A Wide Woman on a Narrow Boat

Absolutely loved it. Intelligent and informative yet laugh out loud funny. Not the usual tyro tales of "Oh look at how silly and incompetent I am" Stephanie is both self effacing yet at the same time strong and feisty. The book has some wonderful passages of lyrical beauty...describing the sights and sounds of the river.....but has hilarious accounts of run ins with sniffy boaters and amazing death defying mishaps. A great one for understatement, Stephanie regales us with tales of lost keys, forgotten equipment, spills and thrills and the reviving qualities of a bottle of red, yet these should not overshadow the courage and sheer guts of taking on a massive narrow boat and serving her apprenticeship in the school of fairly firm knocks as she rounds impossibly sharp bends and batters her way through ancient and unyielding locks. This book had me rolling around laughing, but still managed to convey the real challenges of a life afloat. The winters when coal and gas cylinders needed to be lugged over frosty fields and somehow stowed aboard ...the dampness and leaks...the time spent scrabbling around with a breadknife trying to free the propeller from entangled rope and weed. All this and much more make this a wonderful read.

I enjoyed this book. Initially I got confused as another book by a Stephanie Green - Flight Risk, was stated by Amazon to be by the same author as this book, but they are different people. The descriptions of wildlife, weather and surroundings are so good, you can actually feel it all yourself. It is a funny book, but certainly put me off ever wanting to live on a narrowboat, it sounds like hard work with a lot of darkness and unavoidable mud.I wish she had said a bit more about why she hated her ex husband so much, and yet I wondered why the still seemed to spend so much time together. Looking forward to reading the sequel.Initially I got confused as another book by a Stephanie Green - Flight Risk, was stated by Amazon to be by the same author as this book, but they are different people.

If you want to loose a fair bit of time in a pleasing and comfortable manner then this is the book for you. I was surprised to reach the end thinking briefly that the book had failed to download completely. Alas I'd simply being enjoying the story more than expected to. Time flies and all that...I'm off to see if there's more by Stephanie to loose myself in.

I thought I may give this a quick read , wrong ! it was enthralling ,so true and so well written, the story invoked so many memories from our younger days on our narrow boat,sadly that will never happen for me again but this reminds me to remember with joy those wonderful days in the beautiful English Waterways. the final chapter is very poignant .Thank you

Stephanie Green tells it truthfully, and is self-deprecating about what I know is a really difficult trip, even with her ex-husband! She makes light of crossing the River Nene and the Middle Levels, and the daring tidal bit at Denver Sluice. Luckily she has friends in the area, but to take on narrow (oh so narrow) boat life and move a 60 foot boat, takes guts.

My daughter is intending to live on a boat, so I read this to see what she is likely to come up against. It is informative, interesting, amusing and even poignant. I would highly recommend it, both for education about boat living, and just pure unadulterated entertainment.

We bought a wide beam seven years ago and everything the author experienced, we experienced too (other than falling in and damaging her leg and having gall stones). The writing is so accurate and descriptive, you feel as though you are on the boat with her. Looking forward to reading her follow up book 'Wise Woman on a Narrow Boat' next.

What a lovely book. It is very rare for an older, single , feisty woman to feature in a book. Stephanie Green is intrepid, smart , very funny and she can write. A pleasure all the way.(And its totally cured my vague dessire to live on a boat.)