Single Mother on the Verge

Jan 15, 2025 10:13 PM

Author:Maria Roberts

Maria is twenty-nine years old. She is a single mother and lives on a council estate in Manchester. She's also a chronic day-dreamer. One day she'd like to marry a beautiful man with a huge income to look after her and Jack, her nine-year-old son.

The only problem is that her current boyfriend, Rhodri, a chickpea-loving vegan eco-warrior, has turned his back on career ladders. Neither does he believe in monogamy. And so Maria finds herself unexpectedly juggling one, two, three lovers . . .

When Damien, Jack's abusive father, who threatened more times than Maria cares to remember to kill her makes an unwelcome reappearance, she gets a wake-up call. Will Maria find a wonderful father figure for Jack by the time she turns thirty?

A surprisingly humorous memoir with heartbreaking and unexpected moments, Single Mother on the Verge is a seductive and extremely touching read.

Reviews

Easily readable, liberating ... a book you can trust.

—— The Independent

In a perfect world every parent would have a parenting masterclass before the baby arrives. This is the next best thing!

—— Arabella Weir

At last, something for the modern mother! A sane voice amid the shrill cacophony of childcare books

—— Imogen Edwards-Jones

I agree with Oliver James. Caring for a baby or toddler is personal, because you have to tune in to the child's changing needs.

—— Sue Palmer , The Times

Unlike other books of this sort, How Not to F*** Them Up focuses on the wellbeing of the parent as a starting point for meeting the needs of the child... This is a man who wears his heart on his sleeve, and is not afraid to admit his own frailties. As a result his theories come across not as condescension, but as advice from one fucked-up-person to another.

—— Jake Wallis Simons , The Independent on Sunday

... it is obvious that James is truly on the side of women and creating a society in which parenting and the issues it raises are shared between both partners.

—— Louise Carpenter , The Times Magazine

Hugely gripping... it certainly makes you think.

—— Angels and Urchins

[Oliver James] does a great job of describing some of the problems in modern society and how the demands of the 21st century can affect a person's happiness... [he] uncovers the answer to how to reconnect with what really matters and learn to value what you've already got. In other words, how to be successful and stay sane.

—— Ana Ivanovic, Tennis Professional , Amazon

Advice that focuses on training you - the parents - rather than your kids. A refreshing approach.

—— Easy Living

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