Bookseller Reviews
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Uneven but highly entertaining
Who hasn’t considered faking a pregnancy for time off work??This is a pretty good time! For such a wacky core concept, it’s surprisingly earnest and heartf... READ MORE
Outrageous fun with real emotional depth
Motherfaker had an utterly enticing hook – and it totally delivered for me.
Of course, faking pregnancy could be a sensitive issue given there are so man... READ MORE
Synopsis
How far would you go for a year off work . . . ?
‘I raced through it’ – Daily Mail
‘Brilliantly original and hilariously executed’ – Rosie Walsh, author of The Love of My Life
Meet Barri Brown. Respected teacher. Upstanding citizen of Guernsey. Down for a bit of law-breaking . . .
At thirty-five, Barri spends her time slaving away as a teacher, getting passed over for promotions and constantly covering for colleagues with kids. When her husband vanishes – along with her savings – it’s the final straw. And so, she hatches a wild plan: fake a pregnancy and use the paid maternity leave to start over somewhere new.
With seven foam bumps, a wardrobe full of smock dresses and a great pregnancy heist underway, all Barri has to do is blag it until she can disappear for good – without getting caught and being sent to prison for fraud. How hard could it be?
Will she really get away with telling the mother of all lies?
From award-winning comedy writer Anna Brook-Mitchell, Motherfaker is the perfect read for fans of Really Good, Actually by Monica Heisey and All The Other Mothers Hate Me by Sarah Harman.
‘Funny, moving, relatable and keeps you on the edge of your seat’ – Libby Page, author of The Lido
‘A bold, brilliant and bonkers caper’ – Alexandra Potter, author of Confessions of a Forty-Something F##k Up
‘Brilliantly funny’ – Stylist
‘This book will make you guffaw out loud’ – Prima
Readers love Motherfaker!
‘A rare mix of laugh-out-loud funny, moving and compelling’
‘Clever, tender, and impossible to put down – an absolute joy from start to finish’
‘Funny, emotional, heart-wrenching and action-packed, with an idyllic Guernsey location’
‘Hilarious, touching, emotional, infuriating and a bit bonkers’
‘A fantastic debut that I just wanted to keep reading!’
Publisher information
- Publisher: Pan Macmillan
- ISBN: 9781035073016
- Number of pages: 400
- Dimensions: 242 x 164 x 36 mm
- Weight: 616g
- Languages: English
Customer Reviews
View allFun Read
Review of ‘Motherfaker’ by Anna Brook-Mitchell due to be published on 26 February 2026 by Pan MacMillan.
Barri is fed up with her colleague Suzie consta... READ MORE
Hilarious and heartwarming
I was not expecting to love this as much as I did. I went into this book assuming it’d be a fun, lighthearted comedy, but it was so much more than that. Ba... READ MORE
Charming and funny
I took a while to get into this book but then Barri just won me over! Her insane idea to fake her pregnancy makes a weird sort of sense due to the horrendo... READ MORE
Hilarious
Hilarious. I loved Barri and could totally relate to her. I would SO love to see this turned into a movie.
Incredibly funny & heartwarming
Motherfaker is both incredibly funny and heartwarming, full of sharp wit that makes you laugh out loud but also moments that really touch your heart.
Th... READ MORE
Funny and surprising
Really funny and drew me in from the first page. But it developed in a surprising way given the caustic opening and I really began to care for the widening... READ MORE
….refreshingly different
As soon as I read the synopsis, I knew I had to pick this up. It sounded so different and intriguing!
I’ll admit, the writing style felt a bit differen... READ MORE
A really fun read
A really fun read and when Callum comes onto the scene, it lifts the story to a whole new level. All of the characters become more as the story develops gi... READ MORE
Good read that has some genuinely laugh out loud moments
Barri Brown is not ok. Her husband has left her via text message, she has been passed over for promotion at work....again, and she is fed up with her borin... READ MORE
An original and very funny, touching debut
I have to admit I'm very much a 'judge a book by it's cover' girl. At first glance anyway. The bright pink and yellow front cover of Anna Brook-Mitchell's ... READ MORE
Amazing debut
If this isn’t a Netflix series one day, I’ll eat my hat! This debut novel is funny, emotional, heart wrenching and action packed, with an idyllic Guernsey ... READ MORE
Truly Emotional
So, this book was a funny one to judge.
