4 out of 5 stars
On Amazon UK
On Amazon.com
On Goodreads
How I discovered this book: it was submitted to Rosie's Book Review Team, of which I am a member. It is available in paperback only. You can read more about it and see lots of great photos on the author's blog, and read delightful sections with her sons' views of Nepal, HERE.
Genre: Travel memoir, Nepal, aid work.
Four Seasons in Nepal is an account of the year the author and her family (husband and two young sons) spent a year in the country after the devastating earthquake of 2015; Nicola was to work with the NGO International Nepal Fellowship (INF). This book describes the decision to go, the journey, how the family settled in, became used to the customs and made friends with the locals. It tells of her activity in the post-earthquake rehabilitation programme, the GRACE project, in which she would work closely with others to rebuild schools, houses, and (most importantly) the wellbeing and morale of the communities.
This is an in-depth account of the year, about how they adapted to such difficulties as being without power for an extended period of time, but, most of all, how the work of the project helped the victims of the earthquake. I envied the McGunnigle family the experience, and, of course, felt great respect for all that the INF do.
That the decision to go out to Nepal and help these people is a worthy one is indisputable, but my job is to review the book itself. I gather it originated from blog posts, and in places I felt that there was too much detail, as if Nicola had written down every single memory and every thought that occurred to her, which makes it a very dense book. Such detail works in short blog posts, but is rather a lot to wade through in a whole book; and I thought that it being chopped down by a third/edited a little more tightly would have made it more compelling.
Having said this, I would most certainly recommend the book to anyone who is thinking of going to Nepal for similar work; in such a case I'd say it is probably essential reading, as there is no stone left unturned. From the point of view of someone who just likes reading travel memoirs and is interested in this part of the world, like me, I think it's more of a book to dip into here and there, reading odd chapters, rather than sitting down and reading it from cover to cover ~ rather like you would read a blog, I suppose!
The cover is beautiful, and the book is well presented, with some lovely photographs at the end.
4 out of 5 stars
On Amazon UK
On Amazon.com
On Goodreads
How I discovered this book: it was submitted to Rosie Amber's Book Review Team, of which I am a member.
Genre: Travel memoir, non-fiction.
From the blurb:
Part guidebook on culture and
travel, part journey of self-discovery, this travelogue takes you on a
backpacking adventure through Nepal and Thailand and provides a
firsthand account of one volunteer’s experience teaching in a Nepali
school and living with a devout Brahmin family.
This is quite a short book, written in semi-diary format, partly in emails, about the author's travels in 1999. The then 26-year-old Jennifer plunges in at the deep end, living first with a Nepali family, trekking around the country, then teaching Nepali children, after which she hits the tourist trail in Thailand.
This book would be most useful as a guidebook for those hoping to travel to Nepal, as it certainly paints a realistic picture; any traveller with whimsical dreams of entering a spiritual heaven as soon as they get off the plane should read the account of Thamel, of the families who assume Westerners are fair game, and of the bloody temple sacrifices ~ the lunch of goat's blood will stay with me, I think...
I grew to like Jennifer more and more as the book went on (important when reading a memoir!), especially when she described the father of one of her Nepali families as 'kind of a schmuck' and the son as a 'little shit' - I have a fondness for those who dare to tell it like it is! Her youthful enthusiasm is charming - everything is 'amazing', 'gorgeous', 'incredible', etc, though now and again I felt I would have liked to read about the place as seen through more mature eyes. The most interesting parts of the book, for me, were her observations about the day to day habits and culture of the Nepalis and just little incidents that happened. Her 'characters' really jumped off the page.
On to Thailand, and Jennifer experiences the westernised tourist route of the famous Khao San Road and rejects it for more of the 'real' Thailand, though she was disappointed that the hill tribes lived not in mud huts but in shacks with corrugated tin rooves, with motorbikes and trucks parked outside, and that the caves where the Buddhist monks worked were strewn with electric cables. Generally, though, her time in Thailand sounded so wonderful it almost made me whimper with longing.
(Her description of the more westernised areas of Bangkok reminded me of something a friend told me: Amy had been travelling around South America and Indonesia for almost a year, when some friends came out to join them for a few weeks in Thailand. She said they were like the gap year backpackers, who thought that getting off their faces on exotic beaches was 'doing' Thailand, and weren't interested in seeing the actual country; they might as well have gone to Ibiza.)
I'd say that anyone who is thinking of visiting these countries, Nepal in particular, should take time to read this warts-and-all account, especially if they're thinking of signing up for the volunteer work that entails being placed with a family. Jen comes across as a very open-minded and non-egotistical sort of person; maybe why she felt like a fish out of water in the working world of Seattle, and wanted to experience different lifestyles. I'd definitely read more about her travels; I liked the conversational tone of this book very much.
