There is no one quite like your mother

but along with the unconditional love and understanding, this also means that there is no one else who always knows when you''re fibbing, or where you keep your diary, or the terribly amusing thing you once said at a family wedding when you were five.

In an affectionate, amusing and mischievous book, Judith Holder''s tribute to motherhood covers everything from mothers through the ages (it''s not only the Virgin Mary who we wish had had an immaculate conception) to maternal anxiety and those little things she says and why she says them: ''You''re not going out like that'', ''What are you doing inside on a lovely day like today?'', and the classic ''because I said so.''