ARE WE HAVING FUN YET?

By Lucy Mangan

(Souvenir £16.99, 320 pp) thIS latest addition to the mum-lit canon is a middleclass mother’s diary.

We follow her the year round, from parents’ evening to norfolk holiday; themed birthday party to nativity play.

the many comic challenges are met by our heroine with doughty humour, obliging parents, a ‘coven’ of sympathetic friends and a barrister husband who knows the answer to everything.

She’s a lucky woman and no mistake. Colourful characters include a nonchalant French maman, a no-nonsense pensioner next door and kids Evie and thomas who are world-beating and wilting respectively.

Mangan, a Guardian writer, conveys true passion for family life in all its joys and sorrows.