SIDESTEPS TO THE SOMME by Valerie Poore @vallypee

 5 out of 5 stars

On Amazon (universal link)
On Goodreads

How I discovered this book: I've read lots of this author's books, so, with my own interest in WW1, this was an obvious choice!

In a Nutshell: Travels by barge along the Western Front, with Val and her other half, Koos.

Sometimes I wish Val Poore's books had photos, though more than anyone else, the way in which she writes makes one able to 'see' the places, and certainly feel the atmosphere.  As ever, this book made me long to travel down those little side canals (I'm sure I'd be 'sidestepping' all the time, too!), off the beaten track, as it were.  A perfect way to live.

There were so many lovely tales in this book, one of my favourites being Koos and Val's impromptu musical session in a disused factory.  Koos is fascinated by derelict industrial sites and is a fine photographer - I too have a strange attraction to the derelict and abandoned, so I looked up some of his photos on YouTube via his unused TwitteX profile; they're HERE, if you would like to see.

Best of all, though, when browsing his YouTube profile I happened across this gem - I thought, hang on, I just read about this!  It's a lovely piece of music - oddly mournful, made me think of peasants dancing in a Polish village, decades ago (for some reason).  

Back to the book ... another passage that stood out for me was Val's visiting of some of the WWI graves.  She remarked on how the German dead were commemorated there too - because, of course, those poor boys and men weren't the enemy at all.  That label belongs to the generals, bankers and industry moguls whose own greed and megalomania caused the deaths of so many, for ... nothing much at all, really.  Talking of which, I loved Val's comment about Napoleon's aptitude and foresight when it came to building the canals of France - that he should have been an engineer, not a megalomaniac.

At the end of this piece in the book, Val was joined by a grey mare, who stood there and silently contemplated the graves, with her.

It's a beautiful book about a beautiful two months.  Informative, wistful, entertaining - a delight.

 

FARING FORTH AGAIN ON THE SHOE by Valerie Poore @vallypee

5 out of 5 stars

On Amazon UK
On Amazon.com
On Goodreads

How I discovered this book:  I love Val Poore's travelogues, so always buy them when a new one comes out.

In a Nutshell:  Non-fiction, though Belgium to France on the author's barge

I read a big chunk of this book yesterday, in the bath and then whilst drying my hair (it's a long task).  When I'd finished, I stood up and realised that I had been completely immersed in Val Poore's world for the past couple of hours. To the extent that I just wanted to get back there.

This is a lovely book, detailing a trip from the Netherlands, where Val and her partner Koos live, through Flemish Belgium and then Val's beloved Wallonia, into France and back again.  As ever, I adored reading the snippets of historical interest, hearing about the people she meets, the simplicity of their life on board, her outlook about life in general (which I totally relate to), and her contentment just from being on her boat and enjoying the beauty of her surroundings.  Though it's not all bliss and country idylls; Val is a self-confessed worrier, especially when faced with the possibility of having to moor up too near a rough town.  There are many moments of humour, like when she went into a shop to buy sheets, not realising that, in her less-than-fluent French, she had asked the shopkeeper for flags.  😄

At the end of sections of the book there are links to Val's photos on Flickr; they took to long to load on my tablet, so I looked them up afterwards instead.  The link is HERE (yes, Val, he does look like a young Gerard Depardieu!).  I was most interested to see the enormous Strépy-Thieu Boat Lift - on the cover - as I couldn't imagine it, and also the enormous white scifi guillotine thing (you need to read the book!).

The only downside was that (again, as ever), reading this made me long to be on the Hennie Ha, too, faring through rural Belgium, on a sunny afternoon that lasts forever.  Thank you again, Val, for allowing us to enter your world for a while.

AFRICAN WAYS AGAIN by Valerie Poore @vallypee

4.5 out of 5 stars

On Amazon UK
On Amazon.com
On Goodreads

How I discovered this book: I've read all or nearly all Val Poore's travel memoir books, and was looking forward to this one coming out, having adored its prequel, African Ways.

Genre: Travel Memoir: South Africa

Val Poore, the woman who can write a whole chapter about the weather, and make it interesting....

I adored the first African Ways book, about the three years in the early 1980s when Val and her family lived on a farm up a mountain in South Africa; in this she describes the time as possibly the happiest in her life, and the book reflects its magic.  Now, the family have moved down the mountain to the small town of Byrne, where they can enjoy such luxuries as electricity.  And snakes.  Don't forget the snakes.  There was me thinking how much I wanted to live there, until I read about them.

