 "A Child Called 'It' meets Out of Africa in this stunning memoir of a woman's 1950s childhood in Kenya. Filled with candid humor and insights, this authentic tale captures one woman's incredible coming-of-age journey." BookBub The much-loved travel writer recalls a 1950s childhood in post-war London's every shade of grey and the splendours of Africa as, with her glamorous mother and father, Susie boards a ship bound for exotic, technicolor Kenya. Then in its final decade as a colony, Kenya was peopled with larger-than-life characters who had helped to forge its identity. There, with the threats of the Mau Mau uprising ever-present, Susie's life disintegrates at break-neck speed into a web of jealousy, rejection and casual cruelty. Each time it seems things cannot get any worse, they do as Susie lifts the lid on her own, often shocking, behavior in her quest to protect herself and those she loves. Rebellious, lonely and self-destructive, it is a small grey pony named Cinderella who saves Susie from herself and brings her the love she craves.

I Wish I Could Say I Was Sorry

Parenting & Relationships

Kelly, Susie

Family Relationships

Blackbird Digital Books

Let's face it, most cook books are selling a dream: mouth-watering recipes, styled to within a pea's hair, then photographed in the kind of pristine kitchens that very few of us own. More of us have kitchens like Susie's, veering towards the chaotic rather than clutter-free. So settle down with the bestselling travel author in the kitchen of her French farmhouse and enjoy this no-fuss, no-nonsense collection of wholesome, fail-safe, quick and simple meat-free recipes. Susie makes no claims to being a cooking queen. She admits that over the years she has made every cookery mistake possible, including pouring hot oil back into a plastic bottle and watching the bottle melt and flood most of the kitchen. Then there was the great icing sugar misunderstanding.... but in The Lazy Cook she has put together an irresistible collection of the tasty, comfort-food recipes that are enjoyed by her family and friends, spattered with generous blobs of anecdote and humour. One of those rare cookery books that won't be left on the shelf, but will mature with well-thumbed age as its pages become patterned with stains of food, wine, cream, butter and all things delicious.

The Lazy Cook (Book One): Quick And Easy Meatless Meals (The Lazy Cook Books 1 and 2)

Cookbooks, Food & Wine

Cooking Methods

While Susie doggedly tramps 500 miles over unknown terrain, frequently lost and either too hot or too cold, Texan Jennifer Shields copes heroically with lost dogs, erratic electricity, old men hiding in bushes, and a language she cannot speak. A touching, true story of English eccentricity, the Texan pioneering spirit, and two women old enough to know better. Susie and Jennifer find their resourcefulness and ingenuity tested to the limit as, in their own ways, they explore and enjoy the culture, cuisine and people of Europe's most fascinating country.

Best Foot Forward: A 500-Mile Walk Through Hidden France

Sports & Outdoors

Individual Sports

The author and her husband devised a simple plan - to take a tent and the dog and drive around the perimeter of France. Like many simple plans it went wrong before it started and they ended up with two dogs and a campervan named Tinkerbelle. Starting in Brittany, they drive along the Atlantic Coast south to the Pyrenees, then follow the Mediterranean resorts to the Alps before juddering off towards the north coast along terrifyingly high mountain causeways. But on the second day of their journey Tinkerbelle begins to self-destruct, helped by the new dog who does his best to eat her from the inside out. This is their story, as they travel from sandy beaches to snow-topped mountains exploring the diverse cultures, cuisines and countryside making up the country called France. Their journey takes them to places out of the ordinary, meeting interesting characters and witnessing ancient traditions. While the dogs rejoice in the freedom they find running on the beaches, Susie and Terry spend a lot of time holding their breath, wondering whether their clapped out old campervan called Tinkerbelle will manage to negotiate impossible mountain routes and get them home before she completely disintegrates.

