't get as worked up as her angry daughter. Other things weighed more heavily on her mind, like what happened to her little brother, who drowned in the canal when she was a girl, and trying to remember where she was, which was somehow becoming more difficult than it should be.The Bad Mother's Handbook is the story of a year in the lives of Charlotte, Karen, and Nan, none of whom can quite believe how things have turned out. Why is it all so difficult? Why do the most ridiculous mistakes have the most disastrous consequences? When are you too old to throw up in a flowerbed after too much vodka? When are you too young to be a mother? Both hilarious and wise, it is a clear-eyed look at motherhood - and childhood - in its many guises, from the moment the condom breaks to the moment you file for divorce or, more optimistically, from the moment your hear your baby's 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. Read Less