It’s rare for any book to actually make me laugh out loud like this one did (more than once) and for a book to resonate on so many levels with me. A funny and heartfelt novel for any woman who wonders how the hell she got here and why life isn't quite how she imagined it was going to be. My bookclub friends will appreciate this one. ——‘When did I stop buying expensive lingerie and start buying expensive hoovers? Worst still when did I start getting excited about my new hoover?’ The thing is, no matter how settled you think you are, life always has alternative plans, and Nell's life is no different. The story of Nell Stevens’ struggle through her imperfect, messy life doesn’t just make brilliant fiction, it’s turning into a cultural revolution!' Matt Cain

Living in London, Nell is content with her life. She enjoys her job writing obituaries, has a strong circle of friends (including the ultimate frenemy). Yet people, especially her parents are worried that she hasn't married, had children, is not successful. Nell is apparently a "Forty-Something F**k Up". May 9, 2023 ] ‘Calm After the Storm’ and other treasures to support your childless heart on Mother’s Day My other favourite character is, of course, the gorgeous Arthur. I can’t resist a slightly mischievous, four footed ball of fluff.Single - nearly 29 and single, and I'm still being asked "when are you going to find a man and settle down? In this hilarious, un-put-downable follow-up to the bestselling Confessions of a Forty-Something F## k Up, now the basis for the major TV series called Not Dead Yet, there are laugh-out-loud lessons to be learned, truths to be told, adventures to go on and joys to discover. The first Confessions book was one of my favourites of 2021. It was so original and I absolutely loved it! So I squealed with excitement at being given a copy of the sequel. Alexandra Potter is a British author, whose first novel ‘What’s New, Pussycat?’ was published in 2000, a week before her 30th birthday and immediately made the top ten. She has since written twelve novels of romantic comedy including ‘Be Careful What You Wish For’, ‘Me and Mr Darcy’ (which won Best New Fiction Award at the Jane Austen Regency World Awards) and ‘Love From Paris’ which was shortlisted for the RNA Comedy Award. If you've ever asked yourself "where has the time gone and why does everyone else have it together but me?!", then you'll love this book'

At its heart, it is a love story, but it has many layers. There's romantic love for current partners, past partners, and lost partners, love for your friends, love for your children, love for strangers, and love for yourself. In this book the pair decide not just to help each other but through their column in a newspaper magazine they’re sharing their experience, humour and common sense with the world in general. I’ll leave you to find out if they both get their happy ever after.. I’ve had that title in my head since my late thirties,” says author Alexandra Potter, “when I used to moan to my friends, ‘Oh God, I’m going to be a forty-something f--- up.’ So I really fought for it!”Funny but layered, light-hearted but surprisingly deep, this is a perfect and inspiring new year read' - Red

WATCH NOW: Fireside Wisdom with Childless Elderwomen. What does it mean to be a ‘Radical Old Woman?’ [Recorded 21 June 2023] It was with a sense of glee that I noted Alexandra Potter was releasing a follow up to her 2021 best-selling novel, "Confessions of a Forty-Something F**k Up". I read the first book out of curiosity due to the title - I was approaching the big 40 and discovering that apparently there are life-goals that we are supposed to achieve. I must have missed those particularly lessons at school. And so, refreshingly, has our heroine Nell. Nell’ faces the dilemma that I, and so many other women arriving childless at midlife face. How the hell do we do this when everything around us has prepared us for something different? The author has done a stellar job in conveying these social issues through humour and I end this review with one line from the book - In the sequel to the bestselling Confessions of a Forty-Something F##k Up, there are a lot more lessons to be learned, truths to be told, adventures to go on and joys to discover. But first, she has some more confessions...From that late urge to want motherhood to dealing with the beginnings of Perimenopause, friendships becoming fragile as everyone is dealing with their own issues and realising you might not actually have it all together, despite being closer to 50 than before. I have read all of Alexandra Potter's wonderful novels and not one of them has disappointed. Her writing style is casual, flirty, accessible... her books are an absolute joy to read, delving into the characters' thoughts and feelings in a way that not only has the reader relating to them, but fully empathising with them. Join her for more laugh-out-loud lessons to be learned,truths to be told, adventures to go on and joys to discover.