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.

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.

ACROSS GREAT DIVIDES by Monique Roy

3 out of 5 stars

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

Reviewed by me as a member of Rosie Amber's Book Review Team

This is the story of Eva, a Jew living in Berlin, and her family.  It starts in 1932/3, when Hitler first came to power, and moves on to the family's escape to Antwerp, then to Rio, and their next move to South Africa. 

It starts off well, describing teenage Eva's life before the Nazis, and her initial fear of anti-semitism.  However, it soon becomes more like a quite basic history book or newspaper article, told mostly from the point of view of a narrator, rather than the characters.  With four years of encroaching Nazi terrorism rushed through in a small percentage of the book, I didn't get a sense of the build up of fear.  We are told that Eva's brother Max is the most fearful of the Nazis, and her father, Oskar, holds the optimistic view that it will all blow over, but I felt that the family were used as occasional illustrations for what was happening, rather than them being the subject of the story.  I imagine most people who choose to read the book will already know what happened during the 1930s and 1940s in Europe, and are looking for characters to become involved with, atmosphere and emotion, rather than factual information.

There are some interesting sections in the novel, such as information about the diamond trade in Antwerp and Eva's friend Trudy's experience working on the side of the Nazis in Ravensbruck, but with the huge subjects of the persecution of the jews, daring escape in Nazi dominated Europe, and apartheid in South Africa, I felt it was far too short a novel; it's only 223 Kindle pages long and I read it in an afternoon. 

On the whole, the book was enjoyable enough to read (if 'enjoyable' is the right term, without trivialising the subject matter), but there was no time to become emotionally attached to the characters.  It's a terrific story, and I am aware that much of it is taken from real life; the author has all the material there, but just needs to work on the actual craft of storytelling.    

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!