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Editorial Reviews
A unique travel guide by an Englishman returning to London and discovering a country he never knew
Denis Lipman left London’s East End for Washington, DC more than 20 years ago, but made an annual pilgrimage year after year to visit aging parents, a pair of cantankerous, real-life Cockneys. He endured the visits as best he could.
Enter an American wife. Not content with a grin-and-bear-it attitude, she declares that since each year’s trip to England was inevitable, it was to be enjoyed: see the sites, taste the culture, go places! Against his will, our expat becomes a tourist in his homeland and comes to discover it’s not so bad after all. Through new eyes, England is certainly better than he remembered!
Enjoy a travel memoir more carbolic than bucolic. Discover a place where the sun rarely shines, where electricity is coin-operated, and where canned beans on toast is a cornerstone of cuisine. Taste the real East End and tour with a colorful, combative and fundamentally affectionate family as they rent cottages, host outrageous relatives, meet the locals and discover the English countryside.
Denis Lipman left London’s East End for Washington, DC more than 20 years ago, but made an annual pilgrimage year after year to visit aging parents, a pair of cantankerous, real-life Cockneys. He endured the visits as best he could.
Enter an American wife. Not content with a grin-and-bear-it attitude, she declares that since each year’s trip to England was inevitable, it was to be enjoyed: see the sites, taste the culture, go places! Against his will, our expat becomes a tourist in his homeland and comes to discover it’s not so bad after all. Through new eyes, England is certainly better than he remembered!
Enjoy a travel memoir more carbolic than bucolic. Discover a place where the sun rarely shines, where electricity is coin-operated, and where canned beans on toast is a cornerstone of cuisine. Taste the real East End and tour with a colorful, combative and fundamentally affectionate family as they rent cottages, host outrageous relatives, meet the locals and discover the English countryside.
Related Reviews
Charming and engaging, A Yank Back to England made me long to visit England again. In this humorous memoir, Denis Lipman provides an inside look at life outside of London, when he returns to his childhood home in Dagenham with his American wife and infant daughter. His parents, Lew and Jessie, are delightfully cockney and full of life; Lipman draws them perfectly and takes us on a wild ride through the English countryside as he rediscovers his homeland with his family in tow. I savored every word, enjoying the descriptions of the food (smoked kippers, fried black pudding, baked beans), the castles and cottages, the winding roads, the hedgerows and gardens, all of which made me want to hop the next plane to Heathrow. An absolutely delightful read!
Amusing, Laugh Out Loud funny, and bittersweet -- brilliant!!!
This book is one of the best reads I have had in recent years. It follows Denis Lipman's return to England with his American wife, and chronicles their multiple years of visits with the author's East End Cockney parents. Mix 2 parts DICKENS with one part ANGELA's ASHES with 3 parts YEAR IN PROVENCE -- and you begin to get the essence of YANK BACK TO ENGLAND. It begs to be an audio book and even more, this book is destined to become a movie. (I nominate Colin Firth to play Denis.) Though every chapter takes you to out of the way places in the English Countryside, this isn't just a travel book. It's a story of family, of coming home, of rediscovery and finally of love -- told with wit, wry insight and affection.
I'm a Britophile and I write a blog dedicated to Great Britain called Smitten by Britain. I've read and reviewed many books about Britain in the last year, and this is one of the very best. I found Denis' book a real joy to read and I would have to agree with actor Michael York's review - it does read like a Dickens novel. There are quite a few laugh out loud moments here, most of them involving his colorful parents, while Denis' wife Frances, takes it all in stride. I used to live in England and Denis's book took me back to that green and pleasant land. I felt like I was right there with the Lipmans in their front lounge drinking tea, walking the streets of Dagenham and visiting the local attractions. It was interesting to see England through the eyes of a returning ex-pat, after years of living in the U.S. If you want to experience England and English life as it really is and not through a guide book, A Yank Back to England is the book to read.
Expected more - did not get it
As a Britisher living in the US, this story should have had a lot of resonance for me. Somehow it did not.
The author, an Englishman, plus his American wife and child visit the UK every year for their vacation. They have two vacations: One with his relatives and one on their own. For the former they rent somewhere and then the relatives come to stay. For the latter they stay in a nice hotel and then explore on their own.
His parents are in their 80's and their health is failing as the book progresses. However, this does not stop him renting places and making them come to him. In one chapter he is told that his parents would rather be at home. He should not have needed to be told, it was obvious from the prior trips. One of his relatives falls terribly ill on one of these trips (and dies prior to his next trip); I believe the stress of the trip caused the illness. His family are really old and making long journeys in a car is hard on them - yet still he insists on them doing it. On one trip he is extremely angry with his parents and makes his dad cry! His dad has only cried once in his presence and at the time the writer was a child and the family pet had just died. Yet the writer causes this reaction in his dad and then fails to stop when he sees the effect.
The story made me feel the writer is self-absorbed, shallow and selfish - he never works out that he should be visiting his parents on their turf and then taking his personal vacation if he wanted to. The story caused me annoyance at his behavior and sadness for his family. Perhaps that makes it a good book? Not for me, I suppose.