Travels With Tinkerbelle: 6,000 Miles Around France In A Mechanical Wreck

Crafts, Hobbies & Home

Pets & Animal Care

Susie has already walked 500 miles across France (Best Foot Forward) and driven its circumference (Travels With Tinkerbelle), but cyclist she is not. By suggesting an electric bicycle that will get her through the uphill slogs, her husband persuades her that travelling on two wheels is by far the best way to see the little-known, virtually undocumented part of France they plan to explore. And so, with not a few mishaps and misgivings, it turns out. Susie's cycling adventure follows the route taken by Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette on their abortive escape from the French Revolution and their journey back to their executions. After a hair-raising journey through Paris that nearly ends in her own execution by traffic, Susie finds an area of calm waterways and tranquil countryside bursting with history. Idyllic territory for cyclists. Their route takes them from Paris and Versailles to the vineyards and champagne cellars of Epernay and Reims then through the Marne valley, the scene of unimaginable horror and devastation during World War 1. In three weeks Susie and Terry cycle 500 miles, dining sometimes in luxury and often on weird makeshift meals in their tent. Along the way there are traumas, epiphanies, occasional matrimonial disagreements and the odd glass of champagne. A quirky, highly entertaining and endearing mix of personal travel adventure and French history.

The Valley Of Heaven And Hell: Cycling In The Shadow Of Marie Antoinette

History

Europe

As the world's worst housekeeper, running holiday homes wasn't, with hindsight, a sensible idea. But two collapsing buildings on Susie Kelly's land would cost more to demolish than to restore. Thus she became a seasonal landlady. Before the guests came the builders. No's 1, 2, 3 all started promisingly, but by builder No. 4, and with her first guests just hours away, her patience was stretched to its limit. Susie's summer and winter visitors couldn't, as they say, be made up, though, to spare their blushes some of them have been air-brushed. They brought with them laughter, tears, romance, friendship and occasional madness. And they all left behind jars of jam and pots of pepper. From them Susie learned that you don't need to travel to find adventure. If you run holiday homes it comes to your doorstep. Unfortunately for Susie this included Ivy. The cleaning lady from hell. A hilarious tale of restoring and running two holiday cottages in a remote hamlet of SW France Susie's unique, opinionated but self-depreciating humour shines through on every page. 'This is another Susie Kelly great read that often had me laughing out loud as we meet the various builders, her local friends, the good guests and the bad who popped into her life over a four year period. Anyone who has any experience of running gites in France will love this book and anyone who is thinking about having gites in France should read this book.' French Village Diaries 'Its absolutely brilliant, it made me laugh - in fact snort out loud - and then cry when her dog died. Susie is a marvellous writer.' The Good Life France Magazine

Swallows & Robins: The Laughs And Tears Of A Holiday Home Owner

Biographies & Memoirs

Community & Culture

The long-awaited sequel to Susie Kelly's US Amazon Top 40 ranking memoir I Wish I Could Say I Was Sorry, described by BookBub as A Child Called It meets Out Of Africa in this stunning memoir of a woman's 1950s childhood in Kenya. Filled with candid humor and insights, this authentic tale captures one woman's incredible coming-of-age journey. More than 40 years after leaving Kenya, Susie unexpectedly finds herself returning for a safari organised by an old friend. With her husband Terry she sets off for a holiday touring the game reserves, but what Susie finds far exceeds her expectations. In this, her seventh, travelogue, she takes readers from five star hotels to luxury tents in the wilderness, and to poverty in Nairobi's slums, describing a journey of joy, excitement, discovery, nostalgia, of new friendships and encounters of the very close kind with Kenya’s majestic wildlife. Forgotten memories come flooding back as she revisits the scenes of her childhood and adolescence, so movingly portrayed in her popular memoir I Wish I Could Say I Was Sorry, many of them changed beyond recognition.
Written in her characteristic laid back style, this is a travel tale that will appeal to all those readers who have enjoyed Susie's previous books, as well as anybody who has lived in or dreams of visiting Kenya, the magical land Susie still thinks of as ‘home’.
'Vivid, moving, entertaining. Anybody thinking of taking a safari holiday in Kenya, or who would like to take an armchair safari to Kenya, should read this book.'
"Hemingway wrote: 'I never knew of a morning in Africa when I woke up that I was not happy.' That is how I feel about Kenya. You feel at once insignificant and amazing, just for being here. This magnificent, beautiful country, birthplace of mankind, owner of my heart." Susie Kelly, 2017

