Category: Memoir
Publisher: Publicaffairs
ISBN-13:9781586486396
Pub. Date: July 2008
Date Read: December 2008
"As we drove out of the city's fabulous sprawl last night, I wondered whether I could kill my husband and plead insanity. I knew it would be slightly unfair - I had agreed to the move although I had not meant it."
So begins this memoir which is the book form of the author's popular blog Wife in the North. Did Judith really want to move to northern wilds of Northumberland and leave her city, London, behind? Her husband had always wanted to move and one night she finally agreed.
The family with two young boys and a baby on the way, pack up their house and move to the country. Judith feels that if life in the country doesn't live up to their expectations, they'll move back to London but she is deteremined to give it a try. Never imagining how trying that would be.
While she's settling in the country her husband is often traveling back to London for work. It almost seems like he spends more time in London than in the north. She's left to entertain two young children, get to know the neighbors and deal with missing her friends.
The entries that I found most effective were those where she went through the highs and lows of being a mom with a new baby and when she mentioned her aging parents.
What did get a bit tiring were the constant complaints. I know this started as her blog and it was a place to vent but for me it was a bit hard to read too much of that in one sitting. Still, I give her thumbs up for being honest and true to herself.