I have to say, this is quite possibly one of the most down to earth and relatable memoirs I’ve read!
This piece of work is done in such a honest and moving way that my heart broke in places for Amanda Prowse herself, and other “Women Like Us” who have also been on the same journeys described in this beautiful memoir.
I have always loved Amanda’s fictional books, and her other memoir with her son, Josiah Hartley (which was also extremely open and honest), so to read about her childhood and her early life and how she became the fabulous author that she is, has just been amazing.
There will be so many women who will sit and read this book and will think “that’s just like me” and will hopefully enjoy this book as much as I did.
Thank you so much Amanda for sharing your story with us. You are such a lovely lady inside and out x

I do love a good memoir. This one by Amanda Prowse I found just a bit dark and depressing and I struggled to read it. Although very well written, at times I felt it was unnecessarily detailed and too long.

This is Amanda Prowse’s memoir and from beginning to end it is a book of her ‘life in a filing cabinet’ her daily struggles with food and yo-yo weight problems and other devastating life’s tragedies.
I’m finding it very hard to review this one as it’s hard to go into extreme detail of the book without giving away too much information. This is a book for anyone who loves Amanda Prowse and her work. This will give you in depth thoughts and feelings on how Amanda has made up her life’s work.

Reading this, I found an ordinary woman, with the same concerns I had growing up – “I hate my body”, “I am not good enough”, “I can’t do that”. These are her thoughts, these are all our thoughts, always. I found that sad, because, with every struggle, with every lesson, Amanda Prowse proves she is not only good enough, she is great.

She goes through so much as a child and as a young adult and handles everything with maturity. She has some rebellious years – don’t we all? – and grows out of them with lessons learned. Her life seems to come together when she marries and has a child, but it soon falls apart again. Of course, she fulfills her dream of becoming a writer, we know that, but what of everything else?

At the height of her career, all she thinks about is that she is getting old and that she hates her looks…and that hit me hard. As a person who always struggled with her weight, I completely understood her and it made me sad for her, for me, for all women like us.

Amanda Prowse is the most prolific writer of bestselling contemporary fiction in the UK today. She has written more than 30 books and her stories are emotional and talk about women like us all the time. In her new book, “Women Like Us” she uses her own life and her own dramas to create a beautiful and inspiring confession.

I read it kind of slow. A few pages throughout each the day of an entire week. It gave me time to think about it a lot and the deep insight into her struggles felt like hearing a friend talk. It was honest, real and intimate. Perhaps too honest (is there such a thing?). There will be people who will say there are details she could have kept for herself, but the courage it took to talk about everything was immense. I can’t even imagine it! So… yes, I’m glad she talked about it all.

I didn’t know anything about her starting the book, I just read it because the title drew me in. I had no idea she was already a public figure (and yes, I’m aware it says so in the title, I just hadn’t noticed!) so I’m talking about her writing based on this book alone (at least for now, because I’m definitely picking up one of her books this year!).

Dislikes
What I didn’t like about the book isn’t much. It is, however, worth mentioning that, though I loved the photos, some are inserted pretty badly. For example she starts to tell of a potential love problem with a boyfriend, which of course, picks your curiosity, makes you wonder – will she stay with this guy or not? And then, bam! You have a photo of them at their wedding or something and the tension is gone. From time to time, she will even give some spoilers herself. Even though this is an autobiography, it could have used a bit more suspense. Not much, but, when it’s there, why ruin it?


Other times she will not explain how she got to a situation, skips over too many important details – and that didn’t happen a lot, but I would be giving spoilers if I say more (and I clearly love suspense).

She also emphasizes her struggles a lot, not sufficiently giving credit to herself for all the other jobs she did well. She tried so many things and was a hard worker every time! I constantly felt the need to encourage her – she was actually doing great.


However, I actually thought the book was a bit too long, with some ideas getting repeated or getting to be too elaborated when the point was already across.

Likes
When she gets to the part about writing, though, everything is just stellar! She remains as humble, but you see the passion and how proud she is of what she’s accomplished and it infused me with enthusiasm. Passionate people inspire me so much! I would have loved to see this kind of enthusiasm throughout the book even more, but I guess the contrast of her attitude towards writing as opposed to any other thing she did wouldn’t have been that powerful.

