An Innocent, a Broad Book

Just 26 weeks into her first pregnancy, Ann Leary's water broke--as she was strolling along London's Oxford Street. An Innocent, A Broad is not so much a drama of her baby's survival as much as it is a chuckle-fest at the expense of both Ann's predicament and of the Brits in general, whose overwrought sense of propriety is mocked non-stop. As the wife of comedian Denis Leary, who was working for the BBC at the time, Anne is forbidden to return to the US and placed on total bed rest; she's pumped full of medication to prevent premature labour. In some of the book's funniest passages, she makes great efforts to prevent her many hospital roommates from discovering she's American, lest they suspect she's freeloading off the National Health Service. (Don't let the bad pun of the book's title put you off; Ann's sense of humour is often as biting and gritty as her husband's). Despite the doctors' best efforts, baby Jack is born two weeks later, while Denis is back in the US working at comedy clubs (and trying to keep the couple from being evicted from their apartment). Jack is in relatively good shape, but Ann's mental state is at risk as sleep deprivation, anxiety and loneliness get the best of her. Among her postpartum goofs is befriending another woman whose baby is also in intensive care; she mistakes her for a slim, serene Earth Mother instead of the heroin addict she really is. Beware if you think this might seem a perfect gift for a pregnant woman; the belly laughs are constant and likely to cause any expectant woman's water to break. --Erica Jorgensen, Amazon.comRead More