A genuinely funny and original novel about mental illness, growing up, and celebrity obsession from much-loved comedienne Jo Brand.

Little Alice's family, tucked away in a cottage in the deepest part of Herefordshire, England, is more than a bit weird. Her mother, Gina, is obsessed with the weatherman on the local news, and when she climbs onto the roof--naked--with her daughter's pet guinea pig in her arms, she is whisked off to the local psychiatric hospital posthaste. Keith, Alice's father, tries to keep calm, but his patience is being severely tested by his in-laws, whose disturbed behavior terrifies the community. Alice is convinced she needs five personalities to cope because a mother-daughter reconciliation seems damned near impossible. And at this point, the stage may be set for even more heartbreak than Alice can imagine.

THE MORE YOU IGNORE ME IS NOW A MAJOR NEW FILM STARRING SHERIDAN SMITH, SHEILA HANCOCK, RICKY TOMLINSON AND ELLA HUNT. Jo Brand's life-affirming novel The More You Ignore Me addresses mental health issues and their impact on a family in an honest, hilarious and heartwarming way. This film tie-in edition contains a new foreword by Jo Brand about the film and an exclusive extract of the film script. For Alice, the big bad monster wasn't green and hiding under the bed, it sat in the kitchen saying 'bollocks' a lot. Prone to psychotic episodes, or 'on the road to bonkersville' as Alice's dad would say, Alice's mum Gina isn't easy to live with. Her unpredictable outbursts make life in their Hereford cottage eventful. As 'family' means a mentally ill mother, a hippy father and grandparents who enjoy a drink or five, Alice needs someone to help her through. Unfortunately, Alice's special someone is Morrissey of The Smiths, and the closest she's got to him so far is watching him on Top of the Pops. Now that could all be about to change . . . Praise for Jo Brand's The More You Ignore Me: 'A sweet, touching, tender novel' Independent 'The book is littered with endearing characters . . . The last line moved me to tears' Daily Express 'The most enjoyable piece of fiction I have had the pleasure of reading this year . . . Superb stuff' Now

A genuinely funny and original novel about mental illness, growing up, and celebrity obsession from much-loved comedienne Jo Brand.

Little Alice's family, tucked away in a cottage in the deepest part of Herefordshire, England, is more than a bit weird. Her mother, Gina, is obsessed with the weatherman on the local news, and when she climbs onto the roof--naked--with her daughter's pet guinea pig in her arms, she is whisked off to the local psychiatric hospital posthaste. Keith, Alice's father, tries to keep calm, but his patience is being severely tested by his in-laws, whose disturbed behavior terrifies the community. Alice is convinced she needs five personalities to cope because a mother-daughter reconciliation seems damned near impossible. And at this point, the stage may be set for even more heartbreak than Alice can imagine.

Billy is a lad. He's a laugh, he's loud, he behaves badly and Sarah is besotted with him. But after another 'accident' involving Billy's temper, Sarah's face and a night in the A&E, Sarah's friends Martha and Flower decide that it's time to take action. What should they do? Reason with him? Send him to anger management classes? Hire a hit man? Martha and Flower have problems of their own: Martha is seven months pregnant by one of three possible blokes (she did this mainly to wind up her sanctimonious vicar father); and hippie Flower's career as a stand-up comic is more sit-down after some nasty encounters with south London's finest hecklers. Will Martha survive single-motherhood on a council estate in need of a peace-keeping force? Will Flower find the perfect put-down? And will they sort out Billy before he gets to them first...? Jo Brand tells it like it is in her darkly comic and sharply observed debut novel.

Hastings in the seventies is not the coolest place to be. As Rachel and Susan teeter on the brink of adolescence, they realise safety lies in numbers and the best chance of surviving their teens is by sticking together. Their friendship protects them against the trials of parents, classmates, bullies who harass them in school, soggy chips, warm beer, aspiring guitar heroes, stoned hippies, men's clubs, derivative three chord bands and emotional neediness and weediness. But when Dave, local rock-star and general bad-boy, enters their lives, they discover that sex, drugs and rock'n'roll aren't always everything they've dreamed of. And then Punk music detonates the status quo and nothing will ever be the same again. This is a wonderfully funny and poignant novel about growing up in the seventies, the brittle nature of teenage friendship and the tough twists and turns of emerging adulthood.

The Stand-Up while Sitting Down Years... Jo Brand tells the story of how she crawled to fame and fortune, managed to persuade someone to marry her and had some children at an age when she should have been in a bath chair on the seafront. In this second volume of her memoirs, Jo recounts wild times on the comedy circuit, the attempts to tart her up for the TV screen, running the marathon, rally driving, her numerous, occasionally extremely inebriated, Edinburgh festival appearances, her 'acting' career, and much, much more. Jo Brand is one of our best-loved comedians, according to a quote she made up. This memoir is full of hard-won wisdom, hilarity and her views on life, laughs, friendships and all the good and bad things in the world. If she was Prime Minister, the country would be in even more of a mess than it is.

A RADIO 4 'BOOK OF THE WEEK' Sometimes it's hard to be a woman and sometimes it's time to be a hard woman . . . This is a book for all those times. Once upon a (very very) long time ago Jo Brand was what you might describe as 'a nice little girl'. Of course, that was before the values of cynicism, misogyny and the societal expectation that Jo would be thin, feminine and demure sent her off down Arsey Avenue. The plot thickened, when due to a complicated fusion of hormones, horrible family dynamics and a no-good boyfriend they hated, Jo ended up leaving home at 16. Now she's considerably further along life's inevitable bloody 'journey' - and she's fucked up enough times to feel confident she has no wisdom to offer anyone. But who cares? She's going to do it anyway... Born Lippy is a gathering of all the things Jo Brand wishes she'd known, all the things she's learnt, and all the things she hopes for the future. A century after women got the vote (albeit married women over the age of 28) it's time to take stock of exactly what it means to be female today. And if there's one thing women are entitled to, it's having a bloody good moan about things big and small - so here goes . . . HOW TO MANAGE A BULLY * YOUR FAMILY AND HOW TO SURVIVE IT * WHAT NO-ONE TELLS YOU ABOUT THE FEMALE BODY * BEING DIFFERENT * SOCIAL MEDIA IS NOT SOCIABLE * HOW NOT TO FALL IN LOVE * FEMINISM: A RE-BRANDING * ADVENTURES IN YOUR HEAD * HAVING FUN * NOT HAVING FUN: WHAT TO DO WHEN IT ALL GOES WRONG * STAYING SANE * YOU ARE NOT WHAT YOU WEAR * MODERN MANNERS* HOW TO DO WHAT YOU WANT: OR NOT DO WHAT OTHERS WANT * BEING HEALTHY * GETTING ON A BIT * THE FEMALE OF THE SPECIES: MORE DEADLY THAN THE MALE?

Jo Brand is one of Britain's funniest and best-loved comedians. With a sharp eye for the absurd and in her own unique voice, she tells her story for the first time. What possessed her to become a professional comedian in the cut-throat world of stand-up comedy after ten years as a psychiatric nurse? How did she deal with late night drunken audiences? From her early years growing up in a small south coast town with two brothers who toughened her up, to emerging on stage as 'The Sea Monster', Jo Brand tells it like it is with wit and candour.