Mum Is Where The Heart Is

Mum Is Where the Heart Is

In this uproarious memoir, You Jin employs her wry, inimitable style to look at the parental life as she grows with her children. Beginning with her first trip back to her in-laws' home in Ipoh, she takes us through nearly three decades to when the youngest of her three children leaves home to study overseas, unflinchingly facing the mistakes she makes along the way and the wisdom she—and they—discover in the process. Equally unafraid to acknowledge her own failings and her children's sometimes surprising insights, You Jin bares some of the deepest emotions found in any of her work, feelings that have grown out of some of the most personal observations and events. With her usual wit, warmth and candour, You Jin finds ways to laugh—usually at herself—even after having passed through the bleakest days of severe depression. As she navigates her way through the sometimes harrowing experiences of parenthood, she discovers new sides to her children, and to herself, adding brilliant colours to even the most mundane of life's scenes.

Where the Heart Is

Previously published as The Ever Open Door, this is a story told with warmth and humour, about a hard working, down-to-earth community in a small Yorkshire town during the Second World War and its aftermath. Yorkshire, 1940: Kind Sally Butler and her husband Jim are content in their little house on Potters Row. Jim's only complaint is that Sally is too soft hearted, always at the beck and call of any neighbour, friend or even stranger. Sally, on the other hand, accuses Jim of being a soft touch for anyone after a drink or two at the Rising Sun. Both accept that neither will ever change and they love each other and their daughter Daisy deeply. Theirs is a close-knit family in a close-knit community where gossip – both good and bad – abounds and neighbour looks out for neighbour. And when Sally's generosity leads to an inheritance it should mean a change of life for the better, instead it brings danger and difficult choices for them all...

Mum is where the Heart is