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Playing House: A Hilarious Chick Lit Debut About Unexpected Pregnancy and Finding Love
A stunning debut from the newest author to join the ranks in Avon Trade Fiction, award-winning journalist Patricia Pearson Frannie MacKenzie, a 30-something New Yorker, suspects she is pregnant when a rather unexpected bout of morning sickness occurs directly upon a sweater display at The Gap. With nothing else to do but gestate, Frannie decides to deal with father- (but-not-husband-) to-be Calvin, an “experimental” musician. Frannie and Calvin embark on a very wild ride that involves tuna helper, maternity bra shopping, flying Barbies, and more than a few spoon-playing musicians. Oh, and along the way, they have a baby and fall in love.
288 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2003
About the author
Patricia Pearson
40 books19 followersCanadian journalist and daughter of Canadian diplomat Geoffrey Pearson and former Ontario Senator Landon Pearson, and the granddaughter of former Prime Minister Lester Pearson.
She resigned her weekly column at the National Post in 2003 to protest that newspaper's support for the Bush administration.
She resigned her weekly column at the National Post in 2003 to protest that newspaper's support for the Bush administration.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews
February 11, 2021
I just finished the worst book I have ever read. No, I'm not exaggerating, and I'm not overreacting. I wish I was. Playing House by Patricia Pearson was literally so horrid that I ranted to people throughout the entirety and put it down a dozen times, vowing to never read it again.
This woman is the most selfish, stupid, unrealistically dense person I have ever encountered, and I can't begin to imagine how the author thought she was creating a character that people would find endearing and fun. Seriously. When the damn woman's not drinking coffee or alcohol during her pregnancy just because she "needs" it, and "doesn't think it'll hurt," and "it'll probably" be fine, she pops the child out and continues drinking through breastfeeding, because "it's not like anything happened from drinking while she was pregnant" and "there's much less of a risk this way," right?
Ugh.
Would you like a real excerpt from the book? No? Well too bad, because I'm going to have to post this. I swear to you, I'm not making this up.
"So here we went into the airport bar to await our return flight and order a glass of pinot grigio, looking quickly around in case there were some medically intuitive policemen about. I'll just have two fraught sips, oh my God that tastes like moonlight, just two, before reluctantly nudging the glass toward the bartender.
What's done is done, I reflected to myself: the booze I drank, the pot I smoked, the bad cold I slogged through, the cigarettes. Either she'd be a deaf-mute or she wouldn't. And if she was, well then I'd just tell her about Helen Keller. 'See how much Helen Keller accomplished, sweetie?' I'd yell at her, gesticulating in Braille. 'She was a deaf-blind-mute and she became famous!'
I gazed out the window at the taxiing planes and lectured myself. This was utterly speculative. She could be perfectly formed. Yet, perhaps, subtly brain-damaged, like a psychopath who grows up to shoot me for insurance money.
'Excuse me, can I have that pinot grigio back, actually?'"
No, you insufferable, terrible, wretched woman. That is NOT how you handle being a mother, or even thinking about another human being in any case. You decided to keep this child because you're thirty-three and may not have another chance, even though you didn't plan on getting pregnant now, and that means you have to actually act like a mother and protect the being that is inside of your body.
Hate this book. Never read it.
This woman is the most selfish, stupid, unrealistically dense person I have ever encountered, and I can't begin to imagine how the author thought she was creating a character that people would find endearing and fun. Seriously. When the damn woman's not drinking coffee or alcohol during her pregnancy just because she "needs" it, and "doesn't think it'll hurt," and "it'll probably" be fine, she pops the child out and continues drinking through breastfeeding, because "it's not like anything happened from drinking while she was pregnant" and "there's much less of a risk this way," right?
Ugh.
Would you like a real excerpt from the book? No? Well too bad, because I'm going to have to post this. I swear to you, I'm not making this up.
"So here we went into the airport bar to await our return flight and order a glass of pinot grigio, looking quickly around in case there were some medically intuitive policemen about. I'll just have two fraught sips, oh my God that tastes like moonlight, just two, before reluctantly nudging the glass toward the bartender.
What's done is done, I reflected to myself: the booze I drank, the pot I smoked, the bad cold I slogged through, the cigarettes. Either she'd be a deaf-mute or she wouldn't. And if she was, well then I'd just tell her about Helen Keller. 'See how much Helen Keller accomplished, sweetie?' I'd yell at her, gesticulating in Braille. 'She was a deaf-blind-mute and she became famous!'
