The Pile of Stuff at the Bottom of the Stairs

(Paperback)

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Description

Mary Gilmour feels as though her life is going down a plug hole clogged with cornflakes and Play-Doh. Her job is part time but housework is full time, and she has no time at all for her two young sons. Mary is convinced that there is only one thing standing between her and organised contentment: his name is Joel and she's married to him.

Since star charts have worked on improving the behaviour of their children, she designs an equivalent for her husband: a spreadsheet detailing every balled-up tissue, every sock on the floor, every wet towel on the bed.

Although he has no idea of it, Joel has six months to prove that his credits outweigh his debits. Or else . . .

Reviews

This should be compulsory reading for all working couples with small children, since it encapsulates precisely, but with plenty of humour, the madness of the modern working family - Sarah Vine, The Times

The new I Don't Know How She Does It - Grazia

I read it, I really enjoyed it, I left it on the stairs. - John O'Farrell

Christina Hopkinson is a talented writer with a gift for observational humour and sharp one-liners - Spectator

Christina Hopkinson has wittily and very realistically tapped into the zeitgeist - literally the most relevant novel for a working mother since I Don't Know How She Does It by Allison Pearson. - Plum Sykes, author of Bergdorf Blondes

Author Bio

Christina Hopkinson is an author and journalist whose work has appeared in the Daily Telegraph, the Guardian, the Times, Grazia and Red magazine. Her first novel, IzobelBrannigan.com was published by Piatkus and was described by the Mirror as 'an insightful debut - witty, wise and worth reading'.

She lives in London with her husband and three children.