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Liv Winsome, working mother of three sons, wife to decent if distracted Duncan, is overwhelmed. And losing her hair. Her doctor has told her she needs to slow down, do less. Focus on what's important. After Jai, one of her fourteen-year-old twins, is involved in a sexting scandal, Liv realises things need to change, and fast. Inspired by the pop-psychology books she devours, she writes a nine-page list of everything she does to keep the family afloat, and she delegates. She lets her boys' conservative school know it has some work to do, too - partly, Liv suspects, because its leadership has a 'woman problem' (or, rather, a too-many-men problem).Jai's girlfriend, Grace, is at the heart of the sexting scandal and her mum, Jess Charters, up in arms as well, goes to the media. The women's combined efforts force Carmichael Grammar to take action. They appoint a savvy psychologist-author to address the cultural issues at the school, leading to a raft of small but targeted changes to Carmichael's teaching, classes and environment. To everyone's surprise, and Liv's delight, things actually start to improve. Inspired by his wife's success, Duncan rethinks the way he lives and works too, despite the workaholic culture of his law firm and its scary managing partner, who's also his older brother. In unexpected ways, Liv and Duncan's marriage and family life undergo their own transformations. Some new developments, though, aren't entirely welcome.… (más)
When her fourteen year old son, Jai, is suspended for his part in creating a ‘hot or not’ Insta-story it proves to be a tipping point for both Liv Winsome, and the exclusive grammar school her sons attend.
“Twenty five years ago she was a high-achieving student, and today she was a high achieving mother (and wife). A super-doer. Or so she’d thought.”
Liv, a legal investigator, mother to twins, Jai and Oscar, and nine-year-old Cody, and wife to Duncan whom she describes as a “A pleasant, human stocking filler.”, is stressed and tired of being all things to all people. To the horror of her family, Liv decides to divide the overwhelming physical and emotional burden she carries amongst them. It’s a rare mother who has not dreamed of doing the same, I laughed out loud in recognition when Liv’s family presented their lists of responsibilities, which amounted to a fraction of her own nine and a half pages.
Liv has good intentions - to stop her hair falling out by the handful, to teach her sons responsibility, to encourage her husband to develop his emotional range, to make just a few tweaks to ensure a better life for them all. And she’s not going to stop there, she’s determined to hold her sons conservative school to account for what she considers are their subtle, and not so subtle, misogynistic practices. Liv is excited as real change begins to happen, but things soon begin to go awry on the home front, particularly when Duncan has his own epiphany on work/life balance, and Carmichael Grammar is none too receptive to the idea of permanently disrupting the status quo either.
George’s characters are well-drawn, realistic and relatable. Liv is pretty intense, but there are aspects of her character, and her family’s dynamic I found familiar. So too with Jess Charters, whose 14 year old daughter’s sexy selfie was one of those shared, though she is quite a different character from Liv. I didn’t particularly care for Duncan, but I thought his perspective was a valuable addition to the story. Children and teens are notoriously difficult to portray authentically but I thought George did it well.
Elements of the story related to institutional gender bias/ sexual harassment are very timely given current events in Australia (this week was the #March4Justice). George explores a wide range of responses to the issues raised among both sexes, and several age groups. I found the focus on calling out the subtle signs of sexism throughout the school’s physical environment particularly thought-provoking, as it happens parent/teacher night is next week and I’ll be looking at my children’s school with a new perspective.
The story moves at a good pace, but I do think Tipping was a little long, with a few minor threads and characters that didn’t add anything of substance to the narrative.
A story of family, change, activism and the search for equilibrium, Tipping is witty and fun, but it is also a thought-provoking, and even inspiring novel. I believe it would provide excellent material for a book group discussion, especially one with a mixed membership.
Liv Winsome, working mother of three sons, wife to decent if distracted Duncan, is overwhelmed. And losing her hair. Her doctor has told her she needs to slow down, do less. Focus on what's important. After Jai, one of her fourteen-year-old twins, is involved in a sexting scandal, Liv realises things need to change, and fast. Inspired by the pop-psychology books she devours, she writes a nine-page list of everything she does to keep the family afloat, and she delegates. She lets her boys' conservative school know it has some work to do, too - partly, Liv suspects, because its leadership has a 'woman problem' (or, rather, a too-many-men problem).Jai's girlfriend, Grace, is at the heart of the sexting scandal and her mum, Jess Charters, up in arms as well, goes to the media. The women's combined efforts force Carmichael Grammar to take action. They appoint a savvy psychologist-author to address the cultural issues at the school, leading to a raft of small but targeted changes to Carmichael's teaching, classes and environment. To everyone's surprise, and Liv's delight, things actually start to improve. Inspired by his wife's success, Duncan rethinks the way he lives and works too, despite the workaholic culture of his law firm and its scary managing partner, who's also his older brother. In unexpected ways, Liv and Duncan's marriage and family life undergo their own transformations. Some new developments, though, aren't entirely welcome.
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“Twenty five years ago she was a high-achieving student, and today she was a high achieving mother (and wife). A super-doer. Or so she’d thought.”
Liv, a legal investigator, mother to twins, Jai and Oscar, and nine-year-old Cody, and wife to Duncan whom she describes as a “A pleasant, human stocking filler.”, is stressed and tired of being all things to all people. To the horror of her family, Liv decides to divide the overwhelming physical and emotional burden she carries amongst them. It’s a rare mother who has not dreamed of doing the same, I laughed out loud in recognition when Liv’s family presented their lists of responsibilities, which amounted to a fraction of her own nine and a half pages.
Liv has good intentions - to stop her hair falling out by the handful, to teach her sons responsibility, to encourage her husband to develop his emotional range, to make just a few tweaks to ensure a better life for them all. And she’s not going to stop there, she’s determined to hold her sons conservative school to account for what she considers are their subtle, and not so subtle, misogynistic practices. Liv is excited as real change begins to happen, but things soon begin to go awry on the home front, particularly when Duncan has his own epiphany on work/life balance, and Carmichael Grammar is none too receptive to the idea of permanently disrupting the status quo either.
George’s characters are well-drawn, realistic and relatable. Liv is pretty intense, but there are aspects of her character, and her family’s dynamic I found familiar. So too with Jess Charters, whose 14 year old daughter’s sexy selfie was one of those shared, though she is quite a different character from Liv. I didn’t particularly care for Duncan, but I thought his perspective was a valuable addition to the story. Children and teens are notoriously difficult to portray authentically but I thought George did it well.
Elements of the story related to institutional gender bias/ sexual harassment are very timely given current events in Australia (this week was the #March4Justice). George explores a wide range of responses to the issues raised among both sexes, and several age groups. I found the focus on calling out the subtle signs of sexism throughout the school’s physical environment particularly thought-provoking, as it happens parent/teacher night is next week and I’ll be looking at my children’s school with a new perspective.
The story moves at a good pace, but I do think Tipping was a little long, with a few minor threads and characters that didn’t add anything of substance to the narrative.
A story of family, change, activism and the search for equilibrium, Tipping is witty and fun, but it is also a thought-provoking, and even inspiring novel. I believe it would provide excellent material for a book group discussion, especially one with a mixed membership.