Let me introduce you to the Symthe household - there’s me Samantha, my husband, John the Second and our two children, Bennie and Jamie. And then there’s my eldest son Edward from my first marriage. I love my family to bits but I do sometimes wonder if a non-nuclear family can ever be a "real" family. Every now and then I lose my cool and start shouting like a mad woman until John has to take me upstairs and calm me down. Being a mum is never easy and last summer it all got a whole lot more complicated when my ex-husband John the First, turned up at our house for the first time in three years. The real reason for his unexpected appearance was Edward. John wanted to get to know him better and Edward in turn thought it was marvellous that he now had two dads living with him. I on-the-other-hand, began to feel that I was slowly disappearing out sight.

Suddenly, our chaotic but loving home was teetering on the verge of collapse.

Samantha Smythe (a.k.a author Lucy Cavendish) is blogging her life as a harrassed mother-of-three with one lovely husband (John) and one not so lovely ex-husband (also called John) on mumsnet. Read Samantha's blog here.

» Read the first chapters of Samantha Smythe's Modern Family Journal by downloading the Penguin Taster here

» Visit Penguin Tasters

Marian Keyes recommends Samantha Smythe amongst five other books.
'I adored this book. Samantha Smythe has it all - a husband, an ex-husband, three children, an unfulfilling job, a perfect sister, and a critical mother. Well-written, intelligent and acutely well-observed, underappreciated wives and mothers will take great comfort from the fact that they are not alone.'
Marian Keyes