A SELF AVOWED ‘normal mum’ whose everyday charm and frank writing style has rocketed her to stardom met fans at Waterstones Broad Street.

Sarah Turner set up the ‘Unmumsy Mum’ blog in 2013 when she became disenchanted with the glossy, perfect life style depicted online and in parenting books.

In hoping to capture the messy, chaotic and joyful reality of her home life Turner also won the hearts and minds of many other parents and parents to be.

Four years later and her online pondering have been turned into The Unmumsy Mum Diary.

“The truth is, despite the fact that I have written a Sunday Times bestseller, my daily life hasn’t changed from the home side of things,” Turner explained on Tuesday evening, addressing concerns her meteoric success would remove her from the lay-mum’s experience.

“I have just had the best part of two weeks off for the Easter holidays. I live in a house that has no garden of any note. There are moments in the day that are the same as they have always been.

“The most rock-and-roll thing is that I now have a driver called Brad.”

Reading Chronicle:

Although the majority of those in attendance were women, Turner hopes the book has a broader appeal.

“I have had a surprising number of messages from people who buy the book and don’t have children,” she said.

“It is a bit of an eye opener. It is the real ‘what to expect when you are expecting.’ “The general feedback I get is ‘Oh my god it sounds terrible but it gives me hope.’”

One woman who doesn’t quite fit into the target audience is Mary Armstrong, who entered a Chronicle competition to win a signed copy of the book for her daughter.

The retired family worker explained: “My daughter has two children, one is one and one is three. 30 years ago I couldn’t have read something like this.

“The literature at the time was okay, but this is better. As a parent you just have to do your best.”