This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things

by Naomi Wood

WINNER OF THE BBC NATIONAL SHORT STORY AWARD In my life, I had always been a good woman; controlling what it was that I wanted. But recently, I had started to notice my bad energy, and I began to follow it, wondering where it would take me . . . A woman has an unexpected outburst at a corporate therapy session for working mothers. A couple find some long-overdue time to rekindle their relationship and make an ill-advised home movie. A pregnant film director plots revenge on the actress who betrayed her. An ex-wife deliberately causes conflict at her ex-husband's wedding. This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things illuminates the lives of malicious, subversive and untamed women. Exploring failed sisterhood, dubious parenting and the dark side of modern love, this powerful and funny collection exposes how society wants women to behave, and shows what happens when they refuse.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Audiobook, Contemporary, Feminism, Ebooks, British Literature

256 pages, Hardcover

First published November 26, 2024

About the author

Naomi Wood was born in 1983 and lives in London. She studied at Cambridge and at UEA for her MA in Creative Writing. Originally from York, she has gone on to live in Hong Kong, Paris and Washington DC. She is the author of The Godless Boys, Mrs. Hemingway and The Hiding Game. This is Why We Can't Have Nice Things is her first short story collection, and is coming out in April 2024.

Reviews

[Jillian B · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a collection of very different stories with one thing in common — all of them touch on the theme of motherhood. I’m not a mom, but as a woman in my thirties who has watched friends deal with the huge societal pressures that come along with becoming a mother, I still feel like I got a lot out of this.

Some of these stories will undoubtedly resonate more with readers who are parents, like the first one, which deals with returning to work after having a baby. The ones I found myself drawn to were the weirder stories, like the one about the toxic friendship between a pregnant film director and her muse, or the absolutely bonkers and amazing one about a mother-daughter reality show set in a dinosaur habitat (yes, really!).

If you’re a fan of short stories, I think this collection is worth a read!

[Isabel · Rating 2 out of 5]

1.5 stars

I like the writing style, but couldn't really seem to connect with the stories. They're all very similar and monotone in the sense that they're all about mothers who have issues. And I'm all for female rage and rebellion, but this wasn't it. My favorite story was Wedding Day, though.

Special thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC for this book.

[Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sammlung von Erzählungen/Kurzgeschichten, die sich mit dem Muttersein/Kinder haben und bekommen beschäftigen. Zusätzlich spielt die COVID-19 Pandemie eine große Rolle, Einsamkeit, Sexualität und viele, viele Empfindungen.
Die Titelgebende Geschichte verwirrt mich sehr.
Starker Start, dann empfinde ich es als sehr langatmig, okayer Abschluss.
2.5 Sterne aufgerundet

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

(2.75) I requested this because a) I had enjoyed Wood’s novels Mrs. Hemingway and The Hiding Game and b) I couldn’t resist the title. These nine contemporary stories (five in the first person and four in the third person) all feature women who are pregnant and/or mothers of young children. Three dwell on work–life balance in particular, with the female protagonists of “Lesley, in Therapy” and “Dracula at the Movies” an animator and a filmmaker, respectively. The third, “Hurt Feelings,” in which a medical emergency forces a choice between career and motherhood, was my favourite. Claudia is working on an advertising campaign for a large pharmaceutical company whose newest product targets chronic pain. Although she suspects it’s a placebo, she knows how valuable it is for these people to have their pain acknowledged given it’s as invisible as her history of pregnancy loss.

Other highlights included “Peek-a-Boo,” in which pregnant twin sisters fly to Italy to remonstrate with their father, who refuses to cede a holiday flat to the next renters; and “Wedding Day,” about a woman bitter enough to try to sabotage her ex’s big day by demanding he bring their daughter, the flower girl, home by bedtime. “Flatten the Curve” is about restrictions and desires during Covid lockdown. Family, neighbour, and co-worker dynamics fuel the drama. In a few cases, Wood imagined promising situations but didn’t deliver on them. I could hardly believe “Comorbidities,” about a mother who films a sex tape with her husband to distract from her eco-anxiety, won the 2023 BBC National Short Story Award. If Wood was aiming for edgy, she landed on peevish instead. “Dino Moms,” the final story, was worst, with its absurd dinosaur-vet reality-TV setup. Overall, the collection is too one-note because of the obsession with motherhood (“It is not very interesting to be in love with your child; it’s commonplace, this sacrificial love”). Back to novels soon, please.

Originally published on my blog, Bookish Beck.

