# The Pumpkin Eater

Canonical: https://www.bookquiver.com/penelope-mortimer/the-pumpkin-eater/9780241240311

![The Pumpkin Eater](https://quivercdn.com/covers/penguin/penelope-mortimer/the-pumpkin-eater_978-02-4124-031-1.jpg?v=2026-04-24%2011%3A37%3A07)

- Book: [The Pumpkin Eater](https://www.bookquiver.com/penelope-mortimer/the-pumpkin-eater) ([The Pumpkin Eater.md](https://www.bookquiver.com/penelope-mortimer/the-pumpkin-eater.md))
- Authors: [Penelope Mortimer](https://www.bookquiver.com/penelope-mortimer)
- Publisher: Penguin
- Medium: ebook
- ISBN: 978-02-4124-031-1
- Published: 2015-07-02
- Language: en_GB
- Binding: E-book

## Description

In this extraordinary, semi-autobiographical novel, Penelope Mortimer depicts a married woman's breakdown in 1960s London. With three husbands in her past, one in her present and a numberless army of children, Mrs Mortimer is astonished to find herself collapsing one day in Harrods. This strange, unsettling novel, shot through with black comedy, is a moving account of one woman's realisation that marriage and family life may not, after all, offer all the answers to the problems of living. 'Beautiful ... almost every woman I can think of will want to read this book' Edna O'Brien