Pearson is fiercely funny and keenly observant. But it is her poignant and powerful statements about serious topics like aging, the invisibility of older women and the impact a paycheck has on a woman’s psyche that make this novel a must-read ... How Hard couldn’t be more timely or delightful, as Kate faces the hormonal and hiring cliff that is turning 50, a marriage moping into midlife, parenting in the social media era and an office culture that is ripe for a Me Too moment.
The book’s cover offers fair warning of the explicit content inside: 'Teenage kids. Ageing Parents. Marriage in Meltdown' ... The rest is by turns funny, sad — and very explicitly menopausal. While the queasy might find there is too much pain, blood (and forgetfulness) in these pages, there is a raw honesty about this part of Kate’s story, highlighting as it does the debilitating physical and mental toll of the menopause that has so often been hidden or silenced, that it serves only to elevate some of the book’s more contrived plot lines and humour.
This novel is filled with smart insights into aging parents, female friendships, tricky family dynamics and failing marriages, while too easily lapsing into women’s magazine jargon (enough with the Sandwich Generation). And at 372 pages, it is decidedly overlong. Not only does Kate write much of Emily’s essay on Twelfth Night, but we have to read it — a chapter’s worth, complete with Mom’s not-terribly-fresh psychological insights. Pearson also assigns nicknames tiresomely — Dr. Libido of Harley Street prescribes Hormone Replacement Therapy for perimenopause, which becomes 'Perry and the Menopauses.' And Kate’s imaginary sidekick, Roy, who aids her faulty memory, is more tedious than amusing. Mostly, though, Kate makes good company, and you can’t help rooting for her.
She’s baaaaack. That would be Kate Reddy ... wearier and, frankly, not much wiser ... Kate is closing in on 50 and has a whole new set of problems: a hostile, sexting 16-year-old daughter ... a jobless husband ... And then there is menopause, which in How Hard Can It Be? is less a condition than a character. Ms. Pearson spares not one eldritch detail, not one single hot flash. The reader gets the point quickly. The reader gets cross. Nonetheless, Ms. Pearson writes with great wit and verve. And the sections of the novel that deal with the care of an increasingly demented in-law are genuinely moving.
Much of the book is devoted to Kate trying to do the universal juggle. Will she be able to support her family, save her marriage, rock her job, appear to be aging in reverse — and be happy, too? ... It is a problem many readers will identify with ... Despite a predictable plot, it is this relatable quality of Pearson’s story, along with laugh-out-loud zingers on nearly every page, that makes this sequel shine ... a witty, current and a good reminder that age can be a trump card.
Kate is by far the best part of a book that has loads of great parts. She’s brilliant, funny, and tender as she observes the new foreignness of her marriage, her teenage children, her workplace, and her own self ... Tackling sexism, growing older, and understanding one’s needs when catering to those of so many others, Pearson writes realism with all the fun of escapism.
A caring mother, sister, daughter, and daughter-in-law, Kate thrives because she is smarter, wittier, prettier, and more competent than everyone else. She is also self-congratulatory, even when supposedly self-deprecating, and merciless to her enemies, even one encountered in the waiting room of a therapy center for self-harming teens. An aspirational fantasy in which the heroine not only survives, but flourishes through every crisis known to middle-age women in the higher income brackets.
The winning follow-up to Pearson’s bestselling I Don’t Know How She Does It is anchored by heroine Kate Reddy’s authentic, intelligent, and consistently funny British voice ... Pearson also hits the right notes in conveying the cluelessness and powerlessness parents feel raising teens obsessed by gaming and social media. Readers will cheer on Kate as she becomes a kick-butt woman of a certain age.
