Up and In
by Deborah Disney
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GENRE: Women’s Fiction
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BLURB:
Distinctly
middle-class parents, Maria and Joe have committed every bit of available
income to giving their daughters Kate and Sarah the best education possible, which
to them means attending the most exclusive girls school in the state. But when
Kate befriends the spoilt and moody Mirabella, Maria finds herself thrust into
a high society of champagne-swilling mother-istas she hasn't budgeted for.
Saturday morning netball is no longer a fun mother-daughter outing, but a
minefield of social politics.
While the increasingly
neurotic Maria struggles to negotiate the school mum hierarchy, Joe quietly
battles a midlife crisis and Kate attempts to grow up as gracefully as possible
(without having her life ruined by embarrassing parents).
For every woman who has
ever felt she may be wearing the wrong shoes, this is a book that will remind
you - you're not alone.
Fans of Liane Moriarty
and Fiona Higgins are sure to enjoy this debut offering from new Australian
author, Deborah Disney.
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My Review:
It was really a pleasant read, fun, light but not trivial, very realistic. It's fresh, ironic, deals with great humor, a sensitive issue such as bullying and the result is a novel light, smooth, but interesting.
Mary lives situations of many mothers around the world: to be accepted in the group of other mothers. She and her husband Joe have decided to enroll their daughters to a private school to give them the best education. But their social status is very different from that of the other families: they belong to the middle class and can not compete with other parents, richer and popular of them. Among all shines Bea, the leader of the mothers: to be accepted from her is the only way to join the group. But it is not at all easy. It seems that Maria always do or say something wrong and goes up and down in the scale of popularity. Will she find the peace for her and her family?
The characters are really realistic, I think many mothers can easily identify with them. Maria is an intelligent woman and wants to grow her daughters in the best way possible. But often she commits acts really naive and stupid just to have the approval of the other moms.
It 's addictive and a total page turner. This was the perfect book for a quiet afternoon read or for the summer.
If you are looking for a cute and funny book then you need to read this one.
I received an advanced reader copy from the author in exchange for an honest review.
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EXCERPT:
I first encountered the phenomenon that is Bea when Kate and
Mirabella started kindergarten together. Kate was coming home every afternoon
with stories about Mirabella. Her rushed delivery of the events of the day was interrupted
only by peals of laughter as she enthusiastically recalled Mirabella’s crazy
antics. I was so happy that Kate appeared to have made a friend so quickly and
I was keen to meet this little dynamo.
One morning I decided to stay in the kindy room for a while
with the other mothers, instead of doing my usual drop off with a quick cuddle
at the backpack rack so that I could get Sarah home for her morning nap. As we
walked into the room, Kate immediately flung away my hand – which she had been
holding all the way from the car – and excitedly squealed out 'Mi-ra-bel-la' as
she raced off towards a tall, blonde girl dressed in Ralph Lauren from top to
toe. As I glanced around the room, I noticed that Kate’s kindy clothes
signalled a mother more practical than à la mode, and that although her
pre-paint-stained shorts and dark-coloured top may not cause me any stress when
I picked her up covered in Play-Doh in the afternoon – or as I unloaded them
from the washing machine – they were certainly causing me a lot of stress right
now. Every child in the room looked ready for a game of croquet. Except Kate.
All of a sudden she looked like a little street urchin. Why on earth did I
agree to let her do her own hair tod
ay?
‘Okay, boys and girls, let’s all say goodbye to our mummies,
and let’s put our special art smocks on so we can do some finger-painting!’
announced Miss Collins. Righto then, I guess there was no need for
pre-paint-stained shorts. The next day she would be mixing it with the best in
her latest outfit … the latest outfit which I planned to go and buy for her as
soon as I left the kindy. Sarah’s sleep could wait.
As I was leaving, I noticed a crowd of children around
Mirabella – Kate was just one of many vying for her attention. And then I
noticed the tall, tanned blonde who bent down to kiss the smaller version of
herself, and how she too attracted a crowd of mothers as she made her way out
the door.
‘Hi there,’ I ventured a little too loudly as I tried to
steal her attention. ‘I’m Maria, Kate’s mum.’
The woman looked at me quizzically. Then she looked to the
group of women around her. ‘Kate? Which one is Kate?’ They looked back at her,
equally puzzled. Then one announced, ‘Kate is the one who wears the runners.’
‘Ohhh,’ it dawned on them all at once. Add designer
kids-size-nine shoes to this morning’s shopping list.
‘Kate just can’t stop talking about Mirabella,’ I continued.
‘I was wondering if she would like to come for a play one afternoon?’
The tall, tanned blonde had still not offered her own name.
‘Yes, perhaps,’ she replied through a forced, yet dazzling, smile. ‘Mirabella
does have a lot of activities in the afternoons, though.’
Hmmm, ‘perhaps’? This was going to be harder than I thought.
‘Oh, well, Kate only has swimming which is on Wednesday afternoons, so any
other afternoon would be fine with us.’
‘What a shame. That is really Mirabella’s only free
afternoon.’ And that was that. If it had not been for two other women chiming
‘Bye Bea’ as they climbed into their four-wheel drives, I still wouldn’t have
known her name that day.
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AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Buy link:
http://www.amazon.com/Up-Deborah-Disney-ebook/dp/B00LZB9FFY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1441052511&sr=8-1&keywords=deborah+disney&pebp=1441052515110&perid=1PJ28AN5QKKZ4JVYT6PA
A little interview
A little interview
Where
are you from?
I am from Australia. I live in Brisbane,
which is a capital city – in the State of Queensland, a beautiful and
sunshine-filled part of the world.
What
is the first book you remember reading?
Jonathon Percival Pinkerton Jr – my mum
used to read it to me at bedtime all the time, and it is my first recollection
of really loving a book.
Who
are your favorite authors?
What
gave you the inspiration to write this book?
I think as women we are frequently
vulnerable to feeling the pressure to measure up against what other women are
doing. It is such a waste of life, especially when what is being portrayed on
the outside is frequently not a true representation of what’s going on behind
the scenes. It was something that seemed to keep coming up over and over in
conversations with friends and so I was inspired to write a book about it.
Where's
your favorite place to write at home?
On something comfortable. Bed, couch …
We have a nice comfy couch on the back deck and so as the weather is so nice at
the moment, I have started spending a bit of time out there.
What
are you working on next?
I am working on a few different writing
projects at the moment, but my next novel is also about difficult female
relationships.
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GIVEAWAY INFORMATION and RAFFLECOPTER CODE
Deborah will be awarding an eCopy of Up and In to 3
randomly drawn winners via rafflecopter during the tour.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Thanks for hosting!
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