Customer Reviews

I suppose I had to be there?
Well I started this book and finished so it's worth a 2 star rating just because I didn't give up! I can appreciate the odd snippet of humour in the book but found myself having no sympathy for her as a trailing wife (was I supposed to sympathise?). Maybe its because of her charmed life as a successful journalist in The Times, or the fact that in every posting she has to find a new cook and at least a new driver (hard life eh?). As for the many places she's lived, well, I suppose you had to have been there or have an active knowledge of the places and politics. To me, it made a boring read and finishing was a test of endurance.

Keenan is annoying BUT her tales strike a chord ...
with me that rings true! As an ex-pat wife, of someone in the British Forces, who finds herself taking regular leaps of faith when trailing around the world after her husband, it is good to know that I'm not the only one who approaches each move with dread; is in tears of home- and friend-sickness in a new posting; struggles to get to grips with the vagueries of a newly-met culture. However, despite the down-sides, the ex-pat life is a good one in many ways, and privileged too, which I don't think Keenan focuses on enough. Most incredible of all, is Keenan's description of a liveried servant-attended lifestyle that harks back to the Raj, and makes her sound like some out-of-touch Colonialist. And her "look at me and the good works I do" stories grate on my nerves!
And her constant bleating about being an incompetent journalist is just so irritating I want to shake her. Is it just me or does her story of trying to bring attention to the plight of Ethiopian famine victims ring hollow? But it is her political grand-standing that particularly erks; her constant, blatant anti-semitism, and (rather bizarre given her circumstances and apparent education) naivety about the complexities of Middle Eastern policitics is inappropriate at best. I had always believed that Diplomatic families (like military ones) should remain apolitical. Still, for anyone who has/does/will experience the ex-pat life, this is a good read in that it gives a taster of the emotional impact of being uprooted constantly, but as a piece of writing, it does on occasion tend towards an unhappy marriage of Guardian politics and Daily Mail smarminess. I give it 3 stars because her experiences do ring true, and some even made me laugh out loud, but there is too much of the headline-grabbing journalist about her style to make me love this book.

A good light read
I enjoyed this book for its humour and anecdotes. It's not great literature and there is little in the way of great insight or depth, but as a picture of some of the aspects of life as an expat, it does ring true. Speaking as someone who has observed the expat lifestyle at first hand, the patronising attitude towards 'natives' is all too common. What redeems the author here is her sense of humour. Colin Thubron this is not, but an undemanding read that can raise a smile. Try it when recovering from the flu.