The Pile Of Stuff At The Bottom Of The Stairs

What's the thing you hate most about the one you love? This is the funniest, most acutely-observed novel about marriage and motherhood, children and work that's been seen in years.

Mary doesn't know what makes her angrier - the way he doesn't quite reach the laundry basket when he throws his dirty clothes at it (but never walks over and picks them up and puts them in), or the balled-up tissues he leaves on the bedside table when he has a cold, or the way he never completely empties the dishwasher, but leaves the 'difficult' things for her to put away. Is it that because she is 'only working part-time' she is responsible for everything on the domestic front? Or is it, simply, that he puts used teabags in the sink?

Mary is the mother of two young boys - she knows how you're supposed to get the behaviour you want. So now she's designing the spousal equivalent of a star chart. Every little thing her husband does wrong is going on it. And yes, she know you're supposed to reward the good behaviour rather than punish the bad, but obviously the rules for those in middle age are different than the rules for those not even in middle school...

Christina Hopkinson read Modern History at Oxford and has written children's books, designed the Evening Standard's website and worked for Carlton Television. She is married with three small children and lives in London.