How Hard Can It Be?

After taking time out from her career to raise her children Kate Reddy the heroine of I Don't Know How She Does It is back!

With a crumbling home to restore, two teenagers to provide for along with a husband who feels the need to quit work in order to 'find himself' and retrain as a counsellor, Kate finds herself needing to return to work. Knocking a few years off her age Kate puts on her best supportive undergarments (!) and returns to work in the field of finance.

Of course, Kate being Kate, she doesn't only have a career to restart, she has to do it while battling her way through the menopause, dealing with her social media obsessed children, ageing parents, a functioning alcoholic best friend, and a marital crisis. Then to throw a further spanner into the works of her life, a man she is obsessed with sends her an email.

I absolutely loved  I Don't Know How She does it (and Allison Pearson's other book I Think I Love You) so I was eager to read How Hard Can It Be? So what's the verdict? Well, I enjoyed it but not as much as I was expecting it too. Kate is still a brilliantly likeable heroine and I was on her side sympathising with her throughout this episode of her life But it took some time for the book to get going and I found the first 150 or so pages a bit of a drag. It was only once Kate returned to work that the story took off for me. The writing and story do flow well once the book gets going and while it's not lol funny it is filled with plenty of amusing and witty observations about all aspects of modern life, from hipster cocktail bars to customer call centers.

There are a few inconsistencies and things that you need to take with a grain of salt along the way but overall it's a fun witty beach type read (once it gets going). The book's primarily happy ending ties up a lot of loose ends and there's certainly scope for another instalment of Kate's life to be told in a further volume -  which I am sure is in the works.

I think that I may have been anticipating this book too much but once it got going after that long slow start I found it to be an enjoyable and relaxing read. This is one to pop in your beach bag!