Two very different mothers swap lives for two weeks of reality TV.  It is strange how one’s sympathies chop and change in this sensitive, compulsive and astute read, her best since her brilliant The Bad Mother’s Handbook, which you must read too.

Similar this month: Katie Fforde.
Comparison: Kate Atkinson, Marika Cobbold, Marcia Willett.

Synopsis

Ally has everything she ever wanted: a husband, a child, a lovely house in a pretty neighbourhood. Her glamorous, dynamic next-door neighbour, Juno, is also her best friend. But Juno has made a surprising decision; she has signed up for Queen Mum, a reality-TV show. For two weeks, she will live with another family in another town, while her opposite number will be moving in next door to Ally.

Juno is excited about the prospect of seeing life from a different perspective. Ally is nervous. She doesn't like change, and knows from bitter experience how something precious can be lost in a moment.

Kate Long's new novel, written with her customary wit, empathy and incisiveness, is about friendship and love, recklessness and caution and about how the camera, while it sometimes lies, can also reveal uncomfortable truths

Reviews

'Delicious' Red
 

‘This is the perfect summer novel – easy to read, but perceptive about the twists of fate that can change our lives’ Glamour

'Long is as compulsively readable as ever' Time Out

About the Author

A former teacher,  Kate Long born in 1964 grew up in Blackrod, Lancashire. She wrote her first novel, The Bad Mother's Handbook, after her children had gone to bed and "if there was nothing good on the telly." She currently lives with her husband and two young children in the small village in Shropshire. More books by this author Author 'Like for Like' recommendation