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Can Any Mother Help Me?

Author: Jenna Bailey
Publisher: Faber and Faber
Category: Book

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Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars

7 reviews
Sales Rank: 4222

Media: Paperback
Pages: 352
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 7.7 x 5 x 0.8

ISBN: 0571233147
EAN: 9780571233144
ASIN: 0571233147

Publication Date: January 31, 2008
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Condition: Brand new and in stock - usually dispatched within 48 hours and delivered 1st Class by Royal Mail from the UK. International Delivery is by Airmail.

Also Available In:

•	Hardcover - Can Any Mother Help Me?

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Customer Reviews: Read 2 more reviews...

5 out of 5 stars

A fascinating read May 7, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful

This is the first book I have ever reviewed - anywhere! However I was so spellbound by this wonderful collection of extracts from the CCC that I felt I had to let others know what a fascinating read it is. As a working mother of three I am grateful that I have had the chance to combine both roles - and empathised with the plight of these highly intelligent, opinionated women forced to give up work after marriage and often left feeling very isolated at home with very young children. You get to know these women so well in the course of the book - the confessional style makes you feel as though you know them personally - and by the end I felt strangely disappointed that I hadn't had the chance to meet them. A compelling read - have bought 4 more copies of the book to give to friends!

5 out of 5 stars

Part history, part biography, totally interesting....... February 17, 2008
8 out of 8 found this review helpful

Thesis...Mass Observation Unit....all sounds such an unlikely premise for an absorbing read, but this book is exactly that. Jenna Bailey uncovered the story of the CCC (the Cooperative Correspondence Club), a group of women coping with family life during wartime Britain in the 1940s and after, whilst searching for a suitable subject for her Masters thesis. The CCC was formed when a cry of help in the shape of a letter to `Nursery World' magazine was answered by an assortment of other lively, intelligent women eager to connect with a world outside of domestic drudgery and child rearing.

`Can Any Mother Help Me?' is part history, how women coped during that period and what was expected of them, and part biography, each of the participants have really rather interesting lives. A well presented and rivetting read - highly recommended.

5 out of 5 stars

before the internet October 31, 2007
9 out of 9 found this review helpful

I loved this book. As a mother I know how isolating being at home can be, and this books gives a great example of how women used their ingenuity to keep in touch in the days before cheap technology. The stories are wonderful, and I felt I really got to know the women, even though they were anonymous. A great read, and can be read in little bursts if you don't have much time!

5 out of 5 stars

How much has changed - and how little October 25, 2007
9 out of 10 found this review helpful

I was stunned at how incredibly funny/sad/brave/strong and wonderful these women were. The forerunner to internet forums(!) but how much more intelligent.

I was torn by it being a crime NOT being able to work (with an agile brain) and then seeing how life morphed into being possible.

In some respects I had to give up work when I had children (only 7 years ago) and I feel as if I'm a martian - but at least I see that I'm a martian in fine company.

An excellent and thought provoking read.

5 out of 5 stars

The Secret Life of the Housewife. July 30, 2007
25 out of 25 found this review helpful

This is an insight into the isolation of women at home with children particularly between the wars when married women were not allowed to work outside the home and some could not even afford a radio for company. No mod cons but mindless housework left thoughtful women in need of intelligent company which they found through their correspondence club. From young mothers to widowhood and their eventual deaths this a moving selction of their writing. Incidentally my mother in law was one of the original members.