ARE WE NEARLY THERE YET?

8,000 Misguided Miles Around Britain in a Vauxhall Astra by Ben Hatch.

This is the true story of Ben Hatch and his wife Dinah and their two children Phoebe aged four and Charlie aged 9 months. It is a challenge to take two children under five out for the day, let alone taking them on the usual two weeks family holiday. Imagine that holiday is going to last for five months, which is exactly what Ben and Dinah did with their two small children, when they were approached to write a guide book about family travel around Britain. So they packed up their car with a carefully planned itinerary and everything except the kitchen sink, oh and their coats too!  

In this book we share their journey and experiences as they go from place to place visiting four to five different attractions in a day and sleeping in a different hotel every night, hoping that they will be child friendly. They visit some interesting places on their travels, from searching for Wallace and Gromit at the Wensleydale Creamery Visitor Centre, to the circus at Blackpool Tower and much, much more. This is not the actual guidebook this is more their own personal account of what happened when they hit the open road.

I have not stopped smiling since I read this book. It is written with really great humour and is laugh out loud funny at times in parts and deeply moving in others. We share the highs and the lows of travelling with two small children.

This book has got personality and charisma that make it a fantastic read.

Ben Hatch lives in Hove, East Sussex. His first comic novel The Lawnmower Celebrity was one of Radio 4’s books of the year in 2000. His second, The International Gooseberry was published in 2001 and described as ‘hysterical and surprisingly sad’ by the Daily Express. Ben was on the long-list of Granta’s 2003 list of the most promising twenty young authors in the UK. With his wife Dinah he has also written three guidebooks – Frommer’s: Scotland with your family, Frommer’s: England with your family and Frommer’s: Britain for free.

ARE WE THERE YET? Is published by Summersdale and is available through internet book sellers (Amazon: http://goo.gl/uzqYw) and all good book shops (or direct from Summersdale)

For more information on books by Ben Hatch visit this website: http://goo.gl/X0qC1