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Jennie Ensor
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Not Having It All: a brazen comedy about the perils of midlife Paperback – May 21, 2019

by Jennie Ensor (Author)
4.0 4.0 out of 5 stars 57 ratings
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Neuroscientist Bea Hudson fears she is a bad mother and that her career will be thwarted by family life. When her husband suspects Bea of having an affair with her best friend, a chain of events is triggered, leading to a crisis in Bea's life.

Bea Hudson, a neuropsychologist living in Godalming, is struggling to cope with the challenging behaviour of her obsessive husband Kurt and their disruptive four-year-old daughter Fran. On top of this, her boss is pressuring her to get results from her research. Bea has her work cut out.

Things come to a head when Kurt goes away on an extended business assignment. While sacking staff and drinking heavily, Kurt's insecurities run amok and he becomes convinced that Bea's close friend Madeleine is seducing his wife and unduly influencing his daughter.

Meanwhile, childless artist Madeleine sees her friend torn between the demands of work and offers to help with Fran. But when she reveals a startling desire to her unsympathetic therapist Mr Rowley, he advises her to focus on the attention of Colin, a man she met in a lift.

Can Bea survive the demands of her career and the turmoil in her marriage without having a breakdown? Can Madeleine survive Kurt's anger and find happiness with Colin? And can love survive marriage, middle-age, alcohol and ambition?

Not Having It All is about a scientist torn between her stalling career and the demands of her family. With themes of trust, deception and obsession, it is a mercilessly playful take on modern friendships, relationships and family life.

Previous page
  1. Print length
    406 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Open Road Integrated Media LLC
  4. Publication date
    May 21, 2019
  5. Dimensions
    5.25 x 0.9 x 8 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1912986345
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1912986347
  8. See all details
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Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Open Road Integrated Media LLC (May 21, 2019)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 406 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1912986345
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1912986347
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.02 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.25 x 0.9 x 8 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.0 4.0 out of 5 stars 57 ratings

About the author

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Jennie Ensor

Jennie Ensor

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Author website: https://jennieensor.com

Publisher website: http:/hobeck.net

Crime Writers Association profile: https://thecwa.co.uk/find-an-author/ensor-jennie

Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/JennieEnsorAuthor

Twitter: https://twitter.com/jennie_ensor

Instagram: instagram.com/jennieensor

Hello! I'm Jennie Ensor, a Londoner with Irish heritage, and I live with my husband and our Airedale terrier in London and the mountains of south-west France. I write dark-themed, daring fiction: mainly crime, psychological suspense and thrillers, occasionally with a dash of humour.

I began my writing career as a freelance journalist, writing investigative pieces on subjects from corporate malpractice to forced marriages, turning to writing fiction in my thirties. As well as novels I write short stories and poetry, some of which has been placed in competitions. My poem Lost Connection placed second in its category in the 2020 Fish Lockdown Prize. In my spare time (?) I read widely, sing in a choir, practice yoga and cycle. When not doing all that - and I can wrest the remote from Mr E :) - I love watching TV drama (Happy Valley, The Sinner, etc etc).

My next book is due out in May 2023 with Hobeck Books. It is a dark, sometimes funny psychological thriller set in an English village during the first lockdown.

SILENCED, published in 2021 by Hobeck Books, is a chilling crime novel about fear and courage that delves into Britain’s toxic gang culture and police corruption. Do you risk everything by telling the truth about wrongdoing, or stay silent and safe? A detective must decide whether to reveal a secret that's haunted him for twenty-five years; a murdered girl’s mother must decide whether to tell police what she knows; an elderly woman living next to a feared gang’s headquarters must decide whether she will stand up to intimidation.

THE GIRL IN HIS EYES is a thrilling psychological drama that deals with family secrets and sexual exploitation, published in 2018 by Bloodhound Books.

My debut BLIND SIDE is a psychological thriller entwined with a love story with a mystery at its heart, set in London during the 2005 terror attacks. It was first published by Unbound Digital in 2016 and republished in 2021.

NOT HAVING IT ALL is a poignant, often laugh-out-loud funny novel about love, marriage and relationships in middle age. First published in 2019, republished in 2021.

