Author: Penny Culliford
Newlywed Theodora is now happily married to Kevin, and they are living in an adorable little flat in Britain. Theodora is working one day a week for her vicar, typing in sermon notes and other secretarial duties, and she’s having a bit of trouble finding a ministry—or even a full-time job. When she passes out while cleaning the church office, Theodora discovers a slight oversight that she and Kevin had on their honeymoon. They didn’t use any birth control!
So now Theodora is pregnant and everyone is getting out their calculators to see if she and Kevin had a shotgun wedding. Theodora has discovered that the baby has an aversion to chocolate, one of Theodora’s favorite foods. How will she survive nine months without chocolate?
Add in an out of order bathroom, a husband who still wants to spend time with his friends, and a body that is changing appearances. How will Theodora cope?
THEODORA’S BABY is the first book I’ve had the privilege of reading by Penny Culliford. Written in diary form, it is entertaining with several laugh out loud moments. I thoroughly loved the book for the most part. The only real problem that I had with it is that it seemed to drag about the middle, and I had to force myself to concentrate on it until closer to the end, then it picked up again.
Mothers and pregnant women will really love THEODORA’S BABY. I could really relate to the pregnancy and story and felt for Theodora as she struggled to understand what was happening to her. Pick up THEODORA’S BABY today for a truly cuddly read.
Reviewed by Laura Hilton
chbookshelf April 12, 2006
The format of this book is really unique. It’s written as Theodora’s
diary, so everything that’s in the book is from the diary. She not only
puts down her thoughts and feelings, but recreates scenes from daily
events including dialog. It makes it very easy to read and you get to
know Theodora very well.
When the book opens, Theodora is hiding so that her husband, Kevin,
doesn’t know she’s writing in her diary. They haven’t been married
long, and he feels threatened by what she’s putting in there already.
She tries to stop for his sake, but obviously doesn’t succeed (there
would be no book if she did). Eventually he gets used to the idea so
she can write out in the open.
The book contains her life from July through June the following year.
Quickly into the book she finds out that she and Kevin have succeeded in
creating a honeymoon baby. As the pregnancy progresses this causes a
lot of questions like “when were you married?” “When is the baby due”
With looks on their faces as they calculate the exact numbers…
I really liked the format of the book. I enjoyed being able to look
into Theodora’s thoughts, knowing what she was thinking even though she
didn’t tell others. It was interesting seeing the effect of having a
baby so soon after marriage. The first year of marriage is hard enough
as it is without adding this added pressure. You get to experience the
ups and downs, you get a real feel of the effect this has on their
marriage. You get to experience her side of the fights, the
disappointments, the day to day things that hit her for a loop. But you
also get to see how she bounces back from each one of them.
This book is an easy read so I would recommend it for pretty much all ages.
Reviewed by Lynn Worley