One of Our Books of the Year 2017 | October 2017 Book of the Month An absolute belter of a novel, amusing, poignant, and hugely entertaining. This is a follow-up to the bestseller I Don’t Know How She Does It, however it could be read without prior knowledge of Kate Reddy's earlier life.
Kate herself is fast heading towards 50 and invisibility, life however refuses to listen and keeps setting devious traps. I don't believe that you have to have passed or be nearing 50, to be a parent or even a woman, to be captivated by this tale of family drama. Allison Pearson writes with a witty, exceedingly realistic pen and I found myself nodding along, both smirking and wincing as I read.
How Hard Can It Be captures life, proper gutsy, difficult, yet wonderful life, and while making you smile, also makes you think, I loved it. ~ Liz Robinson
Named a Best Book of Summer by People Magazine * USA Today * New York Magazine * New York Times Book Review * New York Post * PopSugar * Entertainment Tonight "Hugely entertaining." --Time Hilarious and poignant, How Hard Can It Be? is for women of all ages who have ever found themselves struggling to do it all, without breaking a sweat or missing a step. It's about starting over, growing older, falling down, and picking yourself back up again. And as a true heroine for our times, Kate Reddy proves it's never too late to rewrite your story. Kate Reddy had it all: a nice home, two adorable kids, a good husband. Then her kids became teenagers (read: monsters). Richard, her husband, quit his job, taking up bicycling and therapeutic counseling: drinking green potions, dressing head to toe in Lycra, and spending his time - and their money - on his own therapy. Since Richard no longer sees a regular income as part of the path to enlightenment, it's left to Kate to go back to work. Companies aren't necessarily keen on hiring 49-year-old mothers, so Kate does what she must: knocks a few years off her age, hires a trainer, and prepares a new resume that has a shot at a literary prize for experimental fiction. When Kate manages to secure a job at the very hedge fund she helped create, she finds herself in an impossible juggling act: proving herself (again) at work, dealing with teen drama, and trying to look after increasingly frail parents as the clock keeps ticking toward her 50th birthday. Then, an old flame shows up out of the blue, and Kate finds herself facing off with everyone from Russian mobsters to a literal stallion. Surely it will all work out in the end. After all, how hard can it be?
| Primary Genre | Family Drama |
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If you want something a bit light hearted and very funny then this is the book for you.
If you want something a bit light hearted and very funny then this is the book for you. I found myself really warming to Kate and feeling sorry for what she has to go through with her kids and husband. I did feel as though I could slightly relate to her with her husband and his Bike collection. It really made me chuckle.... Read Full Review
Funny and for some of us we can totally relate to this. A midlife crisis is no joke but the author brings this beautifully to life.
Kate Ready is coming up to 50- unlike me who is downsizing hours at work - she is returning but having to and having to lie in relation to her age. That I find difficult to comprehend where a lot of our workforce are 50 and above. Her husband is somewhere else, head buried in self help books and taking a sabbatical, her daughter is into social media the menopause and the aged Ps. Sounds somewhat familiar.
This book deals with what all of us 50 somethings are going through- although I am probably bonkers moving house and upsizing, maybe that is the menopause - I do not know. I was hopeful to read about her memory as I thought last week I had the onset of dementia - so through this book I can laugh at myself and the antics of this book.... Read Full Review
This book really touched a nerve. It was like holding a mirror up against my own life in a lot of respects. Totally loved it!
I haven’t read this author before and this is a sequel, however it was brilliant as a stand alone novel also.
The writing was fabulous, flowed really well. I wouldn’t be surprised if a little of this was biographical, as it could actually have been written about my own life in a lot of respects. Kate is a married mum of two, with a family dog, having just invested in a ramshackle old building which will be stunning once it’s finished. However, her husband decides he needs to ‘find himself’ after being made redundant and so after 6 and a half years out, Kate has to rejoin the London rat race, while still being a mum to two teenagers and fast approaching 50 AND going through the menopause.... Read Full Review
Named a Best Book of Summer by People Magazine * USA Today * New York Magazine * New York Times Book Review * New York Post * PopSugar * Entertainment Tonight "Hugely entertaining." --Time Hilarious and poignant, How Hard Can It Be? is for women of all ages who have ever found themselves struggling to do it all, without breaking a sweat or missing a step. It's about starting over, growing older, falling down, and picking yourself back up again.
How Hard Can It Be? features in the following genres: Family Drama, Books of the Month, Humorous Fiction, eBooks of the Month, Books with reviews by our Reader Review Panel, Fiction, Recommendations, Romance / Relationship Stories
Paperback, Hardback. Not Available.
How Hard Can It Be? was written by Allison Pearson and published by St. Martin's Griffin an imprint of St. Martin's Publishing Group
How Hard Can It Be? has 384 pages