There are pictures, too ~ always a plus, with a travel guide!
5 out of 5 stars
Travel Memoir
On Amazon UK HERE
On Amazon.com HERE
On Goodreads HERE
All profits from this book's modest price go towards Jo's project to build a house for one family in Nepal who are currently living in a heap of rubble due to the earthquake - so it's money well spent for that reason alone! If you would like to read more about this, you can do so on her blog, HERE
Aside from this, though, it's a delightful book. Jo has become one of THOSE writers - I'll always buy a new one by her, straight away. Despite the house project, this is not a depressing book by any means. It's an enchanting depiction of the people of Nepal, of the country itself, and I think anyone reading this will long to visit themselves (I just wish I could!). I love how Jo portrays the kind, generous local people with such a love for their country and their determination to maintain their way of life.
There's a lovely bit when Jo visits an eco-village in the mountains that made me long and long to go there; oh yes, and the bit when she sees the sunrise over Annapurna South, and her descriptions of the monsoons, the market, the sadness she felt on seeing how a country so dear to her is so empty of tourists, causing economic problems to the country, when there is so much still to see.... I thoroughly enjoyed it all. It's touching, funny, informative, inspiring, an altogether fascinating afternoon's read, and Jo Carroll is a pretty admirable woman (she does all this alone; she's a grandmother).
Buy it!
From the Inside Looking Out reviewed HERE
Over the Hill and Far Away reviewed HERE
5 out of 5 stars
Travel memoir ~ Aus, NZ, Nepal, India, Malaysia
On Amazon UK HERE
On Amazon.com HERE
I'd been meaning to read this for so long, and even started it a couple of times but kept getting distracted by stuff like writing novels, reviewing commitments and zombie apocalypse series... but at last the time was right, when I just felt like a travel memoir, and what better than one by Jo Carroll?
It made me humbled ~ Jo started her 'gap year' when she was the age I am now, and I read about it from the comfort of ~ well, you know. Yo respect, and all that.
Jo's grand tour starts in Australia and New Zealand; I wished there was more about these countries as they're places I long to visit; I loved reading her descriptions, particularly of NZ. She travels with a companion in a huge camper van, after which she carries on alone to ... was it Nepal next? I can't remember. But then there's India, and Malaysia, and Cambodia, and Thailand. I enjoyed the Nepal section very much, too, and Malaysia.
This account is very honest; I liked the way she talked about gradually finding her own rhythm, confidence that she could do things she never dreamt she could, the personal disasters (illness, the first time being due to a dodgy spring roll in Lucknow), her fears and occasional bouts of homesickness. Best of all is the astute observation of the people she meets along the way, the pictures painted as sharply as in any good character-driven novel, from the garrulous Victor early on in NZ (or was it Australia?), the self-absorbed young travellers in Malaysia, the lovely and generous Rocky, slightly creepy Gardner in Cambodia (who does a fair bit to help her, it has to be said) with his young Khmer wife, and little nine year old Lolita in India, selling trinkets on her stall ~ yes, there are sad bits, too.
There's far, far too much for me to describe here, but if you have any interest in visiting or have visited any of the countries named, you'll love this.
Now, Ms Carroll, you mentioned meaning to go to St Petersburg; will you do that next, please, so I can read your book about it from the comfort of my four pillows?
FROM THE INSIDE LOOKING OUT by Jo Carroll is reviewed HERE
~ it's paperback only, and contains Jo's three other books all together, which are available on Kindle. The one about Laos, Bombs and Butterflies, is wonderful and, I think, easily the best; it's on Amazon UK HERE
5 out of 5 stars
Non Fiction travel memoir: Nepal, Laos, Cuba
On Amazon UK HERE
I won this paperback in a competition on the author's blog - such a stroke of luck! Beautifully presented.
Jo Carroll is a traveller. Oh yes, and she's a sixty-two year old grandmother from Wiltshire, whose family are used to her getting itchy feet and strapping on that backpack. I'm so envious! I really liked her account of her time in Cuba, I really really liked the story of her trip to Nepal, and I ADORED the section about Laos, the largest one in the book. I lay in bed reading it for three hours last night and was in another world.
The book is written in a friendly, conversational way, in the present tense, which works very well. It has all the every day feeling and humour of a Bill Bryson travel book, yet told me so much about the history and culture of the countries she's visited. I knew nothing about Laos; now, I want to know more, and have already been Googling images of the places Jo visited - and looking on Amazon to see if she's written any more books about her travels (she has! I've just bought 'Over the Hill and Far Away'!).
Lovely book. Funny, fascinating, flowing, easily readable, touching. If you love Bill Bryson and similar, you'll love this.
