by Ann Leary
First published 2004
Ann Leary arrives in London expecting a brief vacation before her baby arrives. She and her husband Denis, an aspiring comedian, pack for just two nights while he performs on a BBC comedy show. The morning after they land, Ann goes into premature labor. Their son Jack is born dangerously early, trapping the couple in Britain's National Health Service for five months. Ann navigates breast pumps, midwives, and blood oxygen monitors while adjusting to sudden motherhood in a foreign country. Outside the hospital, poll tax riots rage and mad cow disease dominates the news. Denis transforms from unknown performer into London comedy sensation. Ann struggles with her premature baby's health, cultural differences, and her husband's rising career. The memoir captures her journey from carefree expectant mother to exhausted new parent managing medical crises far from home. Leary finds humor in hospital bureaucracy, British customs, and her own fish-out-of-water predicament while confronting genuine fears about her son's survival.
Genres: family-life, contemporary, memoir, parenting
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, new-parent
Setting: London, Britain
Period: 1980s
256 pages · Hardcover · William Morrow
Content warnings: medical-trauma, pregnancy-loss