ABSTRACT
Six years after the initial publication of Bridget Jones's Diary, Allison Pearson's I Don't Know How She Does It: The Life of Kate Reddy, Working Mother appeared in the United States. 1 Pearson's novel, a darkly comic tale of one woman's frenzied attempt to have it all, was quickly heralded as the next step for chick lit, the story of Bridget Jones after she got married and had children. Like the essay collection The Bitch in the House: 26 Women Tell the Truth about Sex, Solitude, Work, Motherhood, and Marriage, which was also published in 2002, Pearson's book struck a chord among readers. Decades-long debates about motherhood and work were reignited, and both books spent time on best-seller lists, Pearson's for eleven weeks. Journalists and critics discussed Kate Reddy, at times as though she were a real person, in publications such as the New York Times, USA Today, Business Week, Time, People, and Salon.com. 2 Pearson sold the movie rights to Miramax. Mommy lit was born.