You might imagine the story ends here. I did. I thought it was a book about becoming a writer. It was not. It was about loosing weight and, more importantly, feeling good with yourself, which, in the end, is the most important message of all.

Amanda Prowse struggled with various illness throughout her life, but her obsession was always being thin. Sounds familiar? It does, to me. She goes into so much detail with her lowest points, I felt immersed in her story.

I liked her confessing about eating patterns, eating binges, lying about it to her family. These things are so, so real! But she started talking about how the conversation should be around fat and it was clear to me she doesn’t know exactly what would have really worked for her sooner. What would have stopped her getting overweight to the point of becoming a medical issue? It clearly made her uncomfortable being called fat (who wouldn’t be?) but she maintains that no one told her she was getting into problems while accumulating the weight.

It is easy to talk about what should have been done after the fact, but the reality is that no amount of discussion from her friends and family would have stopped the process because she was already aware of it. She was lying to herself that it was not that bad. And at some point it really wasn’t. Until it was.

Loosing weight is a difficult process which begins in the mind, in understanding why and how we eat, how we think about food and more importantly, how we think about ourselves. Are we happy in our bodies? In how it feels? Do we treat our bodies with love and kindness? This is such a big part of the message of this book and I absolutely loved it!

Another thing I loved were the photos around this topic. They make you think the author is a dear friend who shares her journal with you. It feels like a journal, a confession, things you wouldn’t normally know about a person. Her story doesn’t stop with the book, she will continue to write more and more books, but I’m glad she took the time to write this, because it is reassuring to see how people who appear to have it all figured out, have their own battles still ongoing.

And that is how I want to end this. If you want to know the story of a woman who’s struggled with illnesses a lot and kept going, a woman who found her path to success later in life, a woman like us, read Amanda Prowse’s novel “Women Like Us”! You won’t regret it!

If you struggle with weight yourself, you’ll find her message uplifting and inspiring. It will help you feel you are not alone and maybe motivate you to take action.

P.S. Thank you NetGalley for the copy in exchange for a fair review!

Amanda Prowse is a real life best selling author, who on the surface, is successful and happy, giving off an air of self confidence and control, but who is the person that actually lives behind that facade? Well we’re about to find out, and kudos to Amanda for laying bare her whole life for us, as she explains how she uses food as a coping mechanism, a secret friend. It’s heartbreaking, (almost gut wrenching at times) it’s also amusing though, particularly as Amanda’s arse takes centre stage, quite literally as a child! Above all though it’s inspiring.

We live in a world where, how others perceive us and the way we live our lives impacts on the way we feel about ourselves, making us mostly insecure. Amanda finally (after many years and much soul searching) overcame that pressure. It wasn’t easy, and it meant facing some difficult conversations with loved ones, things that had been left unsaid for far too long.

The real message here is that the ones who matter the most, those who love us for what and who we are as a person, will love us unconditionally no matter what, but that doesn’t stop them worrying about what we’re doing to ourselves - to our body, to our health in an effort to shut out what we don’t want to face - after all, they want us to stay on this mortal coil for as long as possible. A very interesting and inspirational read!

I’ve read several of Prowse’s books over the last few years. Reading her very honest memoir makes me like her even more.
One paragraph in I knew the author is my kind of person. Her story is completely relatable. From her childhood, angsts, to her getting real about her weight. Her excising the source of her overeating and getting a handle on it hit home with me since I did the same thing a year ago and am the better for it.
I admire her strength and honesty as I think many other readers will too. She writes great books and is an ordinary gal trying to live her best life.

I have read quite a few of her books, and this book was a surprise. As I read it, I could see myself in quite a few places. Reading her story, I kept thinking if she can do this, then this will help me. I have always been clumsy, overweight, lacked self-confidence, and used to food as the answer.
The day came when she decided she had to pull the band-aid off, and take time to figure things out. I have felt that way many times, but felt I was all alone, and it was easier to just stop looking in mirrors. I had decided that I had to confront myself, and what I was doing. Along came this book, and it was just what I needed to read.
I will have to do the work to change, but this book about her journey, is making it easier.
She has been through so much, and writing her story had to be so hard. I cried, sometimes I felt joy with her successes, and thankful that she had the courage to tell it. So many women will see some of them in her story. I could feel the pain, the emotions, the doubt, the things she tried to make it better. She laid it all out with honesty and feeling. Women Like Us, yes, there are a lot of women like us.
I received an ARC from Little A through NetGalley.

