Diary of an Unsmug Married by Polly James

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Molly is far from a Smug Married. Working as a caseworker for the local Labour MP, married to Max whose eye seems to be on Annoying Ellen next door, mother to two teenagers who hate each other and with what has to be the world’s most eccentric father and dramatic sister, it’s no wonder that Molly think she has nothing to be smug about!
Juggling a posse of semi-crazy constituents, her work shy boss, listening to her mum talk about her ailments, striving to keep her father from becoming entangled with a Thai bride and trying to boost her own sex life is no laughing matter so an email from an old school friend, in fact an old love interest, makes life a bit more interesting all of a sudden – even if Molly can’t remember who, where or what....and if Max can make time for sex mad neighbour Ellen then Molly can email flirt with an old flame surely?
Chock full of mishaps and misunderstandings this makes for a very amusing read. Initially it took me a while to get into because of all the footnotes about politic related sayings but as I got further in I did find myself enjoying the intricacies of Molly’s family life. Diary style writing doesn’t always work but in this there is ample opportunity to witness the observations and subtle nuances of family life that actually do make up real family life – though not always with a sex mad neighbour and a politician! The teenage psyche is particularly amusing- and cringy – I mean, obviously flexi-time should mean you work when you want right? And who hasn’t listened to a friend saying they never revise only to be gutted when they get the A* and have been blatantly exaggerating?! It is full of the small details, keenly observed, that life is full of and which make up the majority of the laughs in this book.

Thanks to Netgalley and HarperCollins UK for the ARC copy of this book.