The Backpacking Housewife by Janice Horton
Publication Date 6th July 2018
Published by Harper Impulse
One mum is leaving it all behind for the adventure of a lifetime…
Lorraine Anderson was meant to be making a Sunday roast, not swanning off to Thailand, backpack in hand! But when she finds her husband and her best friend in bed together there’s only one thing to do – grab her passport and never look back!
Now, with each mile travelled Lori sheds the woman she once was and finds the woman she was always meant to be. A woman of passion and spirit who deserves to explore the great unknown…and to indulge in the temptation she encounters along the way!
My Review:
Lorraine Anderson has been married to Charles for over 20 years. Life since having her now grown-up children has become quite humdrum - far from the hopes and dreams she had when she first met Charles and they both worked in the travel industry. All that changes in an instant when Lorraine returns home unexpectedly early from a night out and catches Charles in an extremely compromising position with her best friend. Not quite knowing what to do next Lorraine goes to the kitchen and, reaching into the kitchen drawer, has to choose between either grabbing a kitchen knife and committing a worse crime than Charles, or her passport which lies in the drawer next to the cutlery. It turns out to be the best choice of her life as she ends up at the airport with little more than said passport, her handbag and the clothes on her back.
The book chronicles Lorraine's experiences over the following months - which starts with shortening her name to Lori in an attempt to reinvent herself; her journey begins with a flight to Thailand, one of the places she and Charles had been intending to travel to on their retirement bucket list. Finding herself amongst a wealth of backpacking youngsters (many of whom have clocked up more air miles during their gap years than Lori has during her entire married life) she rediscovers a long-hidden passion for travel and along with that comes a confidence and spontaneity she never dreamt of having at this point in her life.
The descriptions of the places she travels to are stunning; no photographs or words could ever capture their beauty or atmosphere, but the author manages to find a way of presenting them sufficiently well that you really want to experience them for yourself. Lori's courage is tested during her travels as she learns to scuba dive and earns herself the first qualification she has achieved for many years. This then starts her thinking about all the other possibilities which lie waiting for her to discover if only she pushes herself out of her comfort zone.
The part of this book which didn't quite work for me was how forgiving her mum and 2 sons were as regards how she had upped and left with very little communication for months. Lori's mum is rarely mentioned until later on in the book and I don't think many families would have dealt with her change of circumstances with as much understanding. Also, Charles manages to raise funds and arrange divorce papers with surprising ease considering his spouse is not in the UK any more; I can't imagine the process being quite as smooth as is portrayed in the book.
Overall I enjoyed the spiritual and escapist aspect of this book and how it focuses on the wronged party in a break-up rebuilding their life in a very positive if rather dramatic way - whether it could ever be a reality I'm not so sure. But after all, that's what a good novel is all about: making dreams a possibility, and in that respect this book definitely hits the spot.
My thanks go to Heidi who is working on behalf of Harper Collins to organise this blog tour, and NetGalley who provided me with an advance review copy of the book in exchange for my unbiased review.
About the Author:
For five years, Janice has been a senior editor with award-winning lifestyle e-magazine Loveahappyending.com (LLm). She has also been involved in BBC Scotland’s ‘Write Here Write Now’ project and her novel approach to research has featured on ITV television in the UK.
In 2014, once her three children had grown up and left home, Janice set off with her husband to explore the Caribbean. In 2015 they returned to the UK only to sell all their material possessions in favour of travelling around the world. Since then they have been travelling full-time, living out of their backpacks or a rented apartment or a simple hut, wherever they happen to find themselves.
In 2015, her bestselling novel Castaway in the Caribbean was shortlisted in the UK’s Love Stories Awards.
Janice also writes romantic-comedy under the pen name of Janey Travis.
She has been a full member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association since 2004.
Social Media Links:
Website: http://www.janicehorton.co.uk/Twitter: @JaniceHorton
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JaniceHorton
No comments:
Post a Comment