Women like us by Amanda Prose is an enlightening read on overcoming body insecurity and finding true happiness and success. This book is a good book for those that have struggled with difficulties with body image and self-esteem. When reading this book, you will laugh with Amanda, during her good times, and feel upset during the bad times. This book was very relatable and I was interested to keep reading. I highly recommend this book. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the advance review copy in exchange for my honest review.

I have read many of Amanda Prowse’s books, and have loved many of them, often shutting myself away to read the end because I know I will be a weeping heap! I enjoyed the first part of the book, learning about the strong women in her family and her hardworking father who had higher aspirations for his family, meaning they often moved house, causing her to leave friends behind regularly. I felt for her when she had her many operations and the pain she must have gone through, as well as her many miscarriages and the near loss of her son. After this, the book only focuses on Amanda’s eating disorder and her depression because of her weight. This continues until the end, where Amanda finally understands why she eats to excess and how she can change her eating habits and thinking habits. If the book had a description or title which let the reader know that the book was mainly a journey to Amanda’s acceptance of her weight and appearance, I would probably not have chosen to read it. It is a very personal journey for Amanda to share, and I wish her every success with her new way of life.

Amanda Prowse, Women Like Us A Memoir, Lionhead Media Ltd 2022.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with this uncorrected proof for review.

The bulk of this memoir is aimed at highlighting the eating disorders that can impact so negatively on any woman’s life, including that of someone as high profile, successful and thoroughly charming a person as Amanda Prowse appears throughout this book. I think that women who are like the ‘Us’ referred to in the title, presumably those with eating disorders, will find this a profound journey through the possibilities that stimulate the disorder, to the trials of coping with the experiences Prowse describes, and the optimism that she shows in having moved so slowly and so distressingly to a solution.

To other women, those so fortunately not suffering as Prowse and so many women do, do think of yourselves as part of the ‘Us’. After all, some of the distressing behaviour Prowse describes being meted out to her, could be the behaviour of some of the less understanding of ‘us’; it could apply to other disorders – from addiction, to being the brunt of unthinking criticism for behaviour over which a woman might have little control. That being said, I have to acknowledge that I would have liked a little broader look at Prowse’s life, with more discussion of her books, and her experiences of writing and publishing them.

The beginning of the book fulfilled my hope of a broader memoir so well. We read of Amanda’s childhood in a large extended family, living in the east of London, at an address that has become more fashionable as time has progressed. Her delight in joining her local library and being able to borrow armfuls of books; her recognition that someone had written them, and that she would also like to write stories; the warmth of her family; and her father’s successful career. Not so happily, we hear about her experiences with negativity – comments on her body shape, the possibility that she would write derided by a particularly insensitive teacher; the moves from various houses to new ones, and necessity to make new school friends; her absolute love and commitment to her mother but not to her lifestyle – Amanda wanted to be able to walk out the door to the other sort of life, the one her father lived. There are also intriguing comments on her mental filing system for the events and feelings that were to be written as future bestsellers: her determination to write was not undermined by anyone else’s opinion that she might not.

In her first few pages Prowse deals with her consciousness of herself as being the antithesis of a woman of glamour and perfection. She sees herself as the woman following, wearing clothing to hide her figure. Prowse is heart-warmingly honest about what she sees as her imperfections. However, she quickly lets us into her life as a would-be writer, member of a large family, and later, a happy wife and mother, and a writer.
My general disappointment that her writing was not expanded upon could well be misplaced. As I read, I realised that this is a memoir that places Prowse’s eating disorder at its heart. However, one of her novels does take up this issue, and I would have liked to see it given a role as an example of the way in which Prowse uses the ideas she put into an imaginary filing system for use in her fiction. The Food of Love would have been an ideal way to describe how writing became the outlet as a fictionalised version of Prowse’s dilemmas around food and shape. It is a strong novel, and I would have been thrilled to see it used as an example of how Prowse brings events, ideas and feelings into published fiction.

I found Women Like Us A Memoir an instructive and fascinating read, without being enthralling.

What a fabulous and gritty read this is by the wonder author Amanda Prowse. The author is bravely telling us the story of her life, every high and low in full and frank detail and it has me laughing and crying with her from the start.

