In another room on the ward Hope, and her partner Quiet Isaac, are nervous but excited at the prospect of the soon-to-be new addition to their little family.

Really, save your time and don’t bother - how can complex and sensitive subject matter be treated in such a blunt way? That is a separate and probably much longer discussion, but it is one of the main things that made me feel uncertain while I was reading.The exploration of loss felt no more than a lip service as it seemed like the author wanted to generate warm feelings for Hope in the readers' minds, so she conveniently chose to sideline the grief of Anna. I like the way that Dawn French kind of made him out to be the baddy in the book, and that he was an MP too.

One of the police officers involved in the story is a parody of a thick policeman who muddles his metaphors which is funny but only up to a point. With her first being involved with the Comic Strip when I was about 14 (and just discovering alternative comedy), I feel like I grew up with her comedy through Girls on Top and BBC2 French and Saunders (before they moved to BBC1 and a big budget and got a little too self-indulgent), but before her move rather to the safety of the mainstream with The Vicar of Dibley.It isn’t a funny book, it is heartfelt and tackles lots of subjects, including regret and forgiveness. It deals with what are very serious weighty issues with the lightest of touches and attempts to bring humour into a devastating situation. If you are an author wanting us to review your book, please read our review policy (link under header) first.

Lee, a two-dimensional cheeky chappie builder-type who makes a good cup a tea, is lovingly referred to by everyone as “Twat” 🤷🏼‍♀️. Anna is married to Julius, a narcissistic and conceited politician, who is always looking to be a headline. If Hope was such a good person, how did she keep the baby after her hormones settled, without eventually feeling guilt for the natural mother? I love DF and expected, based on the many interviews she’s given about this book, to find some complexity and depth of emotion within the characters and the story. If I was FORCED to find positives, the writing is fine and the author is also an actress, so the narration is good.Mothers-to-be Hope and Anna are in a London hospital giving birth however only one of them will leave with a baby. I felt very emotionally engaged by the opening section of this book but, as the story progressed, it came to feel increasingly melodramatic and sentimental so it turned into something like a soap opera.

Because of You” is a family drama concerning a newborn girl that's stolen from a hospital by a grieving mother whose child died in birth. Not sure a womaBut as time goes on Hope realises what she did was wrong and she needs to come clean, but what will happen to her perfect family once the world finds out? The biggest irony here is, I don't think I would've read it at all if it wasn't longlisted for the Women's Prize. Anna Lindon-Clarke, the other mother at the hospital, is left a broken woman, she can't forget her daughter, Florence, so desperately wanted, particularly as her husband, the black Tory MP, Julius, a serial philanderer, has proved to be such a utter disappointment.