{"product_id":"a-working-mother-9781968671372","title":"A Working Mother","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"A hidden treasure of Scottish literature, read this and then read all her other works.\" --Douglas Stuart\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA mordant, cautionary tale about a working-class woman hemmed in on all sides, written by \"the most unfairly neglected of all Scottish authors\" (Alasdair Gray, author of \u003ci\u003ePoor Things\u003c\/i\u003e).\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003e\"I've got a job,\" I told Adam.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Good for you. I can now relinquish all responsibility for this household then?\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"And I can save up for a divorce.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003e\"So, let's celebrate,\" said Adam.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDiscovered by three of Scotland's most celebrated writers, Alasdair Gray, James Kelman, and Liz Lochhead, when they were visiting a local writers' workshop in the late 1970s, Agnes Owens--then in her 50s--claimed she'd joined the group just to \"get out of the house.\" She had grown up in a working-class family outside Glasgow, done badly at school, and had worked in factories, as a cleaner, and as an occasional typist. When she published her highly acclaimed first novel at the age of 58, it launched a most unexpected literary career.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNowhere is Owens's black humor and attention to the surreal banalities and frustrations of ordinary existence better showcased than in her third novel, \u003ci\u003eA Working Mother\u003c\/i\u003e. Our beleaguered heroine is Betty, beset by her depressed, alcoholic war-vet husband Adam and their smart-mouthed kids. Neither an affair with Adam's attractive friend Brendan (a disappointment), nor her new job as a typist (for a leerer with roving hands) can lift her out of the rut. Is it any wonder she's taken to the bottle now too?\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAs Megan Nolan writes in the foreword to this new edition, in a \"shrewd and ironic style\" that is all Owens's own, A Working Mother proves that \"any given life rewards intelligent attention when it is as fine and as funny and incandescent as hers.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e McNally Editions\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 10\/06\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781968671372\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 176","brand":"Agnes Owens","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":53241143623861,"sku":"9781968671372","price":15.3,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/a-working-mother-9781968671372","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}