An Innocent, a Broad

Ann Leary’s hilarious, poignant, surprising, and heartfelt memoir, An Innocent, a Broad, is a phenomenon — a fascinating, hugely entertaining chronicle of two simultaneous, unexpected births: of a baby and a major show-business career.

When Ann and her husband, then unknown actor-comedian Denis Leary, flew to London in the early nineties, neither anticipated the adventure that was in store for them. Ann, in her second trimester of pregnancy, looked forward to a carefree mini-vacation in England before the onset of motherhood. Denis saw his upcoming appearance on a BBC comedy program as the opportunity he needed to rocket his career forward. Although they had packed for only two nights, it would be five long months before they would be able to return to the United States.

Ann’s premature labor began the morning after the couple arrived in London and she suddenly found herself an unwitting yet grateful hostage of Britain’s National Health Service — a stranger in a strange land, abruptly plunged into a world of breast pumps and midwives, blood oxygen levels, mad cow disease, and poll-tax riots. Desperately worried about the health of their tiny, prematurely born son, Jack, Ann struggled to adapt to motherhood and make sense of a very different culture while, simultaneously, Denis found himself an overnight sensation on London’s comedy scene.

At once an intimate family memoir, a lively travelogue, a touching love story, an inside look at the entertainment industry, and a side-splitting comedy of errors, Ann Leary’s An Innocent, a Broad is an utterly engaging and unforgettable look at the bizarre twists and hairpin turns one can encounter on the road of life — whether that road winds through a familiar neighborhood or a frustratingly foreign land.