The Street's Liz Macdonald isn't someone you'd want for Christmas dinner with but surely mothers-in-law aren't all like that? JENNY SCOTT finds out. . .

THEY'VE been stereotyped as the nightmare family member. Pushy, interfering and domineering, the mother-in-law has never quite managed to shake off her bad name as the family misery-maker.

Now picking up on the theme is a new book called The Other Woman by bestselling author Jane Green, which takes as its theme the battleground between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law.

"It's a really tricky relationship and a hard one to get right," said the 36-year-old writer. "For the mother-in-law, you've got this new woman usurping you as the most important woman in your son's life - and that's hard."

So is the traditional image of the mother-in-law as a jealous control-freak who resents you for walking off with her son really true to life?

Not for Charlene Berry, 24, from Oswaldtwistle. Charlene has been married to her husband Jonathan for just over a year and suggestions that her mother-in-law Maureen has cramped their newly wedded bliss could not be further from the truth.

"I thought Maureen was lovely, right from the first time I met her," said Charlene, a bookbinder and mother of two.

"She's never been one for interfering and saying, 'I wouldn't do things like that'."

According to Charlene, though, it's not just mothers-in-law who have to make an effort to build bridges in the relationship.

"I could have let Maureen do everything," said Charlene. "But when I first met her I was always polite and made conversation. That's what you have to do to make things a bit more comfortable."

Charlene admits not everyone she knows enjoys the same good relationship with their husbands' mums.

"I think it can be difficult," she said. "But I've never put any boundaries up. Maureen knows she can come and see the kids any time and, if we ever need a babysitter, she's round at the drop of a hat.

"It's lovely to be so close to your family and I think it helps the kids to be very well-rounded."

For her part, Maureen was delighted to find a daughter-in-law with whom she had so much in common.

"We share a lot of similar interests," she said. "We even used to go swimming together. We've certainly never fallen out. She's a great girl and I love her to bits. I think she's good for my son.

"I would certainly never feel threatened about another woman taking my son away," said Maureen. "If I can be there for them both in a supportive role, I will be. But you can destroy a relationship by interfering."

Maureen admits, however, that her easy-going relationship with Charlene is unlikely to be replicated in all families.

"If you don't like your daughter-in-law, it must be quite difficult," she said, "but I love Charlene as my daughter. She's not just someone who's an attachment to my son - she's my family."