How Hard Can It Be?

Allison Pearson Borough Press €18.51 In answer to that question, try dealing with menopausal meltdowns whose aftermath resembles a crime scene, ageing parents who aren’t yet too doddery to buy chainsaws with stolen credit cards and teenagers whose souls seem to have been sucked from them by social media. Shrewd and deceptively breezy, this coming-of-(middle)-age tale is not for the faint-hearted. But as she catches up with heroine Kate Reddy, 15 years after I Don’t Know How She Does It, Pearson deftly balances despair-inducing observations with escapist pizzazz. If only Kate could persuade someone to hire her at 49, going back to work would feel like time off.