It is an incredibly brave and honest account of her life and her issues with her health, relationships and food which I found to be informative and heartbreaking all at the same time.

I would highly recommend this book and will definitely reread it again in the future as it is full of really amazing advice, sensible grounding words and most of all hope.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Amanda Prowse is an author whose work I am aware of. I have some of her books on my TBR list but, to my embarrassment, I’ve not yet read them.​ But when it came to this audiobook tour, I admit I was intrigued. With such a successful career behind, and not doubt still in front of her, having the chance to learn a bit more about the woman behind the stories definitely appealed. 



Whether you are a long time fan of her writing, a woman just navigating life, or even dare I suggest, a man trying to better understand the fears of the women in your life, this is a book I think everyone should read. So much of this book I think you will either relate to or, at the very least, recognise in the faces and actions of the people you love. Because Amanda Prowse’s searingly and often emotionally honest memoir taps into some of the many feelings, concerns and moments of self doubt that I am certain many of us have suffered over our lives. Too many.



Taking listeners (and readers) from her early childhood years, growing in the circle of a wonderful family and some very strong matriarchal influences, through awkward teenage years that were blighted by health challenges (an understatement) and darker moments that were to shape her future self, she guides us through a life which is beset with successes, failures, love, loss and a constant, overwhelming sense of self-doubt and self loathing as she tried to find her perfect self, and largely succeeding in losing exactly that which she sought along the way.



It’s fair to say that Amanda Prowse has lived a rollercoaster existence and she brings this to life on the page in a narrative that really did speak to me, especially when she spoke of the struggle she had to conquer her weight and the body image problems she had suffered over the years. From starving herself in her teenage years, to the self-destructive over-eating that dominated her middle-age, post menopausal years, body-image, that constant, incessant, media fuelled utopia of the ‘perfect body’, informed her life in a way that almost destroyed it

.

I can relate. I may not have been through many of the challenges that the author has experienced, a broken marriage and the painful loss of successive miscarriages. I haven’t been in the position to know that kind of pain. But a childhood of being told I was ugly, became that self fulfilling prophecy of overeating, hiding behind being fat as a way to avoid people as ‘no-one wants to befriend the fatty.’ Everything that Amanda Prowse relays in this book, I could understand, the only difference being that she has her husband and that unconditional love of her family, something I’ve actively avoided. I think everyone needs a Simeon in their life. Not that the love of another is the be all and end all, but that unconditional support and understanding certainly helps on the road to accepting who you are.



There won’t be a single woman out there who won’t have stopped and looked in a mirror and wanted to be better, thinner, taller, prettier. Amanda Prowse captures that feeling in these pages, and in narrating the story herself gives it a weight (no pun intended) and emotional heart that really hits home. The book serves not necessarily as an answer to that eternal question ‘how can I be a better me’ but certainly, for those of us where weight yo-yos, both high and low, it certainly gives food for thought and a reminder that you are not alone.



Nobody is perfect. And really, who would want to be? Amanda Prowse has captured all of those imperfections, the self-criticism, anxiety and apprehension that forms a backdrop to too many of our lives. She acknowledges that obesity is every bit as much a mental health issue as anorexia or bulimia, and opens up the subject for discussion with a brutal self exploration and total honesty regaring her battle with her weight, and reminds us all that is is okay to be perfectly imperfect. A powerful and memorable read.

I love this author and reading about her life was spellbounding. Such a fantastic book.

Thanks to the author, the publisher and NetGalley for an early release of this book

This memoir got really close to my heart as I was able to relate to the author's family when she was growing up, got so crazy about books and reading, how the experiences and the people we meet during our developmental stages leave an impact on us for the rest of our lives.

Thank you, Amazon Publishing UK, for the advance reading copy.

I feel the writing is really, really awesome. It's brilliant. Of course, coming from a bestselling author it's meant to be. Easier said than done, the author might say!

At times I laughed out loud. The surgery YEEEEEEHAAAAA! will stay with me you know!
But most of the times, I was in love with everything else the author has to tell about her life as if it's someone else's story all over again.

Reading such memoirs gave me a lot to think about but I came to realise that even though we humans are miles apart, our lives are interconnected through similar experiences and the things we feel and go through.

