‘This year’s must read. Poignant and very very funny!!! (The Review)
Firstly, a huge thank you to all of those who bought and enjoyed my novel ‘The Truth About Us’; a tale of a marriage gone sour and a wife willing at first to compromise her integrity to save it. In response to the large number of people asking what happened to Nell after the end of the book, I wrote the mini sequel ‘The Truth About Her’, which seemed to satisfy many readers wanting to know about Nell’s adventure to fulfil her childhood dream. In the end the book sold nearly 30,000 copies!
About a year ago, with three of our daughters gone or heading off to university, I decided after quite a break to write a new novel. I just couldn’t find a story that really captured my interest. One of our daughters said ‘write what you know’. Despite pretending to be lots of other things, the blatant truth is that I have been a ‘stay-at-home-dad’ for four children over 20 years, and helping little people to become the best version of themselves, thus giving them no doubt, many reasons to blame me for any failings they might feel they have. The result of this little project is the novel ETERNITY LEAVE.
The book is meant to be a light, easy read and I hope, at the very least, will make readers laugh. It tells the story of a man, armed with ‘The Complete Guide to Child Care’, diving head first into a world and a job he thought would be easy. How could this little task take up that much of his time while he wrote that great literary novel and ran a smallholding. After all, babies sleep for most of the day and they are only small people. What he omitted to realise is that they are still people, unable to do anything for themselves without constant help and care. Hot on the heels of Chloe, the twins, Ruby and Emma came along and then a son, Ollie, engulfing this father in a world of breast-feeding mothers, playgroups, yoghurt and a pile of nappies to rival Kilimanjaro. Self-esteem plummeting, he tries to fill the gap where his self-esteem used to reside and counter those men with badges, time on their hands and real, rather than chocolate money in their bank account.
I have tried to write a blisteringly honest account, highlighting I hope some of the crucial issues such as how, by default it is, more often than not, the women who take on the childcare, despite in many cases their career potential being greater than the man. The book alternates between the past and the present, toddlers and teenagers, so hopefully there is something here for everyone who has ever raised a child and even those who haven’t.
I hope you enjoy the book and do let me know what you think. It’s always great to hear from readers.
What the reader and reviews are saying …
- ‘Refreshing and uplifting. Every parent should read this book.’ (Rated Reviews)
- ‘Written with blistering honesty. It will make you laugh and cry, and most of all, appreciate the precious time spent with children.’ (The Early Reader)
‘A beautifully crafted story, filled with humour and moments of real poignancy.’ (AB Bookish)
The book is available exclusively on Amazon in E Book and will be in Paperback soon.
You can find me at:
Twitter @SIMONKETTLEWELL
Or my website- simonkettlewell.co.uk
SIMON KETTLEWELL 2021
Link to ebook on Amazon can be found here.
Link to Paperback can be found here.
Editor :- You can buy The Truth About Us by clicking here.
Read Margaret James' review of The Truth About Her here.