I gazed out the window at the taxiing planes and lectured myself. This was utterly speculative. She could be perfectly formed. Yet, perhaps, subtly brain-damaged, like a psychopath who grows up to shoot me for insurance money.
'Excuse me, can I have that pinot grigio back, actually?'"
No, you insufferable, terrible, wretched woman. That is NOT how you handle being a mother, or even thinking about another human being in any case. You decided to keep this child because you're thirty-three and may not have another chance, even though you didn't plan on getting pregnant now, and that means you have to actually act like a mother and protect the being that is inside of your body.
Hate this book. Never read it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 25, 2018
I chose this book because the male lead has the same name as my son and the back of the book said “he had the impossible name of Calvin.” That piqued my interest. It was good, an easy read, but life not so easy for these two new parents. I laughed out loud a few times but it took a while to get to that point.
February 25, 2019
Funny and well written. I’m looking forward to reading the sequel.
June 20, 2019
Frannie Mackenzie has only been dating Calvin Puddie for a short time, but now she thinks she might be pregnant. Both are Canadian transplants to New York City, Frannie is an editor and Calvin a musician in an experimental jazz band. Frannie's first clues of impending motherhood appear suddenly. Her breasts seem to have grown overnight and become excruciatingly painful, and soon afterwards she throws up in the sweater display at The Gap. After the pregancy test turns blue, Frannie needs to decide how to spring the news on Calvin.
On a trip to Toronto to seek her parents' advice, Frannie is stopped at the border and told her visa has expired and she will not be allowed to return to the U.S.. She arranges to move into her brother and sister-in-law's house when they travel to Europe, and to her surprise, Calvin accepts the news of the pregnancy joyfully and moves in with her. How will they handle pregnancy and parenting? Will it cement their relationship, or tear it apart?
Playing House is the first novel by Patricia Pearson. It's fresh and funny. The author hits the emotions and incidents of everyday life during pregnancy and parenthood right on key. Frannie is hilarious, her comments about mothering mirrored my own experience so well that I often had tears running down my face from laughter. She states about motherhood, 'Women do this. Women do this so often that nobody even remarks upon it. It is never the plot of a novel ... Nobody considers it dramatic enough even to mention, and therefore, it is not dramatic.' Anyone who has endured the long, sleepless times right after having a baby will nod their heads at the truth of statements made by both Frannie and Calvin.
Though the chapters are short, the entire novel moves quickly. The supporting characters are unique individuals who add interest to the story. It is written from Frannie's point of view, and I felt I got to know her thoughts and motivations quite well. It would have been interesting to know what Calvin was thinking and feeling also, to give the story additional depth. Readers will not be disappointed with the spot-on descriptions of parenting in Playing House. It is entertaining chick lit sure to please those who are tired of the same old formulaic romance.
On a trip to Toronto to seek her parents' advice, Frannie is stopped at the border and told her visa has expired and she will not be allowed to return to the U.S.. She arranges to move into her brother and sister-in-law's house when they travel to Europe, and to her surprise, Calvin accepts the news of the pregnancy joyfully and moves in with her. How will they handle pregnancy and parenting? Will it cement their relationship, or tear it apart?
Playing House is the first novel by Patricia Pearson. It's fresh and funny. The author hits the emotions and incidents of everyday life during pregnancy and parenthood right on key. Frannie is hilarious, her comments about mothering mirrored my own experience so well that I often had tears running down my face from laughter. She states about motherhood, 'Women do this. Women do this so often that nobody even remarks upon it. It is never the plot of a novel ... Nobody considers it dramatic enough even to mention, and therefore, it is not dramatic.' Anyone who has endured the long, sleepless times right after having a baby will nod their heads at the truth of statements made by both Frannie and Calvin.
Though the chapters are short, the entire novel moves quickly. The supporting characters are unique individuals who add interest to the story. It is written from Frannie's point of view, and I felt I got to know her thoughts and motivations quite well. It would have been interesting to know what Calvin was thinking and feeling also, to give the story additional depth. Readers will not be disappointed with the spot-on descriptions of parenting in Playing House. It is entertaining chick lit sure to please those who are tired of the same old formulaic romance.
August 11, 2015
Months ago, possibly a year, I had watched Playing House, the movie, on TV and thought it a masterpiece. So imagine my surprise when I found the book the other day.
The plot varies extremely between the two, but both were soo good.
Can I just say, I'm in love with Frannie? What a good, cooky character ( "What size [for the bras:]?"
