5 Popular Dutch Children's Books

There are a lot of books in our house, and they are something that generally escape my rare but thorough decluttering frenzies. Our bookshelves are filled with both English and Dutch books (with the occasional French and German title). When it comes to Dutch children's books there are some which are incredibly popular which you will generally see everywhere - like these 5.

Long Hat - My First Dutch Children's Book Translation

I am thrilled to introduce you all to Long Hat, who up until very recently only existed in the form of a Dutch kabouter called Langmuts. I worked on the translation of 'Langmuts is een held' for Scrivo Media and I'm so proud that the 'Long Hat is a Hero' book has been released.

This is just one of a long list of things I would never have ended up doing had I not moved to the Netherlands, not opted for an expat life and not learnt Dutch. We are all on our own path, sometimes that path is chosen for us (like when we meet a Dutch man and fall in love), sometimes we consciously choose a direction ourselves and whilst none of us can see what is around the corner expat life generally manages to throw up surprises, challenges and opportunities. Long Hat falls quite easily in the first and last of those categories.

I was contacted last year about translating Langmuts because of my Happy Sensitive Kids blog and I didn't hesitate to say yes. Langmuts was a part of my family's life before I was contacted about turning him into an English gnome. The Langmuts series is written with highly sensitive children in mind (though they are fantastic stories for any children) and so we had the complete series on our bookshelf long before I became personally involved. My sons relate to Langmuts. My eldest son had his first - 'Wow, that's just like me" moment reading 'Langmuts is een held' so you can understand that there was no hesitation to get involved in the Long Hat series. (You can read more about this on the Happy Sensitive Kids blog.)

And so, my first Dutch children's book translation is available now. Right now. From Amazon UK (it is not currently available in the USA - lots of people have already asked so I wanted to pre-empt those questions!) and for those of you in the Netherlands you can get the book from Scrivo Media, with no delivery costs.

'Message in a Bottle' Kickstarter Kick Off: 5 Reasons to Get Involved

I've been part of a book launch team behind the scenes for a little while now and I'm delighted to share that the wonderful team behind this new personalised children's book has now kicked off their Kickstarter campaign. The next phase of 'Message in a Bottle' is here and you can be a part of it.

There are a couple of reasons I got involved in this book:

1. As an expat, I love the idea behind this book. You compose the message and it gets delivered in a personalised book to that special child in your life. For those of you who don't get to live on the doorstep of grandchildren, nephews, nieces, godchildren or your friends' children, this is a great way of letting them know you're thinking of them - and whenever they read the story they are reminded of you. This is such a great way to say something special that will always be remembered.

2. My boys LOVE seeing their own names in a book, with them being woven into a story. What child doesn't?

3. The illustrations in 'Message in a Bottle' are just gorgeous.

4. The message you can send a child is flexible. And that's unique. Often a message is restricted in a personalised book, or comprises just a name and one line. Message in a Bottle goes above and beyond the normal idea of a personalised book!

5. I love books. My kids love books. The End.

So how can you get involved too? Head over to the 'Message in a Bottle' Kickstarter page and watch the video, which tells you lots more and introduces you to the story maker and ilustrator. Then pick one of the great Kickstarter rewards and make your pledge. It's as easy as that.

'Once Upon an Expat' Book Release: More Expat Stories Than You Can Shake a Stick At

It's out! It's released!! It's available!!! 'Once Upon an Expat' is now on sale and yearning to be read.

Dutched Up! Book Review: Jo Parfitt, She Say Yes!

It's always a bit nerve wracking when you ask someone you respect to review a book. It's always a bit of a gamble when you ask someone who is a bit of a celebrity in the expat writing world to take a look at an expat anthology and then give her honest opinion. But that's what happened recently when Olga of The European Mama asked Jo Parfitt to take a peek at the Dutched Up! book.

And it's a bit like waiting for the man from Del Monte......




Luckily Jo Parfitt, she say yes too!

"I loved it. I devoured every story. They were compelling, well-written and entertaining."

Jo has more than thirty books to her name and is one of the Summertime Publishing team members. She provided me with the springboard I needed to follow my passion to become a writer when I attended one of her workshops in a beautiful farmhouse in Voorschoten many years ago - the rest, as they say, is history. And as it was with Jo that my writing career started, I felt particularly honoured to also get a mention in the review.

"I'm a grumpy and cynical old goat, jaded too, from reviewing too many mediocre books, but this one, I promise you, is a goodie."

