For better, for worse / Damian and Siobhan Horner.

A hilarious, true story of life-change, no going back, 40th birthdays and mid-life crisis. Follow the adventures of a husband and wife (plus two small children) as they take a barge through the French canals towards the Bourgogne and Canal du Midi - with The Mediterranean and Spain beckoning.

Damian Horner is scared that fifteen years in advertising have turned him into a bastard. As he approaches his fortieth birthday, he wants to see if he can be a good husband and a good father before it's too late. Siobhan, his wife, would like to find out too but has other worries. Do marriage and kids mean she's now trapped in a world of suburban domesticity?

It takes a miserable day and a bottle of wine to change everything. Suddenly Damian and Siobhan decide to throw their lives in the air and escape to the French canals, taking with them their son Noah who is two years old and can barely talk, and their daughter India who is one and cannot walk.

Told in two voices, we hear both sides of their story and get the whole truth as Damian and Siobhan describe coming to terms with themselves and their life on board an old fishing boat in France with no space, no fridge, no charts, no deadlines and no flushing toilet.

Author Notes

Damian Horner (Author)
Damian Horner is a highly successful PR and marketing expert. At WCRS, one of London's top agencies, he worked on the iconic 'I bet he drinks Carling Black label' campaign. He was the youngest ever business director at Lowes, and then helped launch Mustoes, where he worked with clients as diverse as Sony, Lever Brothers and Prudential. This is his first book.

Siobhan Horner (Author)
Siobhan Horner is a highly successful PR and marketing expert. She had a highly successful career in the travel industry before starting a family. Her favourite job was as Marketing Director for the New Zealand Tourism Board. She left to become a freelance marketer covering travel as well as non-travel brands such as NEW SCIENTIST magazine.

Reviews (1)

Library Journal Review

Husband and wife Damian and Siobhan (Shiv) Horner do the unthinkable: he quits his high-paying job as an ad exec in London, and the couple, with their two toddlers, embark on a boat adventure through the French canal system from Calais to the Mediterranean. A cataloger's nightmare, the book has two titles (and two sets of front matter), each by one of the coauthors. Damian's title page faces one way; flip the book over for Siobhan's. Fortunately for the reader, this bit of literary quirk stops before it becomes annoying. The main text is unified, and the authors' thoughts are divided only by two fonts. The duel narrative is not original but is used effectively. Each author gives a version of an episode, or one writes a continuation of the other's thoughts. Verdict Readers will be engaged, hoping that the couple make it to the sea without ending up in divorce court from the cramped quarters. This compelling travel memoir will attract even those who have no interest in canals, boat travel, or France.-Lee Arnold, Historical Soc. of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

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Reviews (1)

Library Journal Review