Initially I have to say I would very strongly have said is was a 3 star review, it was fairly slow going, I didn'... READ MORE
Love! Love! Loved this!
Ah sheesh- this was such a blast to read. You know when the right books come along at the right time? This was one of those.
A genuine, laugh out loud, ... READ MORE
a good read!
I liked this book! I felt like there were parts that were soooo far fetched but it added to the wacky storyline and made it an easy read. A few moments sur... READ MORE
Fantastically fun debut
As someone who is child-free, the blurb, concept and title of Motherfaker made me laugh which is why I chose to request it.
Barri is fed up with picking... READ MORE
What a fab idea!
What a funny book!
Great idea/ concept, which was what made me request it.
I enjoyed the whole idea of the book from beginning to end especially being ... READ MORE
Good book!
What a really good book I couldn’t put it down. If was a well paced story with a great structure it has fantastic characters. This book brought multiple di... READ MORE
Warm and thoroughly entertaining.
Barri Brown is a teacher on the Channel Island of Guernsey who’s taking her husband’s recent desertion hard. Her contempt for the small pleasures in other ... READ MORE
Fantastic
This is actually hilarious and heartwarming very much like the protagonist herself.
I raced through this at breakneck speed. I liked all the characters - ... READ MORE
Highly recommended
Motherfaker follows a childfree teacher who hatches a desperate plan of faking pregnancy to escape from Guernsey after her husband leaves her penniless, pl... READ MORE
Top read of the year
This book was one of my top reads this year. From the start I was hooked. The main character was hilarious, and does make you think. What would you do to g... READ MORE
A really fun read
A really fun read and when Callum comes onto the scene, it lifts the story to a whole new level. All of the characters become more as the story develops gi... READ MORE
So funny!
What a funny book!
Great idea/ concept, which was what made me request it.
I enjoyed the whole idea of the book from beginning to end especially being ... READ MORE
Great read
I started this book wirh some trepidation worrying that it may either be a bit crass or saccharin. Happily it was neither and I was surprised how much I wa... READ MORE
Very funny.
Barri Brown is a teacher on Guernsey, where everyone knows everyone and it’s hard to keep a secret. Nonetheless, desperate for an escape, and some time off... READ MORE
How is this a debut?!
Holy cow - how is this a debut?! It was gripping and unputdownable, especially driven by the initial dislike you feel for main character, Barri. As the pre... READ MORE
Five stars!
Motherfaker by Anna Brook-Mitchell is a witty and heartwarming book about one woman’s outrageous lie and the unexpected lessons that follow. Barri Brown is... READ MORE
Thoroughly enjoyed this!
I really enjoyed this, the pacing was perfect and I liked all the characters and the plot! I was invested in Barri and the choices she made and it drove me... READ MORE
A wonderful and hilarious surprise !
What a great surprise this book was! I laughed so hard while reading, which earned me some oggling in the train and from my own teenagers at home! This is ... READ MORE
Funny character driven debut
don’t read many funny books, I prefer a serious thriller on average, so it took me a bit of getting used to the calamitous ways of our MC. But after 15% or... READ MORE
Funny and tender!
I was expecting an easy, lighthearted read in a similar vein to the infamous Lindsay Lohan film. I was pleasantly surprised it was packed with wit, spot-on... READ MORE
Like a British Farce
A highly amusing tale, with a heroine who has the universe serving everything that can go wrong in her life, in a short space of time.
I laughed out loud ... READ MORE
Phenomenal
This book will stay with me for such a long time. It's funny, emotional, shocking, it's genuinely the full package. Barri is the perfect main character. Sh... READ MORE
Great Read!
This was a great read, I was engaged and read it quickly because I just needed to know what was going to happen to her! I didn't see the twist coming, but ... READ MORE
Funny, Smart and Relatable - What would you do for some time off work?
We've all thought about it - how we can get away with having a year off work, fully paid, without getting caught. After being overlooked for a promotion an... READ MORE
Anna Brook-Mitchell is amazing!
Barri is getting ready for a year of mat leave, lovely right? Well, except Barri isn’t actually pregnant….
This book follows Barri, someone who absol... READ MORE
Such a fun and entertaining read
Motherfaker is a very entertaining read. It follows secondary school teacher Barri whose husband has recently left her and she is feeling underappreciated ... READ MORE
Hilarious
Maternity leave.
Not really fair, is it - getting a year off work.
Barri's getting ready for a year's paid absence from work.
