Actually I didn't finish it, I abandoned it. Perhaps I've left the school gate behind too long ago, but these mums didn't resemble any I knew. I found the book silly and pointless. ( )

A very British tale of what it's like to be on the inside or the outside of a cliquey group of mothers whose children attend St. Ambrose Primary school in one of the Home Counties not far from London. The leader of the Committee of St. Ambrose (COSTA) is Bea Stuart, a mean girl grown up but largely unchanged since her own school days, although she's now 40. Bea has her sycophants, notably the somewhat intelligence-challenged Heather, and others like Georgie who is so reluctant to get caught up in Bea's fund-raising schemes for the new school library that she's constantly going outside "for a fag", even though she only lights them, flicks off the ashes, stubs them out, but doesn't actually smoke them. Then there is Rachel, who was once Bea's best friend but is now cast out. Although I would run a mile if I had to actually deal with some of these women, I must admit they are fascinating to read about. The analogy of the beehives was adroitly woven into the story. My husband was British, so I wasn't put off by the British-isms that dot the text & might confuse some non-Anglos. Although I must admit I didn't get "lesbian" as a kind of herbal tea - what's that about? Enjoyable mothers-at-the-school-gate tale. ( )

Oh my. I read this book with a wicked smile on my face just wishing I was a big enough bitch to send it to someone with a note 'you're Bea and I'm so over it'. I've decided to be the bigger person and just think it - lots!

An intelligent, funny and warm look at life from the school gates. Good fun. ( )

Oh my. I read this book with a wicked smile on my face just wishing I was a big enough bitch to send it to someone with a note 'you're Bea and I'm so over it'. I've decided to be the bigger person and just think it - lots!

An intelligent, funny and warm look at life from the school gates. Good fun. ( )

I just finished it and I'm still sitting here with a smile on my face. Although it took me a few chapters to actually get hooked into this book, it did happen. After that, I just enjoyed watching this odd but, unfortunately, extremely familiar collection of mostly women with small children react to each other within the very descriptive "hive" of an elementary school. Power struggles, money raising, pettiness, and on and on---very well expressed in this novel---full of the funny as well as fundamentally serious issues that arise in the effort to raise children presented as a school year going, up, down and sideways........ ( )