Find out more about me and my books (and see photos of my dog, favourite walks, etc) on my website https://jennieensor.com and social media.

Customer reviews

4 out of 5 stars
4 out of 5
57 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Karen Eisenbrey
4.0 out of 5 stars A comedy of errors in communication
Reviewed in the United States on November 9, 2019
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This is a pointed comedy of errors, though not a farce, about multiple failures to communicate and an indictment of the modern workplace that demands everything a worker has to give without a thought for the costs to health, sanity, and family.

The central couple, Beatrice and Kurt, both have demanding, high-stress jobs: she’s a neurobiology researcher, he’s an executive of a tech firm. They are trying and failing to give 110% at work and to 4-year-old Fran. Katie is their barely competent Polish au pair. Beatrice’s best friend Maddie is a flaky but lovable artist, eking out a living. Colin is a mild-mannered cog in the insurance machine, making desperate plans for his inevitable layoff. All of these people have secrets and worries they don’t dare reveal, so they confide them in writing to journals or in letters/emails to faraway relatives—and to the reader.

All except little Fran, an intelligent and energetic child who can’t write yet. She misbehaves but can’t articulate why and no one has the bandwidth to help her sort out her feelings. Childless Maddie has fantasies of “rescuing” Fran from her overstressed parents, but of course she can’t tell them that. Kurt, away on business for weeks at a time, is paranoid that Bea is having an affair with Maddie but chooses to spy instead of confide. Bea tells no one but her sister in Australia what she’s going through with her work, her child, her shaky marriage. Maddie and Colin fall for each other but neither of them trusts themselves enough to be honest. Everyone makes terrible decisions in the end, but this is a comedy, so instead of bodies all over the stage, there seems to be a chance of happily ever after.

The letters and journals were overall an effective way to deliver the multiple points of view, while playing up the near catastrophic lack of communication between the characters. Everyone felt like they were getting things off their chests without thinking what they were doing to their relationships. I enjoyed the portrayal of a married couple in the chaos years, still mad about each other but in peril of losing a good thing. Maddie and Colin were also appealing as an odd couple taking a tentative chance on love.
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Lytton A. Grey
4.0 out of 5 stars plenty to amuse you
Reviewed in the United States on August 8, 2019
This domestic comedy set in privileged suburbia (large house, au pair, white-collar jobs) is layered with quiet desperation and studded with impulsive acts. There is certainly plenty of action! The characters are real and mostly well-rounded with a lot of detail so we understand them. There are no two alike and so a whole kaleidoscope of different relationships between them.

The writing style is deliberately varied as the entire novel takes the form of written communications between the characters - texts, emails, letters and journals. The individual personalities show well in this, hardly needing the variety of fonts to distinguish them. It's interesting to see how a person uses a different tone when writing to a variety of people and then writing in a diary so, effectively, to themself. The format is a little strained at times as the characters must have taken so much time to write down their accounts of sometimes frenzied and time-critical activity. But this is exactly the mechanism used by Bram Stoker when he wrote Dracula over a hundred years ago. (I'm not especially well-read, I just happen to have read Dracula as a book club choice last month!)

The only person who doesn't write is four year old Fran and we see her only through the eyes of the other characters - her parents, child minder and auntie-by-friendship. She veers between angel and fiend but, sadly, all the adults seem too wrapped up in their own concerns to find this more than an inconvenience.

One of these adult concerns is work. The enjoyment or not of a job and career is quite thoroughly examined by the cast of characters. Allie, Bea, Colin, Kurt, Maddie and Nigel all consider major changes to their lives and, because this occurs gradually, it gives the reader plenty of time to review your own situation at the same time.

