The Writings of Valerie Poore |
Reviews: African Ways: Maria Niku wrote: I read this and can say I can definitely recommend it for everyone. The stories of the author's life in South Africa are vibrant, full of life and colour. I especially like her skill in drawing pictures of people and things so that the reader can see them with his/her own eyes.
Margaret Jevons wrote: This hugely endearing book tells of one woman's experiences in actually doing what many of us just wish we had the courage to do; up sticks and go to live in another country in a society very far removed from our own cosy experiences.
Valerie writes naturally and with with great warmth, humour and insight, painting vivid and affectionate pictures of those who helped and mentored her on her journey. She makes light of hardships less brave readers would consider intolerable, and throughout the book has a happy knack of bringing alive the people and places she came to know so well. This is a lovely book, full of wonderful stories. Perfect reading for we less adventurous "what if...."s. Anne-Marie Klein wrote: I had the pleasure of reading this book on Val's blog, one installment at a time. She writes with warmth and gentle humour, and captures a time and place with visual richness and great charm.
For anyone who loves Africa, or who loves a good story with a wonderful cast of characters!
Watery Ways: Mary Mann wrote: I so enjoyed this book. It reminded me of C'est La Folie by Michael Wright, even though the subject is totally different. Valerie Poore's style of self deprecating humour and the scrapes she gets into while she learns about living on a barge and how to be a skipper's mate are charming, heart warming, funny and also very educational. Half of me would love to try living on a boat but if it's as hard work as it sounds (especially all this scraping and painting the bottom lark), I don't think I would manage half as well as she did. Read it! Even if you never set foot on a boat, you'll love it.
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