[Ly · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was expecting short stories about unhinged female rage and got miserable and bitter women :/

[j k · Rating 2 out of 5]

verbitterte millenial moms, die schwanger wein trinken und sechsjährige sexualisieren

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things is a pretty intimate look into the depths of motherhood - the thread that binds this short story collection together being stories about pregnancy, children, and how the emotional and physical brunt of that tends to fall onto the mothers.

In each story, we see men getting away from it - the partners physically distancing themselves (or straight up leaving), work colleagues who can slowly push them out of the picture as they prepare for maternity leave, the discomfort of pregnancy, the responsibility of children.

The stories are needle sharp, sometimes bringing up quite discomforting thoughts. The woman are flawed, as are we all, although some more outwardly than others - a pregnant director chipping away at her leading actress to try and discover the truths of her past trauma in ‘Dracula at the Movies’, or the mother in the last story ‘Dino Moms’, where they live in a bizarre Jurassic Park-esq reality show, come to mind.

Covid is another theme that runs through quite a few of these stories - so if you don’t like the pandemic appearing in your fiction, maybe give this one a miss. If, however, you’re like me, and like the reminder that it’s something we all had to live through - this book does a good job of highlighting that, with ‘Flatten the Curve’ being the most claustrophobic reminder.

The writing is sharp, the women multi-faceted, and I found myself quite deeply invested in each story. I’m looking forward to reading more from Naomi Wood in the future.

Thank you to the publishers, and Netgalley, for the copy to review.

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

(3.5/5, rounded up)
The very last story saved this from just being 'meh' (bumped it from 3 to 3.5), made my jaw drop, and brought my hand to my forehead. I'm a sucker for a good full circle moment and Naomi Wood is clearly full of them - she nails it, but not in cheesy, obvious ways. & That's rarely done, IMO.

The insights on motherhood are refreshing and raw, sometimes unconventionally so - which I enjoyed even more.
I wish I could have read this before becoming a mom so that I'd be able to revisit it again after having my son; I'm so curious what I'd have identified with even before sharing this role with the characters.

My one major complaint is that I have 0 clue what almost all of the French words/sentences/phrases meant, and for once I felt like it really did make me miss out on fairly important pieces (can't be sure though, for obvious reasons).

{Thank you bunches to NetGalley, Naomi Wood and publisher for this eARC in exchange for my honest review!}

[Reading_ Tamishly · Rating 2 out of 5]

Really wanted to like it. But no.

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

ARC for review. To be published November 26, 2024.

A short volume of nine short stories. COVID informs most of them, which I could get with, but most were stories of pregnancy and/or involved new mothers so I couldn’t really relate. Not bad at all, I’m just not the target audience here.

My favorite was “Dino Moms” which follows a woman and her daughter who live in a real life “Jurassic Park” reality show. Some nice quotes: “Wasn’t she meant to be our diversity intern.” “She’s South African.” “She’s WHITE.” “Cal was vegan. There was little that could be done about that either.”

[Lulu · Rating 2 out of 5]

wrong book for the wrong time

[kiwi · Rating 3 out of 5]

i liked wood's writing, but while these stories were individually enjoyable ("wedding day" had such an interesting and strong premise, while the voice in "dino mums" felt especially distinct and unique), i did miss more variety in the collection.

This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things illuminates the lives of malicious, subversive and untamed women. Exploring failed sisterhood, dubious parenting and the dark side of modern love, this powerful and funny collection exposes how society wants women to behave, and shows what happens when they refuse.

this blurb is what made me pick up the book, and i was expecting these topics (complex sister relationships, modern love, women "misbehaving") to be foregrounded, but instead they serve as background support for the real thesis explored, and the red thread trying the collection together, which is pregnancy/motherhood. which is not an unworthy topic! a couple of stories about new mums going crazy would be great, but when every story is about a new/soon mum with a vegan husband and existential anxieties about maternity leave, it starts to feel a bit repetitive. it's not the actual stories (which for the most part are quite good!) that disappoint, but rather the fact that they didn't match my blurb-induced expectations and i wish that the collection had been more varied in which "subversibe and untamed women" it set out to explore.

[Chloe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Do I research books before I read them? Nooo because I was delighted to find this to be a short story collection! Honestly I always find these to be generally good reads because I can be more forgiving since they’re short.

I will say the first two stories were my least favorite- too general and uninteresting, but wow the rest was packed with quirky characters and premises all centered around mothers of young (or in the womb) children. Dracula at the movies, Wedding Day, Dino Moms played with villainous women but in a balanced empathetic way. A/A/A was so enigmatic yet sad at the end, and Peekaboo dealt with the impossibility of trying to convince/save a toxic father.

