I am an author and adventure activist who believes passionately in the power of big and small adventures to change your life for the better when you’ve been through dark and difficult times. I have written three books, all of which I describe as ‘alternative adventure stories’ because they don’t look like the usual ‘Boy’s Own’ tales of danger and derring-do (although they do include some of that, too!). I’m drawn to the words of wonderful women warriors who give me strength in times of sadness. These books have inspired me to live big and bravely in what is often a challenging but (mainly) wonderful world.
I wrote...
Save Me from the Waves: An adventure from sea to summit
An adventure story–with a difference. From sea to summit–fully soundtracked.
Jessica Hepburn is a middle-aged, unlikely athlete who hates exercise and believes the only reason to do it is for food, booze, and box sets on the sofa. But after a succession of hard life experiences she decides to adventure her way out of heartbreak and climb to the top of the world (literally) fuelled by listening to every episode of her favourite radio programme turned podcast: the BBC’s Desert Island Discs. A funny, moving, unique memoir about the redemptive power of music and mountains and how to live big and bravely when life doesn’t go to plan, which will inspire every reader to go on their own adventure–big or small.
This is a book that changed my life. In fact, I probably want to be Elizabeth Gilbert. Witty, wise, and wonderful, it made me want to go to Italy to eat, to pilgrimage to India to pray, to fall in love in Bali, and to write about that journey.
I read it nearly twenty years ago and it still inspires me today.
_________________
OVER 15 MILLION COPIES SOLD WORLDWIDE
_________________
'Eat, Pray, Love has been passed from woman to woman like the secret of life' - Sunday Times
'A defining work of memoir' - Sunday Telegraph
'Engaging, intelligent, and highly entertaining' - Time
_________________
It's 3 a.m. and Elizabeth Gilbert is sobbing on the bathroom floor. She's in her thirties, she has a husband, a house, they're trying for a baby - and she doesn't want any of it.
A bitter divorce and a turbulent love affair later, she emerges battered and bewildered and realises it is time to pursue her own…
The first book I read that spoke intimately to my belief in the power of walking (in fact any physical and mental endurance challenge) to change your life for the better when you’ve been through dark and difficult times.
I also loved it for its celebration of nature, the joy of journeying alone, and having random encounters with strangers.
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A powerful, blazingly honest memoir: the story of an eleven-hundred-mile solo hike that broke down a young woman reeling from catastrophe—and built her back up again.
At twenty-two, Cheryl Strayed thought she had lost everything. In the wake of her mother’s death, her family scattered and her own marriage was soon destroyed. Four years later, with nothing more to lose, she made the most impulsive decision of her life. With no experience or training, driven only by blind will, she would hike more than a thousand miles of the Pacific Crest Trail from the…
I loved this book for the wallop of its beginning, which details that the narrator, Raynor (and her husband, Moth), were driven to walk England’s 630-mile South West Coast Path because they became homeless.
This is an extraordinarily powerful example of how when life gives you lemons, an adventure can make you lemonade.
"Polished, poignant... an inspiring story of true love."-Entertainment Weekly
A BEST BOOK OF 2019, NPR's Book Concierge SHORTLISTED FOR THE COSTA BOOK AWARD OVER 400,000 COPIES SOLD WORLDWIDE
The true story of a couple who lost everything and embarked on a transformative journey walking the South West Coast Path in England
Just days after Raynor Winn learns that Moth, her husband of thirty-two years, is terminally ill, their house and farm are taken away, along with their livelihood. With nothing left and little time, they make the brave and impulsive decision to walk the 630 miles of the sea-swept South…
A book I read fairly recently about a woman who started adventuring in her twenties, at a much younger age than me. Yet her story of running around the coast of Britain still gave me a great sense of solidarity, particularly because she wasn’t a very good runner when she started and couldn’t read a map. Thank you, Elise! Ditto!
Longlisted for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award 2021
Running away from your problems doesn't solve anything - but sometimes it's more fun than dealing with them
Elise was spending a lot of time crying on buses. She had just graduated from university; she had a shiny new flat, her first proper job and a budding relationship - and they were all making her utterly miserable. Sitting at work one day, she hit upon the obvious solution:
Run 5,000 miles around the coast of Britain, carrying her kit on her back.
This is the only novel on my list of five that features the life and adventures of a fabulous fictional female protagonist, Emma Harte.
This is a page-turning read that is up there with one of my favorite books of all time. I became so engrossed in the ups and downs of her life that she became totally real to me, and I couldn’t put it down—and that is my benchmark of a great book.
The unputdownable multi-million copy bestseller charting the rags to riches story of Emma Harte
With new Foreword from Fern Britton.
A WOMAN'S AMBITION... In the brooding moors above a humble Yorkshire village stood Fairley Hall. There, Emma Harte, its oppressed but resourceful servant girl, acquired a shrewd determination. There, she honed her skills, discovered the meaning of treachery, learned to survive, to become a woman, and vowed to make her mark on the world.
A JOURNEY OF A LIFETIME... In the wake of tragedy she rose from poverty to magnificent wealth as the iron-willed force behind a thriving international enterprise.…
I grew up in Green Bay and my dad was the official scorer for the Packers, so I was immersed in pro football history even as a child. During my careers as a newspaper feature writer and editor and as an advertising copywriter, I also became a sports historian. My magnum opus was “The Encyclopedia of North American Sports History,” 650,000 words. But my favorite by far is my biography of Johnny Blood. I was 12 or 13 when I decided I wanted to write it, 33 when I began working on it, 38 when I finished it, and 78 when it was finally published.
From Kirkus Reviews: "This debut short-story collection paints the wistful life of a newspaper journalist as seen through his sexual and romantic encounters...
Throughout, Hickok writes in an assured style, pulling readers along. The narrow sexual focus results in a distorted picture, yet other aspects of Art's life emerge at the edges—his intelligence, his career as a journalist, and even the sincerity with which he gives in to his male urges and construes sex as love...
Subdued yet alluring; a pensive reflection on the male psyche."
Love, Sex, and Other Calamities: 15 Stories and a Poem by Ralph Hickok
A man arrives in a new city, hoping to start a new life, but he’s still haunted by memories of past loves… A 12-year-old boy and an 11-year-old girl have a brief romantic encounter when their families are vacationing in neighboring lakeside cottages… Two teenagers enjoy sexual experimentation when she babysits for her little brother while her parents are out drinking… A high school boy has a crush on an older woman who identifies with Molly Bloom… A college freshman falls in love with a high school freshman and is amazed at the depths of her passion… A guy wins…
Interested in
grief,
running,
and
wilderness survival?
10,000+ authors have recommended their favorite books and what they love about them.
Browse their picks for the best books about
grief,
running,
and
wilderness survival.