One teeny, tiny snag... READ MORE
Great read
Mother Faker
Barri Brown is a school teacher who has received a text off her husband telling her he’s left her, she also discovers he remortgaged the hous... READ MORE
Chaos, fun and loaded with emotion
This might be the most chaotic, funny, unexpectedly deep book I’ve read in a while.
Barri, an exhausted teacher, decides to fake being pregnant so she can... READ MORE
A Tale of Deception and Friendship
Barri Brown is fed up. A hard-working teacher on Guernsey, she’s fed up of people telling her that her biological clock is ticking. She’s fed up of being t... READ MORE
5 stars
Was kindly sent this as an arc and it was absolutely hilarious !!!
Perfect easy read
I enjoyed this book and read it quickly. However it is a bit far fetched and I couldn’t see what ‘Sniveley’s’ purpose was or why ‘they’ were included.
It ... READ MORE
Brilliant and original
I really enjoyed this original read. It was emotional and moving but also at times, really humorous. I loved the cast of complex female characters, their r... READ MORE
Funny and surprising
Really funny and drew me in from the first page. But it developed in a surprising way given the caustic opening and I really began to care for the widening... READ MORE
escapist read
Motherfaker is a riotous romp through the tangled web of one woman’s audacious lie—and the unexpected truths she uncovers along the way. Anna Brook-Mitchel... READ MORE
Actually funny!
When books claim to be hilarious, they often aren't, but this one does live up to that billing! Barri "it looks better written down" Brown is a very likeab... READ MORE
Hilarious and moving
Motherfaker follows Barri, a high school English teacher who is preparing for a year’s paid maternity leave; but she’s not pregnant. With seven foam bumps,... READ MORE
An outstanding read!
I was sucked in right from the moment I saw the title, which is awesome! Then I opened the book and started to read and I don’t feel I like I reemerged unt... READ MORE
An absolute hoot with heart!
I loved Loved LOVED Motherfaker. What a delightful, hilarious, and unexpectedly heartfelt read! Set on Guernsey, the setting and characters are brought to ... READ MORE
Brilliantly witty and heartwarming - a book every woman needs to read
Sometimes it feels like a book finds you at the perfect moment in your life and that’s exactly how I feel about Motherfaker.
Barri Brown is not having a... READ MORE
A little bit bonkers, but full of heart!
Thank you to Netgalley for allowing me to read this fabulous ARC.Uniquely clever, this brilliantly combines some utterly bonkers situations alongside some ... READ MORE
Anna makes a serious concept hilarious and fun to read.
I looked forward to getting into bed to read this every night. It's so funny, it's almost like listening to a stand-up. Yet, despite the laughs and hilario... READ MORE
A fantastic debut with heart and humour
You know when you pick up a book and it completely surprises you in the best way possible...this was one of those reads! I thought it would be funny (and i... READ MORE
Just brilliant
I really enjoyed this original read. It was emotional and moving but also at times, really humorous. I loved the cast of complex female characters, their r... READ MORE
Your next holiday read
I’ll start by saying that this is the most unbelievably far fetched story I’ve read in a while, but with that being said also the most insanely believable ... READ MORE
Great read
Mother Faker
Barri Brown is a school teacher who has received a text off her husband telling her he’s left her, she also discovers he remortgaged the hous... READ MORE
Genuinely funny!
When books claim to be hilarious, they often aren't, but this one does live up to that billing! Barri "it looks better written down" Brown is a very likeab... READ MORE
Great debut novel
Motherfaker by Anna Brook-Mitchell centres on Barri, a fiercely independent woman navigating life, identity and belonging within a close knit island commun... READ MORE
A sharp, chaotic and unexpectedly tender novel
Motherfaker by Anna Brooke-Mitchell is a sharp, chaotic and unexpectedly tender novel built around a premise that sounds outrageous but quickly becomes com... READ MORE
Five stars!
Motherfaker is bold, funny, and quietly devastating in the most unexpected way.
It explores womanhood, choice, and societal pressure through dark humour... READ MORE
Witty fast fun
I very much enjoyed this witty fast paced novel which follows the story of Beckett Beckett Langfield who is grumpy rich and hates kids when one of her coll... READ MORE
A unique story told with heart and humour - recommend!
Themes covered:Fertility, pregnancy, motherhood, parenting, family relationships and dynamics, grief, careers, societal expectations and pressures. I reall... READ MORE