The Playground Mafia by Sarah Tucker

This book is unputdownable. You can really visualise the characters, want to cheer for the ‘goodies’ and cringe at the women who were classed as the mafia.

For any parent who has to do the daily school run and knows about the ‘politics’ in the playground this is a must. It’s funny and has some laugh out loud moments.

The story is about Caroline who is newly divorced with a son Ben and has moved to the trendy area of Frencham where she joins up with her long-time best friends Heather and Eva.

If settling in to a new life is bad enough, settling in to a new school is even worse (and that’s just for the mums!).

In between recruiting people to the PTA activities and dominating life at school, the mafia also have a gossip radar which they are not afraid to use. But when the mafia target Caroline and her friend Heather a battle ensues and they bite off more than they can chew.

Other people who have read this book have this to say:

“Read this book if you have children! I emabarked on by children’s school life many years ago with genuine excitement at them enjoying a nice education in a nice prep school. How wrong could I be! School was lovely the teachers were great but the playground….well it was Hell.”

“The school playground is a peculiar place where parents, especially mums, assume unnatural roles, for some strange reason. This book very nearly described the playground I know, from its location and characters to the cafe.”