When Val's children go to school, she is faced, for the first time, with apartheid; segregation is still in place.  Aside from this, there are daily reminders about how hard life can be for the natives of South Africa at this time.  She doesn't write about it by way of 'raising awareness', or anything so ghastly, though; it's all very matter of fact, just her observations.  This book does not pretend to be a political or sociological comment, but maybe because it doesn't, it kind of is, in the best possible way.  I definitely got the feeling, though, of, as Val says, the calm before the storm of the early-mid 1980s.

Aside from this, I loved the reminders of the pre-internet life that has disappeared; her amazement at the wonder of fax machines, and the discovery of cheap LPs in her favourite shop (under 25s: ask your mum).  When I read about the mountain dwellers being cleared from the land, I felt so sad.  I feel nostalgic for that time on Val's behalf, and I've hardly even seen pictures of it.  One of the reasons I love her books is that it is so clear that she cares more about people, experiences, living in the moment and simple joys than materialism and conforming to society's 'norms'; there aren't many of us about, at our age!

I'd definitely recommend this book if you're a dog person; I am massively not, but there is much animal stuff that will make the lovers of our four-legged friends smile.

Val deals with upheavals in her personal life in that far away country with two small children to care for, but by 1987, what with the 'gathering storm' of racial and political unrest, she decides it is time to go back to the UK.  Can she return to 'normal' English life?  You'll have to read this, and all her other books, to find out!

FARING TO FRANCE ON A SHOE by Val Poore @vallypee

5 out of 5 stars

On Amazon UK HERE
On Amazon.com HERE
On Goodreads HERE

How I discovered this book: I got to know Val Poore on Twitter some years ago, and have read all her travel books; African Ways is my very favourite.  Links to Watery Ways and Harbour Ways on the above review.

In this memoir, Val and her partner Koos travel to France via their home of the Netherlands and Belgium, on their barge the Hennie-Ha - which really is shaped like a Dutch clog; see cover!

The beauty of this book is, I think, that it's so very real and unpretentious.  Nothing particularly breath-taking happens, but every time I picked it up I smiled at the way that Val Poore can even make a trip to the supermarket good to read about.  It's so genuine; there are no flowery descriptions for the sake of it, just Val's impressions.  And it's funny, too - not split-your-sides laughing, deliberately 'hilarious anecdotes' like some books of this type; her writing doesn't need that, because it hits the right spot so effortlessly.  Especially the nerve-wracking cycle ride to buy food:  juggernauts flying past, a flat tyre and the bed of stinging nettles....

As someone who believes that the simpler your life is, the happier you are, I sighed as I read about Val and Koos' memories of a happy evening that could not be captured in words or by camera, the liberation from the 'must do' stuff of the world left behind, and her appreciation of the occasional makeshift 'shower', after days and days of stand up strip washes.  The more I read, the more I liked it, until about half way through, when I wished I was IN it.

There are links to Val's photos of the trip on Flickr, which were great to look at.  A lovely book.

WALLOON WAYS by Val Poore

4.5 out of 5 stars

Travel memoir, barge life, Belgium

On Amazon UK HERE
On Amazon.com HERE
On Goodreads HERE

There's something about Val Poore's books that's always a bit magical, and this is no exception.  For three years in the last decade, she and her chap, Koos (and le chien terrible, Sindy), spent their weekends in Wallonia, the French-speaking part of Belgium, on their barge Volharding, and this book tells me more about that country than anything else I've read; yes, it's more than 'just a place you stop and buy refreshments on the way to France'!

I loved the descriptions of some of the places in Brussels, in particular; the run-down Bohemian atmosphere of The Marolles and the beauty of Parc Duden (yes, I'd like to live in either of those places, too!).  Just her accounts of normal days during those many wonderful weekends made me go 'ahhh' with longing, and nostalgia for her, too, now that circumstances has made them a thing of the past.

Many of Val's experiences can't have been fun (waking up to a canal with no water in it, Koos out on his own in a scooter in a blizzard, winter in a freezing on-board bedroom), but she relates them with the canal life, Belgian 'c'est la vie' attitude, if not humour, in this delightful tribute to a country she loves. If you have any interest in barge life, or indeed Belgium itself, I'd whole-heartedly recommend this book - but as with all of Val Poore's books, I'd recommend them to anyone, anywhere, anyway!

All other books by Valerie Poore reviewed by me HERE

THE SKIPPER'S CHILD by Val Poore

4.5 out of 5 stars

Adventure for older children or adults

On Amazon UK HERE
On Amazon.com HERE 
On Goodreads HERE

The Skipper's Child is a story for older children and adults of all ages ~ in other words, anyone from ten to eighty years old!  It takes place on the canals of Belgium in the winter of 1962 when twelve year old Arie and his family become involved with a young Russian fugitive, Dmitri.