"Oh, god, I don't know. One medium and one jumbo."
p.37 )
I found with this book, not as much happened. Yes, Frannie discovers she's pregnant; the daddy, Calvin, goes to Europe and back. YES, Frannie is banished from the States and meets Calvin's parents.
But the plot seemed so much more... stretched in the book.
I also found the book had long flashbacks, making the present tense seem indistinguishable. But nonetheless, it was a laugh out loud novel, true to its word.
The plot varies extremely between the two, but both were soo good.
Can I just say, I'm in love with Frannie? What a good, cooky character ( "What size [for the bras:]?"
"Oh, god, I don't know. One medium and one jumbo."
p.37 )
I found with this book, not as much happened. Yes, Frannie discovers she's pregnant; the daddy, Calvin, goes to Europe and back. YES, Frannie is banished from the States and meets Calvin's parents.
But the plot seemed so much more... stretched in the book.
I also found the book had long flashbacks, making the present tense seem indistinguishable. But nonetheless, it was a laugh out loud novel, true to its word.
July 11, 2019
Terrible, could barely get through it.
December 27, 2021
This novel follows Frannie, a formerly trendy, savvy, New Yorker, who works at magazine editing & writing pieces, as she enters motherhood – unintentionally. The father was a casual “friend with benefits”. There are laughs throughout. She can’t figure out why her bust has grown to enormous size. She feels like throwing up. What could this mean? What, me pregnant?? Not planned!! She goes up to Toronto to visit with her parents, and through some misadventure doesn’t have the right visa to get back to the USA to her job, so the father, Calvin, comes up to Toronto to be with her. Baby makes its appearance (as they generally do) and wants, of all things, to be fed, changed, played with. All this is a mystery to her. She house-sits for her brother & sister-in-law for quite a few months while they are away. She makes some changes in the house that they are not quite pleased with. More laughter (on my part, anyway). They visit his parents in Cape Breton (definitely off the beaten track) and she is exposed to a life and people not in her usual circle. Again, more laughs. Over all this time they actually fall in love, which can only be a good thing. She presents a very funny perspective on pregnancy and motherhood. It’s a very easy read, lots of fun, and has an agreeable ending (happily ever after, I guess).
May 24, 2018
This was not my type of book, but it looked interesting enough to try. The plot was week with first person incoherent ramblings. Yes the character got pregnant in her thirties with a casual boyfriend. Yes drama surrounded her foreign residency and yes she had to deal with life issues on being pregnant in a relationship and juggling work. I think the author could of developed more plot and stayed away from first person narratives. It did have some humorous contemplations and occasional dialogue but overall it was really lacking. Didnt even know there was movie on this book until i saw some reviews. I can see why they made it into one. The book could be easily broken into screenplay.
March 29, 2022
Plotless and pointless and unoriginal. The characters are insufferable and unlikable. Why the main character and her boyfriend are together or what they have in common eludes me. There's tension between them, but no attempt to work it out throughout the narrative. This -should- have been the plot of the book.
This reads more like a life update you'd get from an estranged friend that you haven't seen in a while, and the more it prattles on the more you understand why you aren't friends with that person anymore. Nobody wants to hear about the nuances of your breast pump in real life, and they certainly don't want to read about it in a fiction book that's meant for entertainment.
This reads more like a life update you'd get from an estranged friend that you haven't seen in a while, and the more it prattles on the more you understand why you aren't friends with that person anymore. Nobody wants to hear about the nuances of your breast pump in real life, and they certainly don't want to read about it in a fiction book that's meant for entertainment.
January 21, 2019
Finished this book in less than 4 hours... not because it was so good, but simply because there were paragraphs and pages upon pages that I was able to skip over because they had nothing to do with the story. To be honest I really don't know what the story was, someone gets pregnant and finds love, but I was left bored and simply ready to skim through this book and see if actually went somewhere.. it didn't.
August 11, 2019
I was super unimpressed with this book and probably shouldn't have finished it and i should have given it a lower rating. The characters were blah, the storyline was blah, and I really just didn't get where Pearson wanted the book to go. I gave it a 2 star rating only because Frannie and Calvin stayed together and made it work for the baby. That's all. Wouldn't recommend this one, unfortunately.
October 20, 2019
I honestly couldn’t even finish this book. I finally gave up with about 40 pages to go. It was extremely slow moving and did not have much of a plot. A few points were interesting but overall I found it to be a very dull book. It also had many cultural references that I did not understand which made it challenging for me to read and follow.
July 4, 2019
Cute.
