Why am I passionate about this?

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

By Jessica Hepburn,

Book cover of Save Me from the Waves: An adventure from sea to summit

What is my book about?

An adventure story–with a difference. From sea to summit–fully soundtracked.

Jessica Hepburn is a middle-aged, unlikely athlete who hates exercise…

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of Eat Pray Love

Jessica Hepburn Why did I love this book?

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.

By Elizabeth Gilbert,

Why should I read it?

9 authors picked Eat Pray Love as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

_________________ 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…


Book cover of Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail

Jessica Hepburn Why did I love this book?

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.

By Cheryl Strayed,

Why should I read it?

31 authors picked Wild as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER â€˘ 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…


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Book cover of Rekindling Connections: A Bittersweet Journey of Lust, Love and Choices

Rekindling Connections by Nicky Abell-Francis,

Dive deep into the high octane world of sport. Travel the world with a comical twist as Zara seeks her perfect partner. But are there underlying secrets at play. Returning from Zara’s hedonistic past, we career into lust & temptation head on in the form of Tyler Montgomery causing sexual…

Book cover of The Salt Path: A Memoir

Jessica Hepburn Why did I love this book?

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.

By Raynor Winn,

Why should I read it?

11 authors picked The Salt Path as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

"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…


Book cover of Coasting: Running Around the Coast of Britain - Life, Love and (Very) Loose Plans

Jessica Hepburn Why did I love this book?

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! 

By Elise Downing,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Coasting as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

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.

Six months later Elise set off,…


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Book cover of A Particular Man

A Particular Man by Lesley Glaister,

This book is a literary historical novel. It is set in Britain immediately after World War II, when people – gay, straight, young, and old - are struggling to get back on track with their lives, including their love lives. Because of the turmoil of the times, the number of…

Book cover of A Woman of Substance

Jessica Hepburn Why did I love this book?

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.

By Barbara Taylor Bradford,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked A Woman of Substance as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

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.…


Explore my book 😀

Save Me from the Waves: An adventure from sea to summit

By Jessica Hepburn,

Book cover of Save Me from the Waves: An adventure from sea to summit

What is my book about?

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.

Book cover of Eat Pray Love
Book cover of Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail
Book cover of The Salt Path: A Memoir

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