Wife in the North

One wife, mother and blogger's determined attempts to make some friends, find a decent cup of coffee and build a new life in the North

How far would you go to be the perfect mother? The hilarious Wife in the North by Judith O'Reilly, based on her enormously popular blog, recounts one woman's attempt to move her family and her life from cosmopolitan London to rural Northumberland. 
 
Maybe hormones ate her brain. How else did Judith's husband persuade her to give up her career and move from her beloved London to Northumberland with two toddlers in tow? 
 
Pregnant with number 3 Judith is about to discover that there are one or two things about life in the country that no one told her about: that she'd be making friends with people who believed in the four horsemen of the apocalypse; that running out of petrol could be a near death experience and that the closest thing to an ethnic minority would be a redhead. 
 
Judith tries to do that simple thing that women do, make hers a happy family. A family that might live happily ever after. Possibly even up North ... 
 
'Genuinely funny and genuinely moving' Jane Fallon, author of Getting Rid of Matthew 
 
'Cold Comfort Farm with booster seats. Funny, honest and moving' Stephanie Calman, author of Confessions of a Bad Mother 
 
'I howled with laughter, tears of recognition at every page' Jenny Colgan 
 
'Funny, poignant and beautifully written' Lisa Jewell 
 
Judith O'Reilly, a journalist and the mother of three young children, was persuaded to move from London to Northumberland by her husband in August 2005. She started a blog, wifeinthenorth.com, in November 2006, which quickly picked up fans around the world with its witty tales of family and country life. Her second book A Year of Doing Good is published by Penguin.

I howled with laughter, tears of recognition at every bloody page. My only problem with this book was choosing who to pass it on to first.

Judith O'Reilly, a journalist and the mother of three young children, was persuaded to move from London to Northumberland by her husband in August 2005. She started a blog, wifeinthenorth.com, in November 2006, which quickly picked up fans around the world with its witty tales of family and country life

Maybe hormones ate her brain. How else did Judith's husband persuade her to give up her career and move from her beloved London to Northumberland with two toddlers in tow? 
 
Pregnant with number 3 Judith is about to discover that there are one or two things about life in the country that no one told her about: that she&rsquo;d be making friends with people who believed in the four horsemen of the apocalypse; that running out of petrol could be a near death experience and that the closest thing to an ethnic minority would be a redhead. 
 
Judith tries to do that simple thing that women do, make hers a happy family. A family that might live happily ever after. Possibly even up North ...

Judith O'Reilly

Banish January blues with A Year of Doing Good by Judith O'Reilly who resolved to do one good turn day. . . utterly uplifting

Fizzing with energy Judith's writing is open-hearted and funny. . . though not a guide to doing good, Judith's story may inspire you to do a little more for others this year

Glorious sincerity. . .the admiring accounts of others' lives, the detailing of the deeds gladly done or furiously resented, the unending chaos of family life - all are rendered honestly, colourfully and occasionally hilariously

A truly inspirational book with which to begin a New Year . . .  witty and moving

A Year of Doing Good inspires the reader with the day-to-day journey of meaning, gratification and joy that comes from contributing to the lives of others in so many creative ways. For those who want to put "do unto others" in the centre of their lives and reap the unexpected benefits of happiness and health, this is the book for you. Elegantly written, the words jump off the page.

One Woman, One New Year's Resolution, 365 Good Deeds

Fed up of New Year's resolutions involving diets and exercise abandoned on January 2nd, Judith is attempting to be good. For one whole year. 
 
Judith embarked on a mission to do one good deed every day. Some called it a social experiment. At times she called it madness. 
 
Juggling family, friends and a variety of neighbours in the small Northumberland village she calls home, she recounts the ups, downs, moments of doubt and sheer bloody hard work of doing good. 
 
From the small - babysitting a friend's child, clearing up her neighbour's dead mice and feeding her friendship cake Herman the German, to the slightly larger - trying to raise £10,000 for charity with her Jam Jar Army and teaching a severely handicapped child to write - she describes what she learns along the way: that no good deed is too small and that being good makes you happy. Well, most of the time.

Judith O'Reilly

Praise for A Year of Doing Good

Banish January blues with A Year of Doing Good by Judith O'Reilly who resolved to do one good turn day. . . utterly uplifting

A funny, uplifting and admirable book

Fizzing with energy Judith's writing is open-hearted and funny. . . though not a guide to doing good, Judith's story may inspire you to do a little more for others this year

Banish January blues with A Year of Doing Good by Judith O'Reilly who resolved to do one good turn day. . . utterly uplifting

A funny, uplifting and admirable book

Fizzing with energy Judith's writing is open-hearted and funny. . . though not a guide to doing good, Judith's story may inspire you to do a little more for others this year

Banish January blues with A Year of Doing Good by Judith O'Reilly who resolved to do one good turn day. . . utterly uplifting

A funny, uplifting and admirable book

Fizzing with energy Judith's writing is open-hearted and funny. . . though not a guide to doing good, Judith's story may inspire you to do a little more for others this year

Books by Judith O'Reilly

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