The Narrowboat Summer by Anne Youngson

The cover of THE NARROWBOAT SUMMER by Anne Youngson (Meet Me at the Museum) splendidly conveys the sense of idyll and adventure which this novel delivers. Two woman, Eve and Sally, face changes in their lives due to an executive job loss for one and a dissolving marriage for the other. By sheer happenstance, they have a chance to co-captain a narrowboat for its incapacitated owner, Anastasia, who is facing her own health problems. Despite their total inexperience, the two strangers manage to move the boat and their lives forward. Youngson captures the slow pace of the river journey and its uncertainty in terms of working the locks, living on the water and relating to other (often eccentric) members of the riverboat community. At the same time, she allows the reader to have glimpses of the personal choices and growth which Eve and Sally experience: “So I don’t think we should be in a rush to define what’s worth doing, do you? We don’t want to risk imposing some framework on the borders of chaos that might eliminate the possibilities and leave us with only the same answers as we had before.” THE NARROWBOAT SUMMER offers readers a chance for introspection and a happy adventure – enjoy!