Innocent, a Broad, An

Leary, Ann

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0060527242 ISBN 13: 9780060527242

Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks, 2019

When Ann Leary and her husband, then unknown actor-comedian Denis Leary, flew to London in the early nineties for a brief getaway during Ann's second trimester of pregnancy, neither anticipated the adventure that was in store for them. The morning after their arrival, Ann's water broke as they strolled through London's streets. A week later their son, Jack, was born weighing only two pounds, six ounces, and it would be five long months before mother and son could return to the States.

In the meantime, Ann became an unwitting yet grateful hostage to Britain's National Health Service -- a stranger in a strange land plunged abruptly into a world of breast pumps and midwives, blood oxygen levels, mad cow disease, and poll tax riots. Desperately worried about the health of her baby, Ann struggled to adapt to motherhood and make sense of a very different culture. At once an intimate family memoir, a lively travelogue, and a touching love story, An Innocent, a Broad is utterly engaging and unforgettable.

Review:

Just 26 weeks into her first pregnancy, Ann Leary's water broke--as she was strolling along London's Oxford Street. An Innocent, A Broad is not so much a drama of her baby's survival as much as it is a chuckle-fest at the expense of both Ann's predicament and of the Brits in general, whose overwrought sense of propriety is mocked non-stop. As the wife of comedian Denis Leary, who was working for the BBC at the time, Anne is forbidden to return to the US and placed on total bed rest; she's pumped full of medication to prevent premature labour. In some of the book's funniest passages, she makes great efforts to prevent her many hospital roommates from discovering she's American, lest they suspect she's freeloading off the National Health Service. (Don't let the bad pun of the book's title put you off; Ann's sense of humour is often as biting and gritty as her husband's).

Despite the doctors' best efforts, baby Jack is born two weeks later, while Denis is back in the US working at comedy clubs (and trying to keep the couple from being evicted from their apartment). Jack is in relatively good shape, but Ann's mental state is at risk as sleep deprivation, anxiety and loneliness get the best of her. Among her postpartum goofs is befriending another woman whose baby is also in intensive care; she mistakes her for a slim, serene Earth Mother instead of the heroin addict she really is. Beware if you think this might seem a perfect gift for a pregnant woman; the belly laughs are constant and likely to cause any expectant woman's water to break. --Erica Jorgensen, Amazon.com

Review:

"Funny, irreverent, witty and wise.compulsively readable." -- Dani Shapiro

"Sharp and funny and snide and soulful. I'd hate her guts except that I want to be her best friend." -- Cynthia Kaplan, author of Why I'm Like This

"Fresh, heartfelt and hilarious...What a broad, what a mom--what a writer. I loved this book."--Michael J. Fox

"Belongs next to David Sedaris's Me Talk Pretty One Day and even Mark Twain's Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court."--Ben Sherwood, author of The Man Who Ate The 747

"Witty, engaging ...a poignant story with sprinklings of good old American neuroticism."--Elle

"Funny, irreverent, witty and wise...compulsively readable."--Dani Shapiro

"Sharp and funny and snide and soulful... I'd hate her guts except that I want to be her best friend."--Cynthia Kaplan, author of Why I'm Like This

"Uplifting, heart-cheering, and-in the most warm and human way-very, very funny...."--Christina Bartolomeo, author of Cupid and Diana

Witty, engaging ...a poignant story with sprinklings of good old American neuroticism. --Elle"

Fresh, heartfelt and hilarious...What a broad, what a mom--what a writer. I loved this book. --Michael J. Fox"