What do readers think of The Mouse-Proof Kitchen by Saira Shah? Write your own review.

The author comes very close to the reality faced by parents who have their lives planned and are totally disrupted by the birth of a special needs child. You will struggle with them as you take an emotional journey filled with laughter, tears,sadness, happiness , and the search for balance in a world that is spinning out of control.
You will ride an emotional rollercoaster from the depths of despair, to the miracle of love and hope. You can no more mouseproof the kitchen than you can protect your heart from the gift of a child, even one born with many disabilities.

The Mouse Proof Kitchen is the story of Tobias and Anna whose perfect life is shattered when their daughter Freya is born: flawed. Will they be able to give her unconditional love?

Their lives change when they leave England to live in France. They are the new owners of an old farmhouse Les Rajons at the top of a large hill open to the wind on all sides. Their view is of the Pyrenees and the Mediterranean Sea. The story recounts their struggles with leaky roofs, mold, and rats in the kitchen. Anna gets organized and deals with Freya's demanding and critical medical care while cleaning up and repairing the house for her planned French cooking school or a restaurant for tourists.

Dealing with serious questions of parenthood and desperate housing problems, The Mouse Proof Kitchen is written with good-natured humor of farm life in rural south France that ends happily. I enjoyed the quick read and will read more of Shah's books.

I really enjoyed this book and will recommend it to my book club. I think the author was able to take a difficult subject, that of raising a disabled child,and still have the book be entertaining and insightful. The mice (rats) are really just symbolic of all the things we would like to be able to control in our lives but can't. As always, I am heartened by the love that most mothers have for their children even when it comes at a great cost to their own personal freedom. It is a book that I will remember.

Raising a profoundly mentally and physically handicapped child is incredibly hard on a marriage. Moving from London to a decaying farmhouse in the remote region of Languedoc in France because they couldn't afford the properties in Provence doesn't help their situation.Anna and Tobias each cope differently with Freya's problems. Tobias hides in his music studio while Anna tries unsuccessfully to mouse proof her kitchen. Kitchens can't be truly mouse proof and life isn't foolproof either. A touching journey.

This statement is on the cover of the book and is a good way to describe the story. Not only is the house Tobias and Anna buy in France a little messy, but they have a very disabled child who is for them emotionally messy.
As a parent I remember having a discussion with my husband while I was pregnant about "what if".
The feelings and attitudes about whether they can accept this child who will be a terrible burden on them for the rest of her life seemed to be an accurate description of what a young couple would go through. It is also a reminder that if you have a healthy child it is a blessing.

The book deals with a very difficult subject, a child born with severe health problems and how the parents cope with this. It was thought-provoking, but certainly won't appeal to everyone. More difficulties arise with stress in the marriage, ethical decisions regarding the baby's medical issues and relationships with family and friends. The tough subject matter is offset by interesting descriptions of what it was like for a British couple to move to a decrepit house in France and the people in the community.

Although I found the book to be a compelling read, I would be very selective about recommending it to someone I didn't know well, because it could be very disturbing to people who have related issues.

When I read the first chapter of this book, my first thought was that it was a book that would be dealing with some heavy-duty issues- Anna and Tobias, the main characters, have a baby that is born with severe mental issues. They are so severe that Anna and Tobias are not sure they even want to take the baby home! But they have been looking for a house in France, and they find a run-down old villa that Anna thinks might be perfect for opening a restaurant. The story of Freya, the baby, is interwoven with descriptions of Anna & Tobias settling into their new home (which is literally falling down around them) and is enhanced by a cast of quirky neighbors and wonderful descriptions of the countryside, Anna's cooking and constant attempts to keep the mice (!) out of the kitchen, as well as the nature that surrounds them in their villa, from bugs to the food that grows to the strange animals. It is wonderfully written and draw you completely into the story, and just when your not sure how it can possibly end, the author does a wonderful wrap-up with the main characters. Loved it and hope to see more from the author. What will grab your heart even more is if you read the author's note in the back, you will see that Freya's disabilities are the same as the author's daughter. Very touching and beautifully written book.

The phrase on the cover of this novel gives a good indication of what to expect inside. The central character is Anna, who likes order and planning, but when her daughter is born profoundly disabled she finds she has a lot to learn about being flexible, and more so after she and her partner move into a disabled home in a remote area in France.

The author gave me a lot to think about regarding love and relationships, particularly the kind of unconditional love it takes to face difficulties. She also has much to say about motherhood: are we the mothers we are because of the mothers we have, or in spite of or as a reaction to the mothers we have? Anna is forced to confront these issues, and the result is a compelling read.

There are some plot turns that I found puzzling, especially near the end, and I found some of the language unnecessary, but this is a good read and a great choice for book clubs.