Customer Reviews

My Love Affair with England: A Traveler's Memoir

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I loved this book. Having had several Brits recommend Bill Bryson books the last time I was in Britain, I was disappointed that he was rather whine-y and not all that funny. Susan Allen Toth, however, is a kindred spirit. I enjoyed reminiscing based on our shared experiences (the love of English footpaths, and Britain's lovely breakfasts and teas) and look forward to my next trip and trying some of the things I had not experienced before, such as omelettes and gardens.

I have travelled to other places and enjoyed them very much, but there is something special about England. This author has a gift for articulating those special qualities. I found myself smiling often as I read these pages and drinking more tea than usual. I would say that this book would be more enjoyable for someone who has already been to England rather than someone who is trying to plan their first visit there.

I can't wait to get back to the U.K. -- or to read Ms. Toth's next book -- and I would like the people of Britian to read this book and see that *this*, rather than Bryson's, vision is the one I carry for their lovely isle.

If you're dreaming of seeing England but won't make it this year, pick up this cleverly written little book instead. Susan Toth's witty, conversational tone makes for an easy, enjoyable read. But don't confuse it with a travel book. This is instead a journal of Ms. Toth's many trips abroads from her adventurous back-packing with a friend at age 20 to the disastrous honeymoon with her first husband to her exploration of gorgeous gardens with her second husband. Reading this book is akin to traveling with a good friend and sharing likes and dislikes.

However, the England that Susan Toth really loves is the countryside and not the bustling London. If London is your heart's desire, you might be better off with another choice. Ms. Toth is not one to stand in line to view the Crown Jewels, but she will take you to memorable sheep dog shows or on a badger hunt. My favorite chapters were those she did set in London and its environs when she was teaching a class abroad. She definitely whetted my appetite for travel with her allusions to the places dear to Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, Oscar Wilde and other literary figures.

This is a book to put you in the mood for England, a diary-like remembrance of her many trips to a country she loves. But it alone won't help you plan a trip there. For more on London proper for the book-lover, I would suggest "Mystery Reader's Walking Guide:London" by Alzina Stone Dale and Barbara Sloan Hendershott.

When I read Toth's book, I had not yet read M.F.K. Fisher. Fisher's endorsement of this book is on the cover, and that makes sense to me as there are similarities in their writing styles. Toth has written many articles on her travels in England. She has compiled this information into a number of books. Some the books concentrate on a particular location in Englan -- as she puts it one that fits under your thumbnail when you hold it to a map. This book is a distillation of her various trips to England between 1963 and the early 1990's.

Ms. Toth writes autobiographically, sharing her ups and downs. I've learned to listen to what she suggests. Probably the most important chapter in the book, "1984-1992, On the Sunny (If Wrong) Side of the Street--travels with James" tells about life in the fast lane, or wrong lane from the American perspective. A couple of decades ago my husband and I made our first trip to England together (I hadn't read Toth then) and we rented a car. I will never forget our arrival in Bath where my husband jumped out of the car and handed the attendent a 10 pound note to drive it 20 feet and park it. This followed a day of his learning how to negotiate roundabouts and driving on the wrong side of the road while I navigated, the hedgerow slapped the mirror an my side, and I screamed in fear. It was 10 years before we could laugh about our first driving trip in England and we took trains, cabs and buses for a long while, but finally mastered the road only to discover the enormous increase in traffic has made much of southern Engand like LA at rush hour. On my last trip, I went back to subways and trains. If you are a very nervous person or this is your first trip don't rent a car.

I enjoyed all the chapters, but I liked the "Among the Alchemillas" best because I've learned Ms Toth knows where to go to find the best gardens. It's not enough to buy a book that lists all 10,000 gardens. I want someone to tell me what they found. As Ms. Toth points out, the English have a different idea of what constitutes a garden. I have followed her footsteps more than once and been rewarded.

