KEY POINTS:
First came Bridget Jones, who made it acceptable for young single women to go home and drink a bottle of wine on their own. Then came "mummy lit", which made nappies as aspirational as a company bonus. Now, the biggest familial taboo is about to be broken: the wicked stepmother is to get her own back.
Sam Baker, editor of the women's magazine, Red, has been given a six-figure advance to write about the trials and tribulations of loving a man whose children are not your own.
The Stepmother's Support Group, to be published next September, gives a voice to stepmothers who find themselves at the mercy of difficult children and equally difficult men.
The novel, based around Natalie, a magazine journalist whose partner is a widower with three children, will vindicate the much-maligned figure of the stepmother. The publishing world, ever hungry to tap into the growing market for stories about female friendships and bonding in times of adversity, has hailed the tale as "Sex and the City for stepmothers". It has been bought by HarperCollins for what is being described as a "good" six-figure sum.
Baker, 41, a former editor of Cosmopolitan and New Woman, was inspired after she wrote a candid letter to her readers last June, describing the trials of becoming a stepmother, labelling them "the most loathed of fairy-tale baddies". She was astonished after being deluged by hundreds of sympathy notes and emails from women in the same situation.
Some of the women's stories were so inspiring Baker has used them as the basis for the plot of her book, which focuses on five fictitious characters - most of them stepmothers - and their respective romances, relationships with one another and the often-difficult children they have to parent.
"One of the reasons there are five main characters is so that each can present a different perspective. One of the characters has a stepmother who she hated when she was young and made her life difficult. When she is older, she develops a different take on it. It's often not the stepmother who creates difficulties, the father can play a role, the ex-wife plays a role and the children play a role at times," said Baker, who was inspired by her experience of being a stepmother to a 9-year-old when she was 26.
"We did a feature in the magazine about stepmothers and single mothers and because I try and write quite personal editor's letters in the front of every magazine, I wrote a bit about being 24 years old and meeting my [future] stepson who was 6 at the time.
I got married at 26 to my husband, who was 10 years older than me. At the time, I felt like there was no one I could talk to. It's not easy to talk about with friends.
"I did a radio interview about the subject after that and people started phoning in, asking me for advice, and the bags of mail from readers really struck a chord. It's quite taboo to talk about, the idea of taking on someone else's children to a lesser or greater degree, whether they will live with you and that you are not their mother.
"I started thinking, 'What does a stepmother look like?' Baker said.
Her aim, she says, is to dismantle the stereotype of the "wicked" stepmother. "It's one of the things that I felt really strongly about, the idea of the evil stepmother and the minute you find yourself in that situation, you are judged and there are certain things expected of you," she said.
"When I started my research, I found there was an enormous quantity of abuse out there towards stepmothers, whatever the culture, be it Greek myth, fairy-tales or the modern day."
Baker, whose tale sees Natalie endure a disastrous first meeting with the children, before forming a support group, has so far submitted a third of the novel to HarperCollins.
- INDEPENDENT