I've read three of Val Poore's non-fiction books, about her time living in South Africa and her own life on board barge, but I'd never read any fiction by her before.  I'm glad I did; this is a delightful book, and I felt completely immersed in the life of the skipper and his family of fifty years ago (and maybe a little wistfully wishing I was there....).

The story is very well plotted, no complaints there at all, but the beauty of the book lies in the picture Val Poore paints of this strange and appealing parallel world, and the thoughts of Arie as he treads the shaky path between child and adulthood.  I thoroughly enjoyed it - one to snuggle up in bed with!   

Val's inspiration for this story comes from real life ~ she wrote a blog post that makes it all mean much more - includes pictures :)

It's HERE 

I know they're houseboats not barges, I just liked the picture!

 

AFRICAN WAYS by Valerie Poore

5 GOLD STARS

Non Fiction, memoir, South Africa


On Amazon UK HERE
On Amazon.com HERE

... I almost turned to the front and started reading it all over again once I'd finished it!

About Val Poore's three years of living on a remote moutain in Natal in the early 1980s, this book made me laugh out loud several times (the tennis club!) and provoked tears nearer the end. I've said in reviews of Ms Poore's books about her life on the waterways that she can make buying a bit of bathroom equipment interesting; here, she writes a brief chapter about the lighting of oil lamps and and it was so touching it made my eyes water.

The message this book gave to me is that, cliche though it is, it is the simple things in life that make you happy, the people and relationships that matter, and that sometimes by trying to make an almost perfect life even better you can actually spoil what you have (been there, done that). It's obvious to me that this was one of the most treasured periods of the author's life (if not THE most), and the emotion and love that pours into the book made me nostalgic for a place and time I've never experienced, too.

Included are fascinating insights into an unknown world ~ the ever present danger of 'veld' fires and how to cope with them, a world without electricity, a relaxed and self-sufficient way of life, weather casting via a mountain, a mixture of cultures and races so natural that it didn't need any self-consciously PC multi-cultural initiatives. Loved it - now I just want to see all the pictures, particularly of the little guide at Port St John called Sobriety!

Provided later by the author

If you have any interest at all in travel, Africa or a more simple way of life, please read this - worth every penny!


WATERY WAYS by Val Poore reviewed HERE

HARBOUR WAYS by Val Poore reviewed HERE

HARBOUR WAYS by Valerie Poore

5 out of 5 stars

Non Fiction, Memoir, Barge Life

Originally posted on Amazon UK HERE on 21 March 2014
On Amazon.com HERE

I think Val Poore is what I call a 'natural writer', in the same way as people like Bill Bryson; she writes about everyday activities and makes them interesting and amusing. This is an innate talent, it's not something you can learn in a creative writing class. I followed the installation of the bathroom on her barge with great interest!




This book is a fascinating glimpse into the life of 'liggers', barge dwellers in Rotterdam. It's a lifestyle I envy, and I adored reading about every bit of it. I'm so glad there were photos in this book, they really added to it as I could see the progression Val was making with her barge (I'm not going to name it right now because it would mean looking up how to spell it!). I'd recommend this book to anyone who likes reading factual accounts of different ways of life, or to those with a particular interest in a watery life - but read her other book, Watery Ways, first, as it will make this one mean more. Loved it, absolutely loved it!

Watery Ways by Val Poore reviewed HERE

African Ways by Val Poore reviewed HERE

WATERY WAYS by Valerie Poore

5 out of 5 stars

Non Fiction, Memoir, Barge life

Originally posted on Amazon UK HERE on 1 January 2014
On Amazon.com HERE

I loved every word!

In 1998 my ex-husband and I rented a narrowboat for 2 weeks, and I was in total bliss for a fortnight. I was so aware of the fact that we'd slipped just a few yards sideways into this parallel world that was visible to those on the land, but hardly noticed. When the fortnight was over I was deeply fed up!

In Watery Ways, about Val Poore's new life on board barges in Rotterdam, she talks about this parallel world, too, and I envy her so much for living in it. It's a story of physical hardship and sacrifice, as well as friendship and fun, but at no time did I get the impression that she was anything worse than temporarily frustrated about things like having no running water, or light to dress by before going to work, or practical difficulties with the maintenance of the boats. As one who sees this sort of thing as a challenge, too, I loved reading about how she got over the problems, and also about how much they made her appreciate every small comfort, too. To me, this book is not only about the practical aspects of the watery life, but about making the most of every moment and not sweating over the stuff that doesn't matter.

If you have any interest at all in things boat, you should read this; it's a terrific book! Fascinating, funny - and it made me wish I could spend some time aboard the Vereeniging with the author and Koos, too!  

Harbour Ways by Val Poore reviewed HERE

African Ways by Val Poore reviewed HERE