The Other Mother: A Wickedly Honest Parenting Tale for Every Kind of Family

by Jen Brister

Overview

'Hysterical, important, moving, wonderful' Sara Pascoe

I'm Jen Brister, stand-up comedian, middle-aged adolescent and, more recently, a mum. But not that mum – I'm the other one. Confused? Let’s back up a bit. Two years ago, my partner (a woman – we're not solicitors) gave birth to twins. Yes. Yes. Already there’s a lot to take in here: gay mums, twins, solicitors… (I know! Believe me, I’m still reeling myself.)

Like every new parent, I had absolutely no clue what I was doing. Add ‘gay’ and ‘non-biological’ to the mix and what do you get? Not a weird box of detergent, but a panicked beige lesbian desperately googling, ‘Will my babies love me?’ at 3 a.m.

This is a book for any parent who feels they don’t fit the mould of a traditional 2.4 family. Stand-up comedian Jen Brister takes a very funny, very honest look at life as a parent: from IVF awfulness to crying over the pages of sleep training manuals. As ‘the other mother’she has the perfect vantage point for us to laugh and cry alongside her.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781784709747
Publisher:	Penguin Random House UK
Publication date:	12/01/2020
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	5.08(w) x 7.80(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Jen Brister is a critically acclaimed stand-up comedian, writer and actor. She is a regular performer on the UK and international comedy circuits. She has presented for BBC 6 Music, written and performed on BBC Radio 4's The News Quiz and The Now Show and has been a regular contributor to magazines including Standard Issue and The Huffington Post.

Jen has performed five solo shows around the world and appeared on Comedy Central, BBC 2's Live At The Apollo and Frankie Boyle's New World Order.

Table of Contents

Prologue: Whatever You Do, Don't Panic! ix

1 Before 1

2 Decisions, Decisions 9

3 Try, Try & Try Again 19

4 Up the Duff 42

5 More Up the Duff 59

6 Ninety-Six Hours on Maternity Ward Three 77

7 Connect Four 93

8 To Sleep, Perchance? 105

9 Home Sweet Home 117

10 Feeding Time 137

11 Out and About 144

12 Unwanted Opinions 156

13 The New Me 175

14 Fun Tax 185

15 Two Birds and Two Babies 196

16 The Toddler Years 207

17 You've Got This 231

18 Happy Holidays 242

19 Babies: They Were Born This Way 254

20 Booking Back 268

Epilogue 283

Acknowledgements 289

Editorial Reviews

"I love Jen Brister. She is a like mind and damned funny. You’ll find the pages of this book brimming with rich and wonderful proof of all of this ... and more" - - Hannah Gadsby

"Jen is one of the funniest comedians I’ve ever seen and her book is predictably hysterical. It’s also moving, important and wonderful" - - Sara Pascoe

"Jen Brister is bloody funny both on stage and in this brilliant book" - - Sarah Millican

"Fresh, heartwarming and very, very wise. The funniest and most refreshingly honest account of being a parent that I've ever read" - - Frankie Boyle

"The Other Mother, is a side-splittingly honest look at the grim realities of same-sex parenting" - - Diva

From the Publisher