A Year on Planet Alzheimer: and a little longer in Canada [Paperback]

Carolyn Steele (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 27, 2004

What happens when a single parent from London heads for Canada to care for an elderly lady in case it's fun?Described by readers as a cross between Bridget Jones and Bill Bryson, this book isn't quite a travelogue, although Vancouver Bus Station's ceiling will leave quite an impression. It is just what happened. It is life and the sheer unexpectedness of the way other people live it, not just the snow dump but the incredulity we generated by wanting to see it. The story of an adventure would have a few more shimmering sunsets dancing over majestic waves. There are some majestic waves, naturally, but we are more obsessed with meatballs. It is therefore the story of an escapade.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Carolyn has been a psychologist, a paramedic, a proofreader and several other things, not all of them beginning with P. She began writing the day she decided to try and see the world...doing both just to find out if she could. Parts of this book appear in the Rough Guides' third Women Travel anthology, an event which quite turned her head.Born and bred in London, England, Carolyn and her son now live permanently back in Kitchener, Ontario. They run a B&B there which they share with sundry pets and call heaven. Carolyn is currently working on the tale of how that came about, which is at least as odd as this story of her first love affair with Canada.

Product Details

• Paperback: 268 pages
• Publisher: AuthorHouse (October 27, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1418498386
• ISBN-13: 978-1418498382
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 4.8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,814,819 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great travel literature...and more, March 6, 2005

By 

Andrea Wright (Waterloo, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Year on Planet Alzheimer: and a little longer in Canada (Paperback)

As a Canadian who has experienced living in England (and an avid Anglophile), I jumped at the chance to read an account of a Brit's experience of living in my own culture. I was in for a treat...

Not only is Carolyn Steele's story about her experience moving from England to Canada (with kid in tow), it is largely set in the city I live in. Seeing my community through a visitor's eyes made for a fascinating read full of hilarity. And I mean that. Steele's writing is hysterically funny - I found myself laughing out loud on many occasions. But the book is more than that: it is an endearing story of a single mother and her child trying to find their place in the world and the challenges they face in the process, the characters they meet, and their adventures around each corner. Seeing Canada from the perspective of an "outsider" was refreshing and helped me to gain a "re-appreciation" of the great country I live in and that Steele now calls home. An added glossary of terms at the back of the book is helpful to translate Steele's "Brit-speak" into Canadian English.

Overall, this is an excellent book that I would recommend to anyone, especially those who are looking to explore a new genre of literature. I am really looking forward to the second installment!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A delightful look at Canada from a British ex-pat, December 26, 2004

By 

S. W. Palmer - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Year on Planet Alzheimer: and a little longer in Canada (Paperback)

Prior to reading Carolyn's book, I knew little about Canada other than it was up there north of the USA and it was huge. However when a good friend of mine emigrated there with his Canadian wife, my curiosity was piqued and I found myself wanting to know more about this country which features so little in the global news despite being the second largest in the world.

Carolyn's book provides a fascinating insight into Canada and a little bit of its history from the point of view of a British born woman and her son coming to the country for the first time. It chronicles her encounter with a culture that is alternatively both comfortingly familiar and also refreshingly modern which, in itself, summarises Canada's complex relationship with both Britain and the USA. The Canadians that she encounters come across as cheerful and patiently willing to both induct and tolerate this newcomer and her exuberant and inquisitive 9 year old son.

The book is based on a series of articles that Carolyn wrote for the British Mensa magazine over the period of a year. Carolyn originally moved to Ontario to care for an elderly lady suffering from Alzheimers, hence the title of the book. But despite the seriousness of the disease, her anecdotes telling of how she patiently coped and shepherded her new ward day in and day out are humorous and well written. However the book is more than that. In addition to a detailed look at life around Kitchener and Waterloo, Carolyn takes us on a brief trip to British Columbia for an observation of how, despite being part of the same country, the culture shifts as subtly as the vast geography of the land.

This book is heartily recommended for anyone who wants to understand Canada, its people and its culture. I give the book five stars!

5.0 out of 5 stars a voyage of courage and hilarity, December 26, 2004

By 

Debra Freeman (Guelph, Ontario, Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Year on Planet Alzheimer: and a little longer in Canada (Paperback)

This is one of the best books I've read in a long time. It's also one of the only books I've read that made me laugh out loud, and I read a lot of books!

This book charts the ups and downs of relocating to a new continent. I was moved by the courage of the author and the upbeat manner in which she faced every hurdle along the way. It is the candid and witty manner in which she writes about coping with a new life that makes Carolyn Steele's book so entertaining.

Hopefully you'll enjoy the journey with her as much as I have.
I'm looking forward to reading about her next adventures.