Jo Parfitt, Dutched Up! Review

So, if you have not yet got your hands on your own copy of Dutched Up! it's really time you did. Seriously. Don't take my word for it...... read what Jo has to say over on Summertime Publishing.


 

Dutched Up! is also available on Book Depository!

Amsterdam Mamas 'Dutched Up! Rocking the Clogs Expat Style' Book Review

I am chuffed to bits that Amsterdam Mamas has published a review of our expat anthology about expat life in the Netherlands, "Dutched Up! Rocking the Clogs Expat Style".

I am even more chuffed to bits that it's the type of review that makes an author feel warm and squidgy inside.

And the icing on the cake is that my piece about welcoming kraamzorg into my home was something that Robyn Grafton, who reviewed the book, could relate to.

"..... and sentimental tears of happiness over a description of the kraamzorg service, reminding me about my first week of motherhood and my own amazing kraamverzorgster. By the time I turned over the last page, I felt I had just been enjoying a kopje koffee with some girlfriends, swapping stories about our lives in the Netherlands. Can a book feel gezellig? Zeker weten!"

So without further ado, head on over to Amsterdam Mamas and read Dutched Up! Book Review in its entirety for yourself......... and then buy the book!


               

The Little (and Big!) Changes Expat Life Brings

When I boarded a ferry more than fifteeen years ago and left the UK to start a new life in the Netherlands, I never really stopped to consider how different my life would actually be.

I knew there was a new language to learn, one that I'd mistaken for a strange German dialect during a summer holiday in Turkey. 

I was, of course, aware of the typical Dutch associations with clogs, windmills, cheese and tulips but I shrugged that off as stereotypes. I learnt that the old adage 'no smoke without fire' is alive and well and there are actually a fair few windmills in the Netherlands, some farmers do wear clogs (as well as father-in-laws working in gardens) and the Dutch do happen to grow a tremendous number of tulips.... and they like cheese. But these turned out to be the least of the differences thrown at me when I embraced an expat life in the Netherlands. 

An Amen to Expat Life, to the Travellers and the Migrants of the World

An amen to expats, to travellers, to the migration of people by one of the most famous expats who has made Britain his home, Bill Bryson taken from his fabulous book, The Little Road to Dribbling.

Do you agree?

A New Expat Book Coming to Town: 'Once Upon An Expat'

There's a new expat book coming to town. Well coming to the world actually. And I'll be in it!

'Once Upon An Expat' will be available in June this year and will feature many wonderful stories from expat writers from across the globe. You'll be able to read about the best and worst of expat life as you travel around the world through stories. 

You'll meet all the authors online this month over at Canadian Expat Mom's Facebook page - so watch out for that.

Even more amazing news is that all author royalties from sales of this book will go to Books Abroad, an organisation that promotes literacy and education in developing countries.

Don't worry - I'll remind you nearer the time......

Bill Bryson's The Road to Little Dribbling: Book Review:

In his latest book, Mr Bryson works his way around Britain to see just how these isles have fared since his adventure twenty years ago when he penned Notes from a Small Island.

A Harry Potter Birthday Party

Last Friday the day my eldest had been looking forward to since his birthday finally arrived - his birthday party. This year the theme was Harry Potter.

(Click picture for Amazon.co.uk link)

We've been reading the Harry Potter series books in English together for about a year now, having just started the fourth one, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. My son loves them. I surprised myself and found that I love them too. Prior to last year I had never read a Harry Potter book.

When we decided on the Harry Potter theme it didn't click straight away that my son's friends would know the Dutch versions of everything but probably not the English ones. And that means that some of the characters have different names: Dumbledore is Perkamentus; Hermione is Hermelien;  Ron Weasley is Ron Wemel and Vernon Dursley is Herman Duffeling. The snitch is a snaai and even Hogwarts changes and becomes Zweinstein. Another twist of expat life when you're least expecting it! It went ahead in English - but the films were watched dubbed in Dutch.

The week leading up to the party I landed in bed with flu and my husband was still battling the mother of all ear infections that had had him consulting an ENT specialist in our local hospital. We mumbled about postponing. There were tears. We backed off. And it went ahead......

Why The Dutch Refuse to Queue Like the English

Many years ago I read Watching the English by Kate Fox. It's a fascinating read if you are English, spend time with English people, or you just want to get to know us English folk a little better. There was a lot of penny dropping going on during my scurry through the chapters, lots of thigh slapping and "So THAT's why"...... in fact it's probably time for a reread as the book has been revised and updated!