January 2, 2023
Cute distraction from historical fictional
April 26, 2023
(1.5/5) I thought this was going to be like life as we know it, it wasn’t.
June 27, 2023
OK, beach read
April 4, 2010
I picked this book up at a used bookstore hoping for some easy, escapist chick lit, but what I got was fairly heavy and anxiety-ridden.
A thirty year old Bohemian-chic editor in NYC who doesn't really know what to do with her life suddenly wakes up to find herself pregnant by her experimental jazz musician boyfriend whose last name she doesn't even know.
As she struggles to come to terms with where she is, her crazy life and family unfold. She gets stuck back in her native Canada when her work visa lapses and has no job, no real place to live, a million and one anxieties, and a quite odd family.
All I can say is, this book made me more anxious than ever about the potential of having children. At least my situation is much more stable than poor Frannie MacKenzie.
A thirty year old Bohemian-chic editor in NYC who doesn't really know what to do with her life suddenly wakes up to find herself pregnant by her experimental jazz musician boyfriend whose last name she doesn't even know.
As she struggles to come to terms with where she is, her crazy life and family unfold. She gets stuck back in her native Canada when her work visa lapses and has no job, no real place to live, a million and one anxieties, and a quite odd family.
All I can say is, this book made me more anxious than ever about the potential of having children. At least my situation is much more stable than poor Frannie MacKenzie.
May 20, 2011
Wonder how it feels like to get pregnant by a man you barely know? This book is about that and more. It is a funny and warm novel that touches on the changes unexpected pregnancies bring to a couple. With no original plans of starting a family, Calvin and Frannie bravely treads the slippery road to parenthood, making sacrifices and compromises along the way.
I quite like the spunky main protagonist, Frannie. Playing House is a notch better than your average chick lit.
I quite like the spunky main protagonist, Frannie. Playing House is a notch better than your average chick lit.
February 18, 2008
Patricia Pearson is a witty writer. I enjoyed her style, but the plot - not so much. A 30ish editor for a literary journal loves NYC and sort-of-maybe loves her jazz-loving boyfriend, finds herself pregnant and stuck in her native Canada after she accidently lets her work visa expire. Calvin, the jazz-loving boyfriend, does right by her. Um, there's not much more to say.
June 29, 2008
It was cute, but honestly I didn't care for the style of writing. And it tried hard to be funny, but most times it just didn't hit the spot. Would not recommend when there are so many other wonderful books out there.
August 4, 2009
Not really my "type" of book
Was recommended by my Mom.
Plot was to predictable, slow moving and boring...
Women finds herself pregnant in NY, loses her job because she doesn't renew a work VISA...partner goes off and leaves her on her own, only to come back with no job,,,blah...blah...blah...
Was recommended by my Mom.
Plot was to predictable, slow moving and boring...
Women finds herself pregnant in NY, loses her job because she doesn't renew a work VISA...partner goes off and leaves her on her own, only to come back with no job,,,blah...blah...blah...
October 16, 2010
It took me forever, but I am finally finished. I waivered between enjoying and despising this book. I have a hard time relating to characters with no plan for their life, it is my own issue, but it sometimes affects my enjoyment of a book.
April 22, 2011
I have to admit, I am not sure what this book did for me. I kept reading to try to get to the good part or the point, but I never found it. I did finish it though and amd glad to say I am ready to move onto the next book.
October 18, 2011
This book was dumb! It went through step by step pregnancy and having a baby with the girls boyfriend. I didn't even finish the book. I felt like it was a waste of my time. The author was witty at times. Just not my kind of book.
September 11, 2021
2 stars - it was ok.
This book wasn’t great, but it did get funnier as the book went on. The last half was much better than the first half. It was a cute sorry, with a hot mess female protagonist trying to figure out life. It was a quick read!
This book wasn’t great, but it did get funnier as the book went on. The last half was much better than the first half. It was a cute sorry, with a hot mess female protagonist trying to figure out life. It was a quick read!
November 21, 2007
I bought this book from a bargin bin. So far it is cute, but I'm glad I didn't play full price for it. - Not really worth it. The main characters really irritated me.
February 13, 2008
This a funny take on a one night stand that turns into a lifetime! Great story, quite quirky, and fun!
April 17, 2008
Light and funny beach read. Not too much substance but quick read.
Read
April 22, 2008Not done with this yet either....thought it was going to be just kind of a shallow read at first but it's actually really funny.
October 15, 2008
This book was SO cute. It was the first book I actually laughed out loud.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews