{"product_id":"a-working-mother-paperback","title":"A Working Mother - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eAgnes Owens\u003c\/b\u003e (Author), \u003cb\u003eMegan Nolan\u003c\/b\u003e (Foreword by)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"A hidden treasure of Scottish literature, read this and then read all her other works.\" --Douglas Stuart\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA mordant, cautionary tale about a working-class woman hemmed in on all sides, written by \"the most unfairly neglected of all Scottish authors\" (Alasdair Gray, author of \u003ci\u003ePoor Things\u003c\/i\u003e).\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003e\"I've got a job,\" I told Adam.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Good for you. I can now relinquish all responsibility for this household then?\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"And I can save up for a divorce.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003e\"So, let's celebrate,\" said Adam.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDiscovered by three of Scotland's most celebrated writers, Alasdair Gray, James Kelman, and Liz Lochhead, when they were visiting a local writers' workshop in the late 1970s, Agnes Owens--then in her 50s--claimed she'd joined the group just to \"get out of the house.\" She had grown up in a working-class family outside Glasgow, done badly at school, and had worked in factories, as a cleaner, and as an occasional typist. When she published her highly acclaimed first novel at the age of 58, it launched a most unexpected literary career.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNowhere is Owens's black humor and attention to the surreal banalities and frustrations of ordinary existence better showcased than in her third novel, \u003ci\u003eA Working Mother\u003c\/i\u003e. Our beleaguered heroine is Betty, beset by her depressed, alcoholic war-vet husband Adam and their smart-mouthed kids. Neither an affair with Adam's attractive friend Brendan (a disappointment), nor her new job as a typist (for a leerer with roving hands) can lift her out of the rut. Is it any wonder she's taken to the bottle now too?\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAs Megan Nolan writes in the foreword to this new edition, in a \"shrewd and ironic style\" that is all Owens's own, A Working Mother proves that \"any given life rewards intelligent attention when it is as fine and as funny and incandescent as hers.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eMegan Nolan\u003c\/b\u003e is an Irish writer currently based in New York. For her debut novel, \u003ci\u003eActs of Desperation\u003c\/i\u003e, Nolan was the recipient of a Betty Trask Award, shortlisted for the \u003ci\u003eSunday Times\u003c\/i\u003e Young Writer of the Year Award and longlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize. Her second, \u003ci\u003eOrdinary Human Failings\u003c\/i\u003e, was longlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction, and shortlisted for the Nero Book Award for Fiction, Orwell Prize for Political Fiction, the Gordon Burn Prize and the RSL Encore Award.\u003c\/p\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 176\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.8 x 8.4 x 5 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e October 06, 2026\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46383245787271,"sku":"9781968671372","price":18.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0601\/2623\/2711\/files\/aw01W45jL9781968671372.webp?v=1793411491","url":"https:\/\/booksby.splitshops.com\/products\/a-working-mother-paperback","provider":"Books by splitShops","version":"1.0","type":"link"}