Safari Ants, Baggy Pants And Elephants: A Kenyan Odyssey

In three weeks Susie cycles 500 kilometres through a little-documented area of France that is idyllic cycling territory, dining sometimes in luxury and often on weird makeshift meals in her tent. Along the way there are traumas, tantrums, epiphanies, occasional matrimonial disagreements and more than one glass of champagne. Susie and Terry follow the identical route of Marie-Antoinette and Louis XVI when they tried to escape the Revolution, and their journey back to their grisly executions. From Versailles, across Paris and through the Marne valley, Susie wobbles along behind her husband, visiting battlefields of WW1 and the vineyards and cellars of the Champagne region. Tens of thousands of readers have already discovered the joys of accompanying Susie on her past adventures. These include Best Foot Forward (Bantam 2003), a 900km solo walk from La Rochelle to Geneva, and A Perfect Circle (Bantam 2006), a 10,000 kilometre drive around the perimeter of France. 'It is unlikely that any other cyclist could be less competent than the author, nor be so unsuited to wearing skin-tight Lycra.' Susie Kelly"I’ve bought other books by Susie Kelly before. Like the best travel writers, I find that time passes quickly in her company. When it’s funny it’s laugh-out-loud funny, and when it’s sad it is heart-breaking."“This book manages to combine history, humor and the best of travel writing all in one. I loved it!”“So vividly written that you can almost feel the author’s sunburn!““Funny, touching, instructive and a darn good tourist guide.”“This book proved a terrific find! A seamless blend of information, entertainment, out loud guffaw inducement, and thought-provocation, Ms Kelly has the joyous knack of entwining story telling with enlightening education.”

The Valley Of Heaven And Hell - Cycling In The Shadow Of Marie Antoinette

Humor & Entertainment

Humor

CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform

A touching and inspiring tale of the Texan pioneering spirit, English eccentricity, and two women old enough to know better. When Susie Kelly decides, on a whim, to trek alone across France from La Rochelle to Lake Geneva, she entrusts her French farmhouse full of assorted animals to a total stranger from San Antonio, Texas. For each of them it will be a life-changing experience. Both will find their resourcefulness and ingenuity tested to the limit as, in their own ways, they explore and enjoy the culture, cuisine and people of Europe?s most fascinating country. While Texan Jennifer Shields copes heroically with lost dogs, erratic electricity, old men hiding in bushes, and a language she cannot speak, Susie doggedly tramps 500 miles over unknown terrain, frequently lost and either too hot or too cold. Armchair travellers will enjoy this tale of laughter and tears following the adventures of two women old enough to know better. ?A book to inspire? GOOD HOUSEKEEPING

The author and her husband devised a simple plan – to take a tent and the dog and drive around the perimeter of France. Like many simple plans it went wrong before it started and they ended up with two dogs and a campervan named Tinkerbelle. On the second day of their journey Tinkerbelle begins to self-destruct, helped by the new dog who does his best to eat her from the inside out. This is their story, as they travel from sandy beaches to snow-topped mountains exploring the diverse cultures, cuisines and countryside making up the country called France. Their journey takes them to places out of the ordinary, meeting interesting characters and witnessing ancient traditions. While the dogs rejoice in the freedom they find running on the beaches, Susie and Terry spend a lot of time holding their breath, wondering whether Tinkerbelle will manage to negotiate impossible mountain routes and get them home before she completely disintegrates. Like Susie's other bestselling books – Best Foot Forward: A 500 Mile Walk Through Hidden France and The Valley of Heaven and Hell: Cycling In The Shadow of Marie Antoinette, Travels with Tinkerbelle is a mixture of travel and history sprinkled with her unique opinionated but self-depreciating humour. Travels with Tinkerbelle is a revision of "A Perfect Circle", previously published by Transworld Publishers. Enhanced features of this edition include links to more information about the most significant places visited on the trip and an accompanying on-line photograph album.

Travels With Tinkerbelle: 6,000 Miles Around France in a Mechanical Wreck

Createspace Independent Pub

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Kelly, Susie. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Kelly, Susie

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Kelly, Susie. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

I Wish I Could Say I Was Sorry

The Lazy Cook (Book One): Quick And Easy Meatless Meals (The Lazy Cook Books 1 and 2)

Best Foot Forward: A 500-Mile Walk Through Hidden France

Travels With Tinkerbelle: 6,000 Miles Around France In A Mechanical Wreck

The Valley Of Heaven And Hell: Cycling In The Shadow Of Marie Antoinette

Swallows & Robins: The Laughs And Tears Of A Holiday Home Owner

Safari Ants, Baggy Pants And Elephants: A Kenyan Odyssey

The Valley Of Heaven And Hell - Cycling In The Shadow Of Marie Antoinette

Best Foot Forward: A 500-Mile Walk Through Hidden France

Travels With Tinkerbelle: 6,000 Miles Around France in a Mechanical Wreck