We might be working from home, but that’s no excuse not to recognise mums around the world for the amazing work they do for us. And what better way to do that than with the gift of a good book? From soldiers to political icons, let’s celebrate strong women this Mother’s Day.
Exceeding my Brief, by Barbara Hosking
Between working on a copper mine in the African bush, serving as a press officer to Harold Wilson and Edward Heath, and pioneering British breakfast television, hers is a tale of breadth and bravery. At the age of ninety-two, Barbara Hosking reflects on her life and gives a compelling account of the innermost workings of politics and the media amid the turbulence of twentieth-century Britain.
Read more about it here.
What Your Mother Should Have Told You And Nobody Else Will, by Natalie Reilly
With everything from homespun wisdoms and invaluable life lessons to navigating the minefield of 21st-century dilemmas and manners, here are all those things your mother should have taught you, but you weren’t ready to hear at the time.
Read more about it here.
Why Women Need Quotes, by Vicky Pryce
Vicky Pryce’s motorbike-riding mother wanted to study physics at university, but her family told her it was impossible for a woman. She was determined that her daughter would have the opportunities she hadn’t – and the young Vicky went on to forge a glittering career as an economist, with high-profile posts spanning business, academia and government. But despite her own success, Pryce is still frustrated by the obstacles littering the paths of women in the workplace.
We have an abysmal record on gender parity. How do we fix it? Vicky Pryce has the answer: quotas.
Read more about it here.
People Like Us: Margaret Thatcher and Me, by Caroline Slocock
The first ever female private secretary to any British Prime Minister, Caroline Slocock had a front-row seat for the final eighteen months of Margaret Thatcher’s premiership. A left-wing feminist, Slocock was no natural ally – and yet she became fascinated by the woman behind the ‘Iron Lady’ façade and by how she dealt with a world dominated by men.
A remarkable political and personal memoir, People Like Us charts the dying days of Thatcher’s No. 10 and reflects on women and power, then and now.
Read more about it here.
Worlds Apart, by Azi Ahmed
By the age of twelve, Azi Ahmed had been fully trained in all the skills her mother thought necessary to become the perfect housewife: knitting, sewing and sitting pretty. Little did she know that a rather different sort of training lay in her future.
With no military experience, physically slight and, before entering Chelsea Barracks, socially isolated, Azi suddenly finds herself in selection training with eleven other girls and 200 men, all hoping to become part of the British Army’s most elite fighting force – the SAS.
Worlds Apart is the incredible true story of the most violent of culture clashes, of one woman’s fight not only to be ‘the best of the best’, but to remain true to herself in the process.
Read more about it here.
The Madness of Modern Parenting, by Zoe Williams
Combining laugh-out-loud tales of parenthood with myth-busting facts and figures, Zoe provides the antithesis of all parenting discussions to date. After all, parents managed perfectly well for centuries before this modern madness, so why do today’s mothers and fathers make such an almighty fuss about everything?
https://www.bitebackpublishing.com/books/the-madness-of-modern-parenting
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