I love Amanda Prowse! Whenever I watch her on TV, she is beautiful, intelligent and I spend most of my time nodding along to what she is saying, thinking “This woman really knows people, she understands us.” Reading the first part of her book Women Like Us: A Memoir, even before Chapter One, I was relating to it all – yes, that’s me, I do that too, I’m that one at parties, she sees me, she knows me!
It helps that Amanda is around my age, we’re both women, we’re both writers, we’re both mothers. We’re even the same height! Right from the start, it feels like Amanda wrote this book for ME! It feels like we’re sitting chatting over coffee (or wine) and I keep wanting to join in the conversation and tell her I completely get where she’s coming from.
Amanda is best known for being the author of 28 novels, but although this is a memoir, it is just as engaging a read. We go through all the emotions with her as she grows up, having to endure ten operations between the ages of thirteen and eighteen to correct a congenital pelvic condition. I felt so sorry for her reading this section.
Amanda really puts herself on the page. Women Like Us is brutally honest, upsetting, emotional but also amazing, uplifting and most of all, relatable! While none of us have experienced everything Amanda has, there will be so much we have in common with her. I loved all the cultural references like Bunty and Jackie and idolising Debbie Harry. (Me too!) I also loved how reading was so important to her from childhood onwards (especially with the time she spent in hospital) and I was fascinated to hear about her writing ambitions and how long she had to fight against the feeling she wasn’t good enough to be a successful author.
Biographies and memoirs can sometimes be a bit dull, as it’s just one person’s life story (especially if you’re only twenty and the one thing you’ve done in your life is appearing on a reality show for ten minutes…) but this is NEVER dull, it’s a real page turner and I don’t say that about many memoirs. Because Amanda is a writer more than a “celeb”, the way she handles words is outstanding and you get swept up into her classy prose and hilarious self-deprecating wit.
10 out of 10
INFORMATION
Publication Day: 6th September 2022
‘Women Like Us’ is a memoir from Amanda Prowse that will give readers insights into Amanda’s life and her journey so far. Honest, uplifting and written in her own unique style, Amanda will talk about her battles with all of the obstacles that were put in her path and how she overcame them to find happiness.
Available for pre-order now, ‘Women Like Us’ is set to be the must read memoir of 2022.
Endorsements
‘Uplifting and positive, but you will still need a box of tissues’ – Hello
‘Captivating, heartbreaking and superbly written’ – Closer
‘A deeply emotional, unputdownable read’ – Red
‘A gut-wrenching and absolutely brilliant read’ – The Irish Sun.
‘You’ll fall in love with this…’ – Cosmopolitan
‘Deeply moving and emotional, Amanda Prowse handles her explosive subject with delicate skill’
– The Daily Mail
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