The English, as a nation, are polite. Very very polite. It makes dealing with some of the more blunt Dutch manners even harder for English expats than some other nationalities. However, an American reader got in touch about the annoyance he feels at the lack of queue etiquette in the Netherlands. Ahh, I thought, a pet topic of mine! I am English, therefore I queue.

Sinterklaas Present Tip - Get Dutched Up!

Sinterklaas is weer in het land! So it's time to get your thinking caps on and fill those shoes! Get Dutched up! for that expat or Dutchie in your life.......

"Dutched Up! is a compilation of stories from Expat Women Bloggers living in the Netherlands. The book covers a wide range of topics about everyday life as seen through the eyes of a foreigner. Some are funny. Others have a wealth of professional information. Yet other stories are sad, shocking or surprising. 

There is one thing we can guarantee about this book. If you have ever lived in the Netherlands, at least one story in it will resonate with you. In all likelihood, there are a lot of stories that will sound familiar and have you nodding your head in agreement or shaking it in shared frustration. This book will help you appreciate the many moments of beauty, learning and growing."

Get Dutched Up! for Sinterklaas

If you go down to the ABC bookshop in The Hague today you're sure to get a surprise.

If you go down to the book shop today you won't believe your eyes.

Dutched Up! is there adorning the shelves in the company of some amazing expat books.

If you can't make it to The Hague then you can also grab yourself a copy with a few strokes of your keyboard:

 

Or if you live local to Zoetermeer than you can get a copy from me.

With Sinterklaas fast approaching this book makes a great gift for the expat in your life - as well as all your Dutch friends!

Dutched Up! is Now a Real Live Book

Yes, it's a little like Gepetto waving Pinnochio around but this is more about 'e-book into real live paper hold in your hand book' than it is about 'wooden puppet into a real live boy'.

I am so excited to announce that you can now get your hands on a copy of Dutched Up! as a paperback book. Of course, reading it on your Kindle was fun but in my humble opinion nothing beats holding an actual real book in your hands.

The authors of Dutched Up! have been collectively holding their breath in anticipation over the past few months as the printing process went on behind the scenes. But we are (you'll be glad to know) all breathing once more as the books rolled hot off the presses into our grubby little hands.

And of course you'll all be wondering where on earth you can get your own grubby mitts on a copy of this wonderful book, this collaboration of literary geniuses telling expat life like it is in the Netherlands, this showpiece for expat life, this collection of...... you get the picture. Read on for a list pf places you can get hold of a copy.......

But first - who needs this book? Well, it's a book you need to have on your bookshelf if:

• you are an expat in the Netherlands
• you are soon to be an expat in the Netherlands
• you could at some point in the future be an expat in the Netherlands
• you want to be an expat in the Netherlands
• you dream of becoming an expat in the Netherlands
• you know an expat in the Netherlands
• you have a friend who knows an expat in the Netherlands
• you are Dutch and wonder how female expats experience life in the Netherlands
• you have any kind of tenuous link to the Netherlands and want to read about life in the Netherlands
• you like reading about expat life
• you life reading about the Netherlands
• you love reading funny, poignant, interesting and informational stories
• you like reading
• you like filling your bookshelves with beautiful books
• you have eyes

Convinced? Ok - here's where to head for your very own copy:

• The American Book Center in The Hague or Amsterdam

• Online at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

• Or from Bol.com

• And last but not least - if you are local to Zoetermeer then get in touch as I have a few spare copies to sell! 

Time to Really Get Dutched Up!

Dutched Up! is now available in paperback. It's a real live book! And I couldn't be more chuffed!

Oh wait, I could be more chuffed - if you actually go out and buy it!

Watch this space for more information on where you can get your hands on Dutched Up! or if you can't wait (which I could understand) check out the Expat Life with a Double Buggy Facebook page for buying options.

Komt Een Vrouw bij de Dokter / Love Life by Kluun: Book review

As I crept into bed sniffing and snottering my husband asked,

"Finished your book then?"

Yes I had. I had just turned the final page over of 'Komt een Vrouw bij de Dokter' written by Kluun (aka Raymond van de Klundert). This is Kluun's debut novel written in 2003 and is dramatised from events in his own life.

It's a funny thing to enjoy a book which evokes gut wrenching tears but enjoy it I did. Well, when I say enjoy... I mean I found it hard to put down, I emphasised with the characters and I experienced their pain. That's what a good book should do right - put you into someone else's world?

When I woke the next morning I had puffed up red eyes and I was glad the book was finished. The Dutch presenter Myrna Goossen sums this book up perfectly, "Man, man, wat een heftig book."