I loved the chatty comfortable style of the book. I'm soon traveling to England for the first time and it made me wish I had done it years earlier. I liked the "thumbprint" style of traveling. It describes the way I like to travel exactly. I like to settle in and explore in all directions throughly before I move on. I loved the story about the dog show but I was familiar with it from the film, "Babe." Good book!

I find it kind of interesting that a later Susan Allen Toth book (which I plan on starting about as soon as I finish posting this review) is called "England as You Like It." The England of this book is very much as *she* likes it.

That's not a bad thing, since this is, as the subtitle says, her "traveler's memoir." Toth long ago crossed over the line that separates Tourist from Traveler, and she has the experience and the familiarity with the country that entitle her to experience England the way she wants it to be. "We know enough not to try to ogle the Crown Jewels at the Tower of London, file through Canterbury Cathedral, or pass the day at Stratford-on-Avon," she says on page 306 -- a statement I found a little discouraging since, as a well-read Anglophile who is nevertheless preparing for only his second trip to London, those are precisely some of the activities I plan on undertaking.

Instead, she and her husband spend a lot of time wandering through gardens and exploring rural footpaths. While those seem to be the chapters some readers find especially praise-worthy, experiencing those gardens and paths in print seemed somewhat pale to me. Eventually, I found myself skimming. More interesting were the chapters that were less travelogue, more autobiography. In those, she charts her changing perceptions of the country from her earliest visit as a literature student, to subsequent returns as an unhappily married professor, a recently-divorced single mom, and finally as a very happily remarried writer.

Susan Allen Toth's England is not the England I expect to experience. But then, no two people ever experience things identically -- especially not a place with as much to offer as England has. I can see why so many people respond strongly to this book as a romantic travelogue. I saw it more as her personal reminiscences of paths happily traveled, and I enjoyed it well enough on those terms, even if I never travel those paths myself.

This is a lovely, personal account of the author's many trips to England. But this is not just a travelogue -- I would not recommend it for planning your trip. (I always like maps and pictures in my travel books, and there are neither here.) In fact, it's less a travel book than a peek at her very personal diary, looking at England from a unique, gentle and fun perspective as she talked about herself, her marriages, and her family. MY LOVE AFFAIR WITH ENGLAND made me very much want to go see the England she described. She obviously loves the place. My favorite part: the footpaths! After this, I plan to read her other books on England, too.

Since I won't be able to go to England this year, this book nearly made up for it and I became an armchair traveler instead. The author writes as if she is talking to her best friend about her trips - there were several times when I wanted to chime in or ask her more questions! I am looking forward to reading the other two books she has written about England and would love to be a part of a tour group she leads!

I LOVED this book! It captured my own feelings about England, as no other book has. She covered all the little eccentricities that make England unique and addictive. It made me homesick for the wet green countryside that I so adore and return to as often as possible. It will encourage and excite a first time visitor and induce a longing in those who have already been blessed to visit this historic and magnificent isle. Get it, read it over and over again anytime you feel like making a return journey and haven't the funds to do so, BUY THIS BOOK!

I purchased this book after returning from England where I spent a college term. My experiences in the UK were amazing, and Ms Toth does an excellent job of bringing to life the little things that make England so wonderful. I have probably read the book 10 times, and have never tired of it. Since I can't be in England, the next best thing is traveling through the book. I enjoy her tone, describing her experiences as though to a friend, rather than a cut and dry "go here, see this"- although from some of her descriptions, I have definitely found some places to put on my schedule for my next visit.

This book brought back so many pleasant memories. The author and I are the same age and experienced our first trips to England a year apart. Her descriptions and adventures are right on target. The disclosure that Brits are helpful and friendly is so true. Finding that they will go out of their way to assist you is exactly what my family and I discovered. I cannot compete with the number of visits (only 6 so far) but have covered much of the same ground. You can see and smell the gardens she describes so beautifully. One can feel the earth beneath ones feet as she wanders the many footpaths available in England. Adjusting or not to inconveniences comes off as amusing and tolerable. Along with experiences she interjects more than a smattering of English History. This book makes you want to hop on the next plane and begin wandering that lovely and historic isle.