Each story starts right in the action and ends right before closure as if we’re just glimpsing a life before blinking away. That said, the title is definitely swiftie bait with no actual connection to the stories

Received as an Arc!

[Sophie Voorboom · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ik vond de schrijfstijl prettig, maar helaas vond ik het boek erg saai. Ik kon geen echte connectie maken met de verhalen.

[Bettemay · Rating 2 out of 5]

Voelt als of iemand dit geschreven heeft om zich beter te voelen over zichzelf. Snap dat het om vrouwen gaat die de verwachting van vrouwen tegen gaan, maar nu zijn de gewoon aso?

[Tina Murtagh · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first experience reading a collection of short stories. At first I was wanting more from each one, I wanted to find out what happened and how the story progressed. But then I took time to think about the meaning and message behind each story, and the impact was strong. An unexpected gem and intro in to the world of short stories! I finished in one day

[Pam Wright Alfie Blue Puss In Books · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had listened to Naomi's short story "Cormobidties" on BBC sounds and really found it insightful, witty and heartwarming so I really looking forward to reading more of her short works.

This is a great collection of short works all of which reflected and examine the world we live in today, there is running theme of motherhood and pain throughout, am not a mother myself but I could still identify with the characters and themes. For short works each of the stories contain strong well developed characters. Each is the stories are unique are set in a variety of places. I liked the reflection on the Covid that was in some of the stories, the family stuck at home during the height of the pandemic was all too familiar. The writing is strong and has flair, there was real sense of wit and dark humour while making really important observations on life. Some of the characters within the stories were a little stereotypical but that was my only bug bear. The last works was mad but strangely was my favourite one.

Great book to carry in your handbag to dip in and out whilst travelling to and from work.

I will look out for more of the author writing both short and long

[Sophie Diamond · Rating 5 out of 5]

Powerful, joyful and uncomfortably tense. And what a brilliant title.

From a Dino Ranch, to Italy, to suburban Britain on lockdown, this collection of stories explores the joys and difficulties of women’s lives while they are also (or are becoming) mothers.

The mother theme is the constant in all stories but the stories are about the lives of women whilst they are mothers or pregnant, giving each a layer of context but not defining the story arc or the woman. The themes explored are rage, family, anxiety and what makes someone a good person. And what does make a good person!?

Short story writing is an art form and this is a wonderful piece of art. The immediacy of the narrative and the characters is unfaltering. I enjoyed every single story and cared about every character during my short time with them.
A pure joy to read.
Thank you @netgalley for my review copy and @naomiwoodbooks for the stories

[Laura Graves Smith · Rating 2 out of 5]

The blurb on this collection of short stories -women behaving badly and following their dark desires- sounded so exciting and the content of the stories did not match up to my expectations. The characters did not feel complete, it was almost like reading an author's workbook of characters they were sketching out for a novel and then abandoned. I did enjoy the writing style and would give Wood's writing another chance but none of these stories really spoke to me. Stories included a mom returning to work after postpartum depression/rage; a scripted reality show of mothers, daughters, and dinosaurs; a woman being petty on her exboyfriend's wedding day, an actress with trauma being exploited by her female director, and others but none resonated with me.

[jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am new to Naomi Wood's writing and thoroughly enjoyed this collection of stories about bad mothers and wild women. Men are more or less an afterthought in these stories, and instead, women and all of their questionable choices take center stage. There's a lot to chew on here and even more to laugh (even if uncomfortably) about.

I enjoyed this whole collection while on vacation with both my kids and my mother, which was basically the perfect backdrop for these biting short stories. Highly recommend!

Many thanks to Mariner Books and Netgalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

[Grace Dwyer · Rating 3 out of 5]

i was excited going into this, but i think the thing that ultimately disappointed me was poor marketing. to say this book “illuminates the lives of malicious, subversive, and untamed women” is definitely an exaggeration. there is not a feral girl in sight here! the stories were well written but i didn’t find much meaning with them - i also don’t think i’m the target audience since most are about motherhood and/or marriages . some fun ideas to be had, but overall i thought this collection was pretty unremarkable.

[Kaylin · Rating 2 out of 5]

This collection of short stories was... not quite what I expected. I think saying this book "illuminates the lives of malicious, subversive, and untamed women" is a bit of an oversell.

[Em]

dnf 16% so grateful I don't have kids

[Florencia · Rating 1 out of 5]

A bunch of short stories that are hard to get invested in, aren’t executed well, and all cover the same few themes

[Sara Clark · Rating 1 out of 5]

Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear.