Komt een vrouw bij de doktor is a book about Stijn and Carmen living in Amsterdam in the prime of their life, both running their own companies, enjoying the night life of the Dutch capital city, surrounded by success and friends. Until they are struck by breast cancer.

This book is their journey through cancer, about how it rips at the heart of their family and confronts their close friends. It is written from the perspective of Stijn, a fun loving, philandering, emotionally challenged husband, as he faces up to the reality that his wife is terminally ill. There'll be moments in the book where you'll want to hurt him. He behaves, as the Dutch would say, like a klootzak.

It is a book about preparing for the end of a life, an ode to love and the strength of family. The book is a roller coaster of emotion from anger at the medical establishment, to hope brought by treatment options, desperation as the effects of chemo take hold, to the final realisation that Carmen won't see their young daughter Luna grow up. It is a heart wrenching read, and all the more because it is based on real events.

Be prepared for humour and tears.

For those who relish the challenge of a good read in Dutch the book is available from Bol.com or any other local bookstore. If you'd prefer to read the book in English it's available under the title Love Life by Ray Kluun. It has also been made into a very successful film starring Carice van Houten, Barry Atsma and Pierre Bokma.

A book sequel entitled "Widower" is also available (though I am yet to read it but it is on my reading list for sure).

5 Expat Life Lessons From 'Global Mom'

Melissa Dalton-Bradford has lived in more countries than most of us would even dare to think about moving to - eight to be precise, and has had twice as many addresses. Her memoir, Global Mom, published by Familius, starts in Paris with a beautiful pine Norwegian table that proves to be a family anchor during twenty years on the move, two decades during which her family grows, as does Melissa, as am individual, a wife and as a mother.

From a typical Norwegian barnepark (a word and a concept I will never forget) to desperate poverty on Tonle Sap Lake in Singapore, Dalton-Bradford takes us on an unforgettable journey.

Global Mom is the story of one family physically moving from one country to another, about Dalton-Bradford's journey as a mother, about how a family grows and moulds together. It's a book about community and about home. It's about thriving with no roots. It's about loss and living and surviving in the frightening, dark land of grief. And it's about everything in-between.

(Amazon UK link)

Here are five life lessons I took away from reading Global Mom:

1. Expats Need to Adapt to Thrive 

What resonated with me more than anything else was the fact that living overseas is a story of adaptation. Dalton-Bradford illustrates beautifully that thriving abroad is about resilience, about going with the host country flow. It's about accepting an alternative culture, learning the local language, and fitting in as best you can - embracing the local way of life rather than shunning it and trying to live like you would in your base country.

This is no better highlighted than when Melissa's family move from Norway to France. From a Norwegian barnepark where a child's independence is a priority, where people co-exist with the dominating force of Mother Nature and where no-nonsense and practical goes above appearance, the Bradford family suddenly finds themselves immersed in a school system where restrictions, bureaucracy, rules, regulations and traditions are everything, where the imperfect loops a child makes when learning to write is cause for more teacher concern than it should be.

A fiery Norwegian winter dawn - where Mother Nature rules
Photo Credit: Grethe Boe

Melissa's experiences of child birth in the two countries also serve as a mirror for the contrast between the Norwegian lifestyle and the French way of doing things. Describing her natural birth in Norway with the assistance of her earth mother to her French friends made them "slap their foreheads and drag their hands over their eyes in disbelief" she recounts.

"Those poor Nordic women are too naive to know they have modern options. Right?" said one French friend.

Two worlds - set apart by culture, yet the Bradford family adapt to both, Paris in fact transforming into a haven for the family, a place they could later picture themselves permanently living.

2. Living Globally is Not Easy

To be able to travel around the world and set up home in several countries, to live globally, is an honour. However, it is no bed of roses when a family has to pack up and relocate time after time. Melissa sums it up wonderfully (P168),

"Every time I built something - established myself and our family in Norway, penetrated Versailles with my children in local activities, or renovated our first home ever and buttressed and held up my children - in the very instant I'd gotten to that spot, this international job track levelled what I'd built."

Saying goodbye to friends that have accumulated over the years, feeling rootless, the stress of organising a move and re-establishing a life. Melissa dealt with stress-induced depression on more than one occasion. A global life is about falling and then picking yourself up, dusting yourself off and trying all over again.

