The Mommy Club (Ballantine Reader's Circle)

by Sarah Bird

Book Overview

At thirty-eight, Trudy Herring is a dreamer, a sculptor of whimsical clay figures, and a permanent temporary worker at the San Antonio Museum of Folk Art. But all that changes when she agrees to... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0345460111
• ISBN13: 9780345460110
• Release Date: August 2003
• Publisher: Ballantine Books
• Length: 336 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.3" x 0.7" x 5.5"

Customer Reviews

Not Chick Lit

The cover and title of this book make it seem it belongs in the "mommy lit" subcategory of chick lit. Instead, this is a literary exploration of what happens when a woman with a difficult past, and a cloudy future, agrees to become a surrogate mother for her boss. The pregnancy depictions are very realistic (the author actually wrote this while she was pregnant herself) and the characters are fascinating. No matter what you think about surrogacy, you'll find this to be a deeply engrossing read.

Suberb writing make this a great read

This book does a great job of mixing humor and emotions to create characters that are quirky but endearing. Trudy is hilarious. Her comments about her life are touched with saddness but somehow she finds the humor in them. When Trudy talks about her clay art work and how it looks and makes her creative side feel it is as if she is relating to them as her only friends. I certainly do not mean that in a "crazy way." It shows to me that most of her relationships with people have been dissapointing and lack excitment. Her ex- boyfriend was certainly a live by the seat of your pants guy who made everything an adventure. Even eating out with this man was an experience that rivaled most amusment Parks. He made Trudy feel beautiful and loved by his gestures and feelings. He hid nothing and I thnk that is why she was so attracted to him. But again he lets her down just like all people in her life. I think this is the reason she agrees to be a surraget mother to a wealthy couple. Trudy seems to think that since her own life is not really wants she hoped for maybe she can find it by providing someone else with a child that hopefully will be able to grow up in a loving enviroment. What she finds is not what she expected. I hate to sound trite but money is not going to help in this case. This book is so well wrritten that even the bad situations are humorous. Sarah Bird is able to do this by not making fun of the characters but developing them so they all realize the absurdity in their own actions. It is difficult in my mind to find a book with bitter sweetness that is at all interesting. I highly recommend this book. I am sure I will be buying more of her books to read.

Poignant and hilarious in equal parts

Trudy is a misfit and a perennial "outsider". She is an artist who has never, ever in her life fit in with regular folks. Her past is painful: in addition to being habitually lonely and alone, she had a failed relationship that resulted in a pregnancy she ended with an abortion she regrets. Ever since, she has wanted to have a baby to replace the one she aborted - but not to keep, because she doesn't view herself as mother material. So her solution to the problem is to become a surrogate mother. She gets pregnant for a yuppie couple who force her to eat horrible, expensively unpalatably healthy food, and who monitor her every unconventional move.What she learns from pregnancy is that, for a few months, she "belongs". Strangers initiate conversations with her, talk to her about her advancing pregnancy, and accept her without question into the "Mommy Club", that special state of being shared only by women with children. While she's basking in all the unfamiliar kinship, she's developing opinions about the couple whose baby she is carrying, and is developing a bond with the infant inside her.I loved Trudy, who is like a lovable, dysfunctional puppy. Sarah Bird, hits - as always - a flawless comic pitch, making you unsure whether you should laugh or cry. Either way, there isn't a moment in the book where you don't want to engulf poor Trudy in a hug while you laugh until tears stream down your face.This was the first book by Sarah Bird that I read, and immediately read all the others. When it appeared to me that there had not been any new ones for a while, I wrote to the author and begged her to write another. I am definitely a Sarah Bird fan, and would recommend ANYTHING she's written - but this one first.

What a funny outlook on pregnancy!

I was browsing through a book sale recently and saw this. Without a minute hesitation, I picked this book up and didn't regret it! Like Trudy, I am pregnant and having a character going through the same emotions, mood swings and hormonal changes ~~ really helps me to take my pregnancy lightly!! It is fun to have a character going through some of the same things you're going through!!I have never heard of Sarah Bird, but I am really enjoying this novel. I must confess it was hard going at first, but kept plugging away and now, it's a really enjoyable book that I couldn't put down! I would never be a surrograte mom ~~ especially after reading about how Hilary keeps grabbing the moments away from Trudy ~~ pretending to have the same morning sickness, gaining sympathy weight and keeping a strict eye on Trudy ~~ making her eat wholesome food like brussel sprouts and spinach while she eats whatever she wants to eat ~~ all for the baby. It gets better!It's a fun read ~~ something I'd consider passing onto my pregnant friends to help them forget the aches and pains that accompany every pregnancy for a few hours. It's a quick read as well ~~ and now, I'll be interested in any other Sarah Bird book I can lay hands on!! What a wonderful debut to a new author!5-28-02

A comic meditation on pregnancy and motherhood

Sarah Bird is one of the best novelists in the U.S., but she still seems to be a word-of-mouth phenomenom. MOMMY CLUB is one of the most accurate depictions of pregnancy I have ever read, anywhere. It describes the emotions and hormonal over-drive without the usual sticky sentimentality. If you like comic novels with emotional depth, and something quirky and off-beat, try MOMMY CLUB. It's a wonderful novel.