I was conned into reading this book by the blurb, which sold it as being a collection of short stories about subversive women making mischief as they tread the unbeaten track from normality toward the towering edifice of their own personal fulfillment.

Instead, we get one story after another about dull, self-centred, entitled, pregnant mothers with silly names moaning about their unhappy relationships with rich men to their similarly afflicted pals.

This is clearly a book made from multiple abandoned outlines of a novel about a pregnant woman with 2 kids and a distant husband whose premise was so dreary, so lacking in substance, character and plot, that Naomi's team eventually thought 'sod it' and suggested she released the whole steaming sheaf of novel proposals as a book of short stories.

Wood is clearly not a bad writer, but this book should *not* exist as is, and does her no favours.

Her marketing team did her dirty - at least be honest about what this is - riffs on a theme of middle class motherhood, lightly repressed sexuality, and the down sides of marrying 'up'.

I have no idea who this book is aimed at, even if I *was* like the women in this book, it would be depressing as all hell to me to read about it and offer me little solace as I hurtled toward another year of meaningless unhappiness.

[Tracey Thompson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am obsessed with the BBC National Short Story award. I love discovering new British talent, or seeing fresh material from established masters (hello, two-time winner Sarah Hall). Writer Naomi Wood took home the award in 2023, and her debut short story collection is incredibly impressive.

Opening story, Lesley, In Therapy is brilliant. A mother returns to her job in the gaming industry after her second pregnancy, and has a minor meltdown during group therapy. This story totally captures the struggles of being a working mother who wants (and deserves) to be taken seriously.

To be honest, I wasn’t too impressed with Comorbidities the first time I read it, just before it won the 2023 National Short Story Award. But this time around I really enjoyed it. I think probably because I’m at the point in my life where juggling being a mother and a wife can seem impossible, and this story reflects this perfectly.

Dracula at the Movies is a really interesting story, about a pregnant woman directing a movie with a star who has a reputation for being “difficult”. There’s a really interesting quandary about whether it is worse to inflict horror upon someone, or have horror inflicted upon one’s self.

I’m not a big fan of covid fiction, but Peek-a-Book was really memorable. Pregnant twins go to Italy to convince their dad to leave a timeshare he's not supposed to be occupying. Covid is also addressed in Flatten the Curve, where a woman with two young children fantasizes about her neighbor. I like how this story conveyed just how monotonous covid lockdown was.

The most visceral story in this collection is Wedding Day, where a woman insists her ex brings their young daughter home in time for bed on his wedding day. There are some absolutely brutal scenes in this story. So powerful.

Every story in this collection reflects an element of my experience as a woman, wife, mother, friend, human. Wood writes with such clarity, and her characters are very well-formed. Highly recommended.

[Cinnamon Girl! · Rating 3 out of 5]

This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things, de Naomi Wood, es una colección de relatos sobre mujeres actuales que deciden vivir fuera de las expectativas sociales. Cada historia tiene un toque oscuro, divertido y directo, y al juntarlas te da una visión muy honesta del mundo moderno y de la maternidad.

Los relatos son complejos, pero están escritos de forma sencilla, logrando conectar con esas luchas de ser mujer y madre que pocas veces se hablan en voz alta. El libro te abre la mente con perspectivas inesperadas sobre la maternidad, el posparto, el matrimonio y la familia en general. Algunas historias atrapan más que otras, pero en general, me gustó mucho cómo te hace cuestionarte y preguntarte si realmente sabemos lo que implica la maternidad y si estamos listos para vivirla

[Abby · Rating 4 out of 5]

(I received this book via NetGalley ARC). This is a refreshing anthology that highlight motherhood, womanhood, and the complexities of being pregnant in the workforce and in society. I enjoyed how Wood did not shy away from exploring all aspects of womanhood, and all types of women. My only critique is that the last short story, which features a mother and daughter reality show with dinos, feels just slightly too far out. I can appreciate that this story was an attempt to comment on the performative aspect of motherhood, but the difference of this story compared to the others, I believe makes it a little difficult to grasp.

[LX · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC to review!

2 stars???

I was so ready for this. I loved the cover and the fact it was short stories I was really excited, but for some reason I just could not get invested in any story. I started skim reading at one points because nothing really grasped my attention. Maybe it's just not not relating or feeling compelled by any of the characters in the stories, but I really didn't connect well while reading this. However, I did enjoy how it was written.

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid 3.5 with a great witty voice and some decent premises. The theme of motherhood was well-defined though I found more similarities throughout the stories that I would’ve liked to. I enjoyed the style and humor though so I’m interested in more from this author.