The winner of the Alan Tichmarsh 'People's Author' national competition tells of the travails of family life with wit and warmth. Like many women after a divorce, Nicola Hodgkinson found herself facing a stark reality. With three young children to raise, and a ramshackle cottage by the sea, she had a choice: to wallow in self pity or pull herself together and get on with it. She chose the latter. 'Life With the Lid Off' is a brilliant, profound and funny evocation of a universal theme: how to find yourself again amongst the hurly burly of family life.