Half a Wife: The Working Family's Guide to Getting a Life Back

(Paperback)

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Half a Wife is the first genuinely positive, 'can-do' book about what working parents can do to change the way they live and work, right here, right now, with a particular focus on the crucial role of fathers in the debate. This edition has been updated and revised to incorporate any law changes in 2012, life post the Olympics and how Gaby's work life balance has changed since her son has started school. For most families, it remains the ultimate dilemma- how to balance a happy, healthy family life with the demands and rewards of work. When Gaby Hinsliff realised that she couldn't continue to work 60-hour weeks, spend time with her child and expect to stay happily married, there was only one solution. She quit, and decided to start again from scratch. Half a Wife is her guide for guilt-torn parents who are teetering on the edge.

Reviews

A wonderfully sane and helpful book. Better than Calpol. I only wish it had been around when I became a mother. Gaby Hinsliff has written an invaluable guide for any parent struggling to reconcile their twin passions for their children and their work -- Allison Pearson
Politicians should take note: politics is personal; get it right for families and business, and Downing Street will beckon * Sunday Times *
Half a Wife is important ... Why should we all have an awful time just because that's the way it's always been Why shouldn't we see our children and also pursue some sort of intellectual life We can be happy, says Hinsliff, if we just try * Evening Standard *
Hinsliff's ideas for how working parents should proceed are provactive and good...It had me wanting to go for a coffee with her. As she points out, Wi-Fi and the BlackBerry are as revolutionary to working women as the pill...a wholly supportive blueprint for any harassed parent thinking about working from home or currently doing so...this is a book for our age * Observer *
The eternal dilemma of how to balance life as a working parent is examined here with clarity, empathy and inspirational practical advice A must-read for any new parent or those contemplating the biggest lifestyle change they will ever make -- Sally Morris * Daily Mail *

Author Bio

Gaby Hinsliff started her career in 1994 as a reporter on the Grimsby Evening Telegraph, and within a decade had worked her way up to being Political Editor of the Observer. In 2007, she took nine months off after the birth of her son before going back to her old full-time job, but two years later she finally decided she'd had enough of life getting lost in the rush. The piece she wrote about this in the Observer was a sensation and prompted both her blog Used To Be Somebody and this book. She now lives happily with her son and husband in Oxfordshire, working as a freelance political commentator and columnist for Grazia magazine.