Ebook: Father, Son and the Kerry Way: "Just one more hill, Dad..."

“Beautifully written, brutally honest and laugh out loud funny.”“Alex’s insights bring a new dimension. Impossible to read without laughing out loud.”That’s what people said about the first two books in the ‘Father, Son’ series…Now ‘Father, Son and the Kerry Way’ sees Alex and I walking 125 miles round County Kerry in South West Ireland.The book is written in exactly the same style as the first two ‘Pennine Way’ books. There’s the usual cast of characters and – sadly for one of us – there’s an Irish bog lying in ambush…But this is a deeper book than the first two. There were several different layers to Ireland. There was Padraig’s Ireland of miles and punts and couples falling in love at the separator lorry. There was Noretta’s Ireland of kilometres and Instagram and hand-pressed nut mylk…And there were the myths and legends: the Piobaire Bui playing his magical tune as the fairies danced outside his cottage. There was also the history: the potato famine, the crops failing, the children wailing with hunger. And the English landlords…Alex and I walked through all of it. From Killarney to the Black Valley to the Atlantic Ocean. Through the valleys, the villages, the mountains and the mists. Our father/son relationship continued to evolve and – as in the last book – Alex tells part of the story in that 50/50 mixture of humour and sarcasm all parents will recognise. “I heard a scream. I turned round. Dad was lying face down in a clump of heather. He wasn’t moving. He was, however, swearing. Which was a good sign. When Dad’s really hurt he doesn’t say anything. When he’s swearing – even when he’s face down in a clump of heather – you know that he’s just slipped and he’ll be on his feet again in a few minutes. That the only thing he’s really damaged is his pride…”If you like the humour of Bill Bryson, if you like the personal story in a book like ‘The Salt Path,’ if you like a slightly sideways look at life – then ‘Father, Son and the Kerry Way’ is the book for you. “This is everything anyone would want to get from a book - laughs, information and observation, all of which are superbly written.”..M.F