"A funny, feel-good story of moving from midlife loss and ennui to finding a renewed sense of self. "
Hilarious and heartfelt, Nancy Peach’s My Big Fat Empty Nest sees editor and copywriter Hattie move from feeling utterly bereft by her daughter flying the nest to filling her life with new joys, and realising that her heart will never be empty.
At 47, Hattie feels like everyone around her is moving on and enjoying new experiences while she’s stuck in a rut and losing everything she holds dear. Her daughter is about to leave home for university, her widowed mother is throwing herself into meeting multiple men on a dating site, and her husband has found a new passion for golf.
Into this, Hattie loses her main source of income to AI, and feels increasingly isolated. As Hattie sums up her situation, in her typically honest, relatable voice: “I’ve become a bit of a hermit – self-aware enough to acknowledge the problem but not yet self-aware enough to do anything about it.
Hence the dilemma – what am I going to do when Layla leaves, taking her regular human contact and socialisation with her?”
As things turn out, Hattie starts to feel a revived sense of self-awareness when she gets a new job as a library assistant, and finds fresh purpose through throwing herself into the local community. At the same time, she’s still indispensable to her daughter, mother and husband, and comes to realise that “nests aren’t just for raising chicks – they can be feathered with all manner of friends and family…My house might feel occasionally under-occupied, the rooms may seem a little quieter, but my heart is full, full to the very brim”.
Breezily-written, My Big Fat Empty Nest is ideal for fans of feel-good fiction that tugs at the heart strings as it entertains and uplifts, such as readers who relish novels by Milly Johnson, Marian Keyes, Jill Mansell and Jane Fallon.
Her daughter has just flown the nest and her pensioner mum has dived headlong into internet dating - can Hattie hold on to her sanity?
Her daughter has just flown the nest and her pensioner mum has dived headlong into internet dating - can Hattie hold on to her sanity? Hattie is a 47-year-old mother whose daughter, Layla, is just about to head off to university.
My Big Fat Empty Nest features in the following genres: Family Drama, General Fiction, Humorous Fiction, Modern and Contemporary Fiction, Health & Fitness, Parenting, Narrative theme: Love and relationships, Narrative theme: Health and illness, Narrative theme: Interior life, Narrative theme: Identity / belonging, Contemporary lifestyle fiction, Family Drama, Fiction, Modern and Contemporary Fiction, Contemporary lifestyle fiction, Humorous Fiction, Fiction: narrative themes, Narrative theme: Love and relationships, Narrative theme: Interior life, Narrative theme: Identity / belonging, Narrative theme: Health and illness, Family and health, Parenting
Paperback. £8.99, down from the £9.99 cover price. In Stock.
My Big Fat Empty Nest was written by Nancy Peach and published by Hera an imprint of Canelo
My Big Fat Empty Nest has 387 pages
£8.99, reduced from £9.99. In Stock.
