How Hard Can It Be? By Allison Pearson

One of my favorite novels of 2003 and maybe the entire decade was I Don’t Know How She Does It featuring working mom Kate Reddy who battles sexism and sleep deprivation while climbing the corporate ladder at a London hedge fund.

Flash forward seven years, Kate, now at stay-at-home mom, battles irrelevancy and hot flashes as she attempts to reenter the very same workplace while her husband pursues a degree in counseling with a minor in cycling. Supervising aging parents and teenaged children compound Kate’s challenges.

Hysterical and surprisingly profound.

WHAT OTHER REVIEWERS SAY

Tina Brown: “Few sequels beat the original, but How Hard Can It Be does so hands down. Kate Reddy’s comeback as a pushing-fifty ‘Returner,’ re-entering the workforce after a spell on the mommy track, is zesty, razor-sharp, and hilarious.”

WHO WROTE IT

Allison Pearson is the author of the New York Times Notable Book and bestseller I Don’t Know How She Does It and I Think I Love You. She is a columnist for The Telegraph (UK) and has also written for numerous other publications, including Time, The New York Times, Vogue, and Woman & Home. She lives in Cambridge, England.