Check Out Some Of The Best Contemporary English Novels For Busy And Stressed Mothers

When you are in the thick of parenting such as surviving the newborn phase or going through a difficult time with your toddlers, you often stay inside your own world. It becomes all about the kids; teething, diaper rash, cooking meals and making sure everyone is safe.

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Sometimes reading books can act as a temporary escape from this difficult phase. It is one of the times where a lot of mothers get to sit back and relax, all the while enjoying a whole new storyline that takes their minds off the current problems. This is a list of 7 English contemporary books that you might want to check out as a busy mother.

#1 Love, Rosie by Cecilia Ahern

Love, Rosie is a heart-warming story that leaves you feeling all fuzzy and warm inside. The book is written as a series of letters, emails, and messages, which is a unique style of writing that gave the book an extra trait adding to its wonders.

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The story focuses on the lives of Rosie and Alex, best friends since childhood and torn tragically apart as teenagers when Alex's father gets a new job on the other side of the globe. Their friendship is tested by time and circumstance, and situations become even more difficult when love starts to tangle things up. It seems that denial and impossibility are overwhelming, but Rosie and Alex are faced with the decision of giving up everything for love or living in silence for the rest of their separate lives.

#2 Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

Me Before You tells the story of the quirky Louisa Clark, who unfortunately lost her job and is seeking a new one. This is how she crosses paths with Will Traynor, who devastatingly became paralysed after a motorcycle accident. He no longer feels the joy of living and goes through each day doing nothing but taking his medication. When Louisa enters his life as his new carer, she brings a new light to his life and the book covers how their relationship develops.

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Jojo Moyes writes in a way that makes you feel connected to the characters and you will get completely lost within her words. The story may be about a subject that only some understand but she makes you think about what would happen and how you’d feel in that type of situation. She addresses the topic of human nature and how connecting with certain people will make you see life in a happier way. Not only does the story contain romance but it also shows the hardships within the adult working life and how life can change at any moment. 

#3 The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger

The Devil Wears Prada is a 2003 novel by Lauren Weisberger about a young woman who is hired as a personal assistant to a powerful fashion magazine editor, a job that becomes nightmarish as she struggles to keep up with her boss's gruelling schedule and demeaning demands.

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The plot describes naïve Andy’s apprenticeship under her aloof and highly demanding boss, Miranda Priestley. Andy panders to Miranda’s outrageous expectations in the hopes that the powerful editor will someday use her connections to help Andy land the job of her dreams at The New Yorker. As Andy’s career ambitions take precedence over everything else, she loses perspective on what’s important in life until it’s nearly too late. The novel uses her plight to examine the themes of narcissistic abuses of power, the temptation to make a deal with the devil, and losing one’s way in a world where the image is everything.

#4 The Fault In Our Stars by John Green

The Fault In Our Stars is a fabulous book about a young teenage girl who has been diagnosed with lung cancer and attends a cancer support group.

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The story starts with a girl named Hazel who is 16 and is reluctant to go to the support group, but she soon realises that it was a good idea. There, Hazel meets a young boy named Augustus Waters who she finds charming and witty. Augustus has had osteosarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer, but has recently had the all-clear. Both of them then embarked on a roller coaster ride of emotions, including love, sadness and romance.

#5 PS I Love You by Cecilia Ahern

The book is about the tragic romance between Holly and Gerry where Gerry suddenly dies due to a brain tumour. Holly is devastated and you will read how she learns to cope without her love. The notes that Gerry has left her to guide her through her grief and help her to create a life without her soul mate.

(Image credits to Carousell)

PS I Love You is not only a story about lost love; it is a story that describes the voyage of a woman whose entire adult life has relied on another person to help her make decisions and help her through the ups and downs of life. During her grieving process, Holly learns about herself and who she truly is. She comes to realise more about herself as well as more about the other people in her life. She learns to see things through her eyes, and not through the eyes of her partner. In addition, Holly discovers her inner strength.

#6 The Help by Kathryn Stockett

Set in Jackson, Mississippi in the early 1960s, 'The Help' by Kathryn Stockett shows the peak of racial segregation. The book is narrated by three very different women; Minny, a black maid unable to keep a job due to her hot head, Aibileen, another black maid who is raising her 'seventeenth white child', and Miss Skeeter, at the opposite end of the spectrum, a white woman who wants to be a writer. She has been brought up by black maids since she was young and longs to find out why her much-loved maid, Constantine, has disappeared.

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The help is the black community who spend their lives bringing up the children of upper-class white families. With their own children being looked after by someone else, the help spends their days feeding, dressing and playing with the children they are employed to look after, only to see them grow up and turn out like the rest of the white community, discriminating against the people who have raised them.

#7 I’ve Got Your Number by Sophie Kinsella

I’ve Got Your Number is written from the perspective of Poppy Wyatt who loses her engagement ring a week before her wedding. After getting mugged, she soon sees a working phone that someone has hastily thrust into the bin and she claims it as her own. She hands out this new number to all the people working at the hotel where she lost her ring, but the problem is, it’s a company phone and it belonged to the PA of one, Sam Roxton, a hotshot businessman.

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Sam, understandably, wants the phone back so he can give it to his new PA as all his important emails are still being forwarded to that phone, but a desperate Poppy manages to persuade him to let her keep it for a week until her ring turns up as long as she promises to forward everything related to Sam’s work to his phone. As they both started spending more time together, Poppy then began realizing things she hasn’t noticed all along and discovered everything about love, life and herself. 

Being a mom, especially a working one is definitely hard work. It is important for you to take a break and focus on your own needs at times so that you wouldn’t be too stressed to handle anything else. After all, no children like dealing with angry stressed mommies. Instead, treat yourself to some uninterrupted me-time to put up your feet and dive into a new read so that your body will be able to relax. 

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