3. Retaining Your Personal Identity Needs Work

A life on the move means putting a tremendous amount of energy into setting up the day to day every few years - and then building on those foundations. As a mother of three, Melissa was busy setting up a home, helping her children establish themselves, emotionally and physically, getting the practical things organised in each new country they moved to. She orchestrated re-building a life from the ground up with every new address; she was the driving force behind reshaping their lives to adapt to their new surroundings.

That takes a lot out of a person, but Melissa, once the basics were in place, learnt to look after herself too. Eventually. She reached out to those around her, busied herself with the local church community, continued with her singing where she could (having left a stage career behind in the US when the family first moved overseas). She embraced her musical talents wherever she lived, and used them to build up a community around her. Melissa put herself out there, even when she didn't have the heart or energy to do so. And by doing so it felt whilst reading that she retained her identity - albeit reshaped and adapted. 'Be true to yourself' I hear her whisper from the pages of her memoir.

4. We Make a Home Wherever We Go

A home is more than bricks and mortar
Photo Credit: vannmarie

Melissa reminds me, in a poetic way, that the extraordinary lies in the ordinary. She reminds us how important it is to appreciate the beauty of where we are at this point in our lives. The memorable moments of life lie in our struggles to get through the day to day, particularly when you are doing it in in an unknown culture, in a foreign tongue, in a country you don't know well.

And every time we leave a place we take a little of that place with us, and we leave our mark on the place we left. 'Global Mom' reminds us that home is a place we create in the most unexpected of circumstances. It is so much more than the bricks and mortar that give us a place to shelter. Home is about family, about people, about cultures and history, about traditions - about coming together to grow and learn. Home is the place we are surrounded by those we love, no matter where on the globe that physical address may be.

5. Tragedy Takes You to a New Land

When a family tragedy strikes it takes you to a new unchartered land, to the land of grief. Once entered, life is never the same again. This book is not a light read, it is heartbreaking. You will cry, but it is an integral part of the journey that this beautifully written memoir takes the reader on. It is a brave and courageous account of a mother's loss, of a family torn apart.

Melissa tells us how grieving whilst on the move means travelling on a lonely road - surrounded by new faces that do not know or understand what you have been through, who did not live through your life stopping tragedy with you. The grieving process knows even more complications because of a life lived in different countries. The memories are based elsewhere, the connections to your loss in another country.

"The nomadic lifestyle, with all its pluses has one glaring lacuna: community. You are again and again ripped up, ripped out, and replanted amid strangers. There is little if any continuous community. Now, as never before in our life. our family needed people who had more than a vague inkling of our story....." (P236 Global Mom)

To end, for me,  'Global Mom' is how you write a memoir. It is set apart by the weight it carries, by the emotions it instills in the reader - from smirks and giggles to floods of tears.

There is a sense of history, culture, and a feeling of the sights and sounds of every country the Bradford family lives in. There is the reality check that a nomadic lifestyle is a double edged sword, and a life lived well overseas takes work, emotional resilience and a lot of adapting. There is friendship, community, family and most of all, love.

This book is a great read for expats, wannabe expats, global nomads, parents and those with a curiosity for the power of the human spirit.

You can get a copy of Global Mom from the following outlets:

Expat Life: Loving and Leaving Where You Live

I have just finished reading Global Mama by Melissa Dalton-Bradford (you can find a review here) and all the way through the book I was struck by the sense of 'home'; her family's ability to set down roots wherever they ended up living. They didn't just live physically in new countries, new places, new houses; they lived with their heart and soul and I had the feeling that every place they left meant leaving a little part of themselves there. Truly global living.

Reading Dalton-Bradford's account of living in Norway and the cultural differences they experienced when the family made a move to Paris made me think about my own sense of home.

I take for granted now that I live in the Netherlands, that I live in a Dutch house, in a Dutch street surrounded by locals. But what does that actually mean? It's the little things around us that make somewhere unique to live. It's the secret corners, the special items of furniture or memorabilia that travel with us, it's the normality of our days in a place. It's the waves from neighbours, the familiar faces scraping ice from the cars parked in the street in winter.

As each day passes in a house, in a town, in a country we take everything around us more and more for granted. Nothing seems particularly special anymore because we see, touch or pass it every day. Only by leaving a place do we see it's true place in our heart. Only by moving on do we appreciate all the little things that make a place special, make a place our home. And when you are not constantly on the move it is easy to forget all that.

Reading Global Mom reminded me that I was busy with a Love Where We Live journal at one point but never finished capturing the place I call home. A journal about where you live is never really finished of course - things change, you redecorate, you renew, you refresh rooms - and more importantly every day you live in a home you make new memories. But I was busy capturing the essence of the place I call home. I was busy with photos of the room we gather to eat, where we scrub our teeth, where the children play.

