Showing results by author "Kathy Lette" in All Categories

Ruby has always been the generous mediator among her friends, family and colleagues, which is why they have all turned up to celebrate her 50th birthday. But after a few too many glasses of champers, Ruby's speech doesn't exactly go to plan. Instead of delivering the witty and warm words her guests are expecting, Ruby takes her moment in the spotlight to reveal what she really thinks of every one of them. She also accuses her husband, Harry, of having an affair, and reads to the audience the evidence she found on his phone that very morning.

History teacher Gwen is driving to school when she hears a news report about a man on his regular morning swim, taken by a Great White. She races to the beach, but all that remains of Jason is his swimming cap, a flipper with a bite taken out of it and a bit of torn, blood-stained wet suit found floating on the other side of the island. Her private heartbreak is interrupted by a woman screeching to a stop on a motor bike. A frantic Tish screams for information, convinced it's her husband who's been taken by the man-eater. Gwen tries to reassure her that it's Jason who's been killed.

Meet Merlin. He's Lucy's bright, beautiful son - who just happens to be autistic. Since Merlin's father, the reserved, cerebral workaholic Jeremy, left them in the lurch shortly after Merlin's diagnosis, Lucy has made Merlin the centre of her world. Struggling with the joys and tribulations of raising her adorable yet challenging son, Lucy doesn't have room for any other man in her life ... so why bother trying to find one? When Lucy realises she's becoming cynical about life, she finally resolves to dip a toe back into the world of dating.

All women want to kill their husbands some of the time. "Where there's a will, I intend to be in it", wives half-joke to each other. Marriage, it would appear, is a fun-packed frivolous hobby, only occasionally resulting in death. But when Jazz Jardine is arrested for her husband's murder, the joke falls flat. Life should begin at 40, but not with life imprisonment for killing your spouse.

Matilda, Jo, Penny and Cressy are all women at the top of their game; so imagine their surprise when they start to be personally overlooked and professionally pushed aside by less-qualified men. Only they’re not going down without a fight. Society might think the women have passed their amuse-by dates but the Revenge Club have other plans.

Here's the latest hilarious listen from the one and only Kathy Lette. When Lucy's husband of 18 years runs out on her, she'll do anything to win him back. Including climbing out of her bedroom window at one in the morning wearing her daughter's mini skirt. Jasper has left Lucy for her best friend, the chic and thin interior decorator Renee. To make matters worse, her teenage daughter Tally, blames her Mum.

Lizzie's life is pretty damn perfect, until she realises she's about to hit the dreaded 4¿0. But losing her job to a younger journalist is not the only ingrown pube in the bikini wax of Lizzie's life. Her surgeon husband, Hugo, unexpectedly falls for an actress who keeps fit doing step-aerobics off her own ego. Lizzie has always believed brains to be more important than beauty, but up against a sex goddess, principles and profundity are about as useful as a eunuch at a whipped-cream orgy.

Written 20 years ago, Puberty Blues is the best-selling account of growing up in the 1970s that took Australia by storm and spawned an eponymous cult movie. Puberty Blues is about "top chicks" and "surfie spunks" and the kids who don't quite make the cut: it recreates with fascinating honesty a world where only the gang and the surf count. It's a hilarious and horrifying account of the way many teenagers live, and some of them die.

"Would it be a serious breach of etiquette to run out on my own wedding?" This is the question Becky Steele asks herself as she clings to the window ledge of her parents' bathroom, grimly regarding the 10-foot drop into the dustbins below. She stares in disbelief at the meringue dress for which she has drunk only skimmed water for four weeks to fit into. Why can't Becky commit to Julian, human rights lawyer, and her Knight in Shining Armani? Yes, Julian's the right man, but has she had enough wrong ones?

Tilly has the day from hell when she's sacked from her barristers' chambers in the morning, then finds her husband in bed with her former best friend in the afternoon. She escapes to her mother, Roxy - a sassy solicitor whose outrageous take on men, work, and family life is the despair of her more conventional daughter. Roxy comes up with a radical plan for their future - they'll set up an all-female law firm which will only champion women who have been cheated, put upon, attacked, ripped off, or ruined by the men in their lives.

Oh dear! Now an adult on L-plates, Debbie and her girlfriends reveal what women talk about when there are no men around. Prepare yourself for full-frontal comedic camaraderie. After breaking off with both her best friend and boyfriend, Debbie runs away to the inner-city world of punk rock, dodgy jobs, new mates and R-rated adventures. It’s the kaleidoscopic 1980s, a time of perms, shoulder pads, Blondie and Bowie, prawn cocktails, fondue parties and mistaking promiscuity for feminism. The blokes are laughing all the way to the sperm bank - of course they’re for ‘free love’, as they don’t have to pay for it.

Maddy Wolfe's first day out with her newborn takes a Kafkaesque turn when she's wrongfully arrested in Harrods for shoplifting. The only person she can turn to is her hot-to-trot ex-lover Alex, who proves himself to be as useful as a solar powered vibrator on a rainy day. When will he realise that a paternity suit is not the latest look in men's leisurewear?

A celebration of adult literature and reading. The whole book industry, including booksellers, librarians and publishers, were invited come together and pick out their favourite titles to be included the final list of 25 books by authors from the UK and Ireland. The final list included fiction, poetry and memoirs, among others. There were some best sellers, some classics and some lesser known.