But the reason to pick up this novel is not self-improvement but enjoyment. It has madcap moments, funny incidents, misunderstandings, frustrations, odd characters, in-jokes, astounding partying, ridiculous premises and humorous dialogue, so there is plenty to amuse you.
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Bev
4.0 out of 5 stars A look at the modern day woman...career, wife and mother
Reviewed in the United States on June 9, 2019
This book will give you a look into the life of Bea Hudson. She has fears that she isn't being a good mother, meanwhile, her boss is pressuring her for results on her research. To top that off her husband goes on an extended business assignment leaving her alone with their four-year-old. Madeleine offers to help Bea, but Bea is questioning her motives. This is a story that has funny moments, stressful moments, the whole ball of wax. I voluntarily reviewed an ARC from the publisher.
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Flgirl
4.0 out of 5 stars If you want a good laugh out loud about life - This is the book for you
Reviewed in the United States on May 28, 2019
I was fortunate to receive this ARC from Bloodhound publishers and the author. This was not my usual read but I thoroughly enjoyed the characters and the laughter from all the points of view. This is a definite must read to put some laughter and fun into your life. Great story and characters to laugh with and at life.
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Top reviews from other countries

HM Holten
5.0 out of 5 stars Satirical Comedy – Marital Frustration – Friendships in Various Guises
Reviewed in Germany on April 18, 2021
Verified Purchase
Bea and Kurt have it all, or have they? Both have demanding jobs. Their love life has retained its spark. They have a 4-year-old daughter, Fran, who misbehaves without being able to explain why – and an au-pair, Katie. She develops a strong animosity against the child in her charge.
Bea’s friend, Maddie, has exceedingly little. She is a would-be junk artist with two cats and a longing to get a child. Colin faces redundancy and takes unusual measures to deal with it. His search for love has never brought him much good.
Jennie Ensor takes these components and creates a vaudeville, a laugh-out-loud but serious take on today’s society. Misunderstandings, communication failures, secret surveillance, and hidden cameras bring everybody close to despair. Everybody mistrusts everybody with hilarious results. Ensor handles the multiple point of view through secret dairies, email conversations, the assessment of Maddie by her psychologist, and the au-pair’s candid comments written in her pidgin-English hand.
For Ensor, this is a deviation from her usual writing style, and she handles it with aplomb.
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LemonDrizzleCake
5.0 out of 5 stars Be careful what you wish for !
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 28, 2019
Verified Purchase
This witty and satirical story is a warning to anyone who wants it all... be careful what you wish for.
Bea has a busy life, a promising career, a very naughty daughter and a husband who also wants it all. Kurt prefers his cake in all varieties - a tidy home, a perfect wife and daughter, an efficient au pair and for his life to jog along unhindered, oiled by too much alcohol and with the aid of rose tinted glasses.
Katie the au pair was my favourite character, she had chutzpah and her little notes, written in pidgin English made me chuckle. Colin came a close second, a modern Robin Hood with a lovable streak who I found myself cheering on.
We all know a Maddie, the flaky friend who comes up trumps when we least expect them too and despite their irritating flaws, have a vulnerability that is at times endearing.
This is a perfect holiday read, about so many women out there who want it all, or maybe they don’t, but have manoeuvred themselves into a position where juggling life, family and career isn’t quite what they expected.
Congratulations to the author on this well written homage to modern life.
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Jack
4.0 out of 5 stars A series of misadventures and misunderstandings
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 29, 2019
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Bee's finding it hard to juggle parenthood, teaching and her research. Her husband's working abroad, Katie the ex-au pair finds the household baffling, four-year-old Fran bit someone at nursery and best friend Maddie has just started therapy. No one's any good at expressing their feelings so goodness knows what will happen. Nicely constructed as a series of diary entries, emails and notes, this multi-point of view tale is well-paced and amusing.
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Linda
5.0 out of 5 stars Five large stars
Reviewed in Germany on May 28, 2019
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This book is a tonic – laugh-out-loud funny in many places, especially the parts about the spider research, not to mention the entries by Katie the Polish au-pair. Family issues we can all identify with as well as characters that really come to life make Not Having It All a must-read. Thank you, Jennie Ensor!
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Anita May Waller
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent and highly recommended
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 21, 2019
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Ensor has constructed a remarkable book with believable characters who grip their stories with both hands. The story line is told by letters, thoughts, texts, email – a fascinating way to read the story, especially as each character has their own font. It is funny, quirky, at times quite sad, and although I struggled to read one of the fonts, (poor Nigel, you need a bit more darkness in your life) it didn’t in any way take away from the story. This is something different, and Jennie Ensor has totally cracked it. Her characters come to life through their thoughts, and every woman should have a Colin in their life, but don’t bother with the Kurts! Five stars from me, no problem.
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