What makes a home a real home though is not the wallpaper, the curtains you've meticulously chosen to match the sofa, nor the well thought out shade of the woodwork's paint, but the people you share your home with.

Home is made special by the things you do together - the Friday night rituals, the lazy Sunday morning breakfasts, the ordinariness of the morning rush out of the front door. What do festive holidays look like in your home? How would all that change if you lived somewhere else? Expat life is certainly about change - from the minor to the major, from the little day to day things to life changing events. And in all that our home is the foundation, it holds things that are familiar and dear to us. It holds things that capture our memories, whether we realise it or not.

There are things scattered around my Dutch home that I brought with me from England and every time they catch my eye I am cast back to a previous life, even if for only a brief moment.

There are even special memories in the choosing of a house - the memories of picking the house that we currently live in have emotions intrinsically entwined around them. We bought a home for our future. We bought a place we could make our own, put our stamp on. Then, back in 2002, there were two of us. Now there are five of us. We have grown our family in this house. As my Love Where We Live journal reminds me the house I live in, the place I call home is special because:

"We are growing into beautiful people here."

Each day we are growing as a family, and this home is the place where my three sons have grown from babies into toddlers and are growing into school-going boys. It's their base, the place they feel safe and secure. And whilst I was reading Global Mom, it became clear to me that this house we live in is a shell for our family, for our lives, but what goes on inside will be the same wherever we should lay down roots, whichever house, street, town or country we should live in. We will take something of this place with us when we eventually move, not the physical stuff, but the emotional and cultural parts of life here in the Netherlands.

Moving away from this Dutch street, this town, or even this country wouldn't take away the memories, the love that has encased us in our home over the last twelve years, the people we have become living our Dutch life.

Imagine tomorrow having to leave the place you currently call home -  what little part of you would you leave behind? What would you take with you from the life you have lead there to your new home?

It strikes me that the furniture would all be replaceable, there'd be no tears shed about leaving the carpets we spent time deliberating over behind, but the moments we have spent getting on with life in our home would be irreplaceable, unique. These moments are currently the daily occurrences that seem so average, so ordinary and uninteresting -  the day to day that hardly seems worth noting in a beautiful journal. But I am off to do just that - because I know one day I will realise the value of all these family moments that make up day to day life in our average Dutch home in a Dutch street, in the middle of the Netherlands. I will come to realise that we have lived in this house with our hearts and our souls. And I will also realise that we will leave a little of ourselves in this home when we leave it.

Book Review: Expat Life Slice by Slice by Apple Gidley

Apple Gidley is a TCK, a globe wanderer, and therefore perfectly positioned to be the author of a book about all aspects of expat life. And with such an inviting name, how could she not ensure there was eloquent synergy between the author's name and the book title?

 

In Expat Life Slice by Slice Apple covers the spectrum of a life spent abroad in thirteen bite size pieces, from giving birth overseas to caring for ageing parents, from looking after pets to raising children, and from friendship to food. And then she brings the cycle full circle by ending with retirement and repatriation, about returning to a 'home' that is unfamiliar. She openly recounts how returning to a former life, one you haven't lived for many years, is tough, as difficult as taking that initial step to an expat life in the first place. However, Apple tells us, the magnitude of repatriation is all too commonly dismissed. It's something I can imagine, but am yet to go through.

She also relays how expat life was before the internet, something that I guess is unthinkable to expats today. She talks about groups that served as her lifeline time after time. She writes about the strains of parenting overseas and education choices, of leaving children behind. She discusses cultures and customs that are hard to stomach.

Apple guides the reader through a well-lived expat life with sometimes incredibly heart wrenching personal anecdotes from her own escapades overseas. In 1980 she lived in the Netherlands, and her daughter Kate was born in Emmen.

Her stories are ones that make you smile, or shed a tear, or sit reading with your mouth open in astonishment. In short, Apple shares the real ups and downs of expat life, and also shows just how many types of and aspects to expat life there are.

At the end of each chapter, she shares a tip, or an overview about an element of expat life - a takeaway slice, as she puts it. Like this one:

"Does it really matter where children grow up as long as they feel secure, loved and listened to? The opportunity for young children to benefit linguistically from early exposure to different languages is surely of huge benefit in later life, as is early exposure to different cultures." 

I couldn't agree more. Expat Life Slice by Slice is a fascinating read, particularly if you are what I call a traditional expat, or accompanying partner, moving from one international assignment to another.