Read this book. You will love it much more than any fiction.

I’d like to thank Amazon Publishing UK and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read ‘Women Like Us’ written by Amanda Prowse in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

Amanda Prowse starts her memoir from the day of her birth in the East End Maternity Hospital in Stepney, telling of her loving family, her ‘clicky’ hips and ungainly walk that necessitates a number of operations to her pelvis, motherhood and lastly her health and obsession with food. Not forgetting, of course, her unique ability to keep thoughts of stories locked up until she finally fulfils her childhood dream and starts writing novels, becoming a best-selling author worldwide.

From the moment I picked up my first Amanda Prowse novel ‘Poppy Day’ in 2012 I couldn’t wait to get my hands on the next one until I’d read everything she’d written, so when her memoir ‘Women Like Us’ was offered to me I couldn’t wait to read it and learn more about this amazing woman who writes such wonderful books. I thought it would be about Amanda’s writing and her ability to dream up wonderful characters but it’s so much more than that as it covers relationships, marriage, divorce and her health problems, but the main topic has to be her unhealthy relationship with food caused by low self-esteem. But it’s not all doom and gloom as from page one I was chuckling and the description of the misery she experienced when going through the menopause had me laughing out loud; I doubt there are any woman who can’t sympathise having gone through it themselves. I can only sum up by saying thank you to Amanda for letting us into her life. She’s an inspiration as she gives hope to so many women, including myself, who want to lose weight but don’t want to put themselves through another dreaded diet.

I thoroughly enjoyed this honest memoir from my favourite author Amanda Prowse, and after reading this, I truly believe she may have been writing about my own life. So much of it resonated with me from her addictive behaviours concerning food, alcohol, weight issues and just wanting to be noticed and liked in her teens, right through to her lack of self-worth, feeling unlovable and hating herself and her body.

Oh my goodness Mandy, you made me sob at times (particularly the instances of sexually inappropriate behaviours in the office in the 1980's, and reminded me of the near-miss sexual assault I couldn't mention at the time and have not done so until now) because of feeling it was probably my fault! I know better now.

You made me feel warm and cosy hearing about your Grandparents' home-grown love when they took you in, supplying wisdom, warmth, healing, love and laughter with no judgement.

You made me laugh with your Walrus Roll, not really funny I know, but you did make me chuckle.

My final thoughts on this wonderful book : I also had a moment in my childhood (are you sure this book isn't about me) where someone made a throwaway comment about the way I walk with a limp, they only said it once, but I have probably said it to myself most days ever since. What you have taught me is that firstly we wouldn't speak to a friend the way we speak to ourselves through our internal dialogue, so let's be as kind to ourselves as we are to others too. We should go gently through this wonderful life, try to spend a few moments each day calmly, with peace in our homes and hearts, and appreciate family, health and the feeling of well-being.

A well written and thought provoking memoir that I suspect will resonate with many. Prowse, whose fiction is delightful, has lived a difficult and often painful - both physically and psychologically-life. She doesn't pull punches but she also doesn't wallow or feel sorry for herself. I honestly wasn't expecting what I found within these pages but now I'm going to read her novels with a different eye. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC. Great read.

Amanda Prowse is such a well known author so when I saw this book on netgalley read now section, I had to get it! My initial hope for this book was that it would give me some insight into how she got into writing as I’m fascinated by how authors come up with so many fantastic ideas and how they are disciplined enough to write it all out.

Amanda talks about how a teacher reacted negatively to her expressing she would like to write and I love that, even though she has held onto it, she doesn’t seem to be bitter, just matter of fact knowing what she has now achieved.

She has had to deal with a lot throughout her life, but one of the biggest things she’s talks about is her relationship with food and her body and how she has overcome it. Although I felt some of this could have been condensed a little (I skipped a few pages) i do believe this may help a lot of people who could relate to her and for that reason I would definitely recommend it.

Fascinating autobiography.
Many thanks to Amazon Publishing UK and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

This is a very honest autobiography from a very genuine and lovely person. I had never read ner books but while reading this I did for the first time and can see that that open and caring style comes across in her fiction also. I believe she is a TV personality and I can see why - she comes across so open and honest I envy anyone who has her as a friend. A lovely read if you don't know her or her work but must be a particular treat for her fans. Highly recommend!