The Fat Ladies' Club Book

The five authors of this alternative guide to pregnancy met at ante-natal classes and became friends. Instead of a text-book analysis of what happens during all the stages of pregnancy, this offers a down-to-earth experience from five women's perspectives. The honesty, notably in the chapter on sex, is endearing. The chatty, warm, style is undeniably readable, and bearing in mind how much information overload pregnant women have to handle, this certainly isn't a taxing read. It's a reassuring one. The amateurish tone and the fact that these are clearly not professional writers is oddly the biggest plus point--and paradoxically the biggest weakness. Cynics will point to the overuse of certain words (namely "well"), the contrived jokes and liberal clichés. This, however, is not the fault of the five intelligent women who consist of a community learning disability nurse, a European Business studies graduate, a research scientist, a police officer and an accountant. While the style and approach would have been ideal for a Web site, many readers will be put off by the unnecessary suburban style (not to mention illustrations). Skilful editing and rewriting on the part of the publishers would have elevated their experiences from what amounts to an extended mass magazine feature, and done them the justice their honesty deserves. --Lorna VRead More