My parents are in their 80's; when my family visits the UK we stay near my parents home in order not to be an imposition and to let them stay where they are the most comfortable. I cannot imagine making my parents come to me, causing them stress and possibly making them ill. It is obvious to me to behave that way, and maybe that is another reason I find this book more sad than funny.
There are a few scenes in the book that bring back memories - the author seems to be about my age - these were worth reading. The rest not so great.
The author, an Englishman, plus his American wife and child visit the UK every year for their vacation. They have two vacations: One with his relatives and one on their own. For the former they rent somewhere and then the relatives come to stay. For the latter they stay in a nice hotel and then explore on their own.
His parents are in their 80's and their health is failing as the book progresses. However, this does not stop him renting places and making them come to him. In one chapter he is told that his parents would rather be at home. He should not have needed to be told, it was obvious from the prior trips. One of his relatives falls terribly ill on one of these trips (and dies prior to his next trip); I believe the stress of the trip caused the illness. His family are really old and making long journeys in a car is hard on them - yet still he insists on them doing it. On one trip he is extremely angry with his parents and makes his dad cry! His dad has only cried once in his presence and at the time the writer was a child and the family pet had just died. Yet the writer causes this reaction in his dad and then fails to stop when he sees the effect.
The story made me feel the writer is self-absorbed, shallow and selfish - he never works out that he should be visiting his parents on their turf and then taking his personal vacation if he wanted to. The story caused me annoyance at his behavior and sadness for his family. Perhaps that makes it a good book? Not for me, I suppose.
My parents are in their 80's; when my family visits the UK we stay near my parents home in order not to be an imposition and to let them stay where they are the most comfortable. I cannot imagine making my parents come to me, causing them stress and possibly making them ill. It is obvious to me to behave that way, and maybe that is another reason I find this book more sad than funny.
There are a few scenes in the book that bring back memories - the author seems to be about my age - these were worth reading. The rest not so great.
I have to tell you, I could not put this book down for a minute. It's filled with an array of wonderful real life family characters that you can relate to in such a personal way. Denis and his lovely wife Frances and little girl Kate take you through England as if you yourself were a stow away. There are so many heartfelt, humorous and real moments that touch your heart and move you to tears. I honestly was so upset when I got to the end because I wanted to hear more about their adventures and family life. (Lew and Jessie actually remind me of my Hungarian folks..hahah) I sure would love to see this become a movie or T.V. series. An audio version of this would be great as well and very entertaining on road trips. Absolutely charming and endearing a MUST read!!!!!
Sincerely,
Elizabeth H.
North Carolina, USA
Sincerely,
Elizabeth H.
North Carolina, USA
Sorry, I wish I could add my voice to all the raves so far. I felt that this book was worthwhile but not laugh-out-loud funny.
First things first. The Kindle edition is poorly formatted and sucked a lot of the joy out of the read. I actually bought the paperback to get a more pleasurable reading experience. So, one star off for the Kindle version, 4 stars for the paperback.
Secondly, I view this as more of a somewhat bittersweet family memoir than a travel book. It's possible that I am projecting my own concerns into the situation, but we basically have the prodigal son who returns every year to visit his aging parents and whisk them off to some lesser country destination for a week, and writes a book about it. On the other hand, Denis's cousin Pam chauffeurs her aunt and uncle and her own aging mother the rest of the year, and provides them with compassionate nursing care. I'm afraid Denis comes off as rather shallow, or at least much more devoted to his American family than his parents in England. I really wanted him to express more appreciation of Pam and dig a little deeper into his own emotions about leading a separate existence from his parents most of the year. I suppose, seeing where he grew up and meeting his parents, it's not too surprising that his British reserve took hold and he left that part out.
The parents, Jessie and Lew, are really the heart and soul of this book. They are quirky, moody and not particularly adorable. Denis treats them with affection and patience, but his annual visits are often more focused on sightseeing than spending time with his parents. And about the sightseeing...Denis's wife Frances is an intense history buff. The sights she wants to see are often not those you or I would ever have heard of, unless we frequent blogs about all things British. In their travels they come across situations and people who are often frustrating. (Kind of like reading the Kindle edition, where the first letter of a sentence is often not capitalized, and the punctuation is iffy.) When reading these accounts, I occasionally smiled but the book was far from hilarious.
I guess at the bottom of my ambivalence about this book is the fact that I expected a heartwarming, charming travel memoir. This turns out to be a story of real working-class England, not very glamorous but with its own quiet charm nonetheless. I do think it is worthwhile to read - in the paperback edition, not on Kindle - but don't expect a rollicking good time.
First things first. The Kindle edition is poorly formatted and sucked a lot of the joy out of the read. I actually bought the paperback to get a more pleasurable reading experience. So, one star off for the Kindle version, 4 stars for the paperback.
Secondly, I view this as more of a somewhat bittersweet family memoir than a travel book. It's possible that I am projecting my own concerns into the situation, but we basically have the prodigal son who returns every year to visit his aging parents and whisk them off to some lesser country destination for a week, and writes a book about it. On the other hand, Denis's cousin Pam chauffeurs her aunt and uncle and her own aging mother the rest of the year, and provides them with compassionate nursing care. I'm afraid Denis comes off as rather shallow, or at least much more devoted to his American family than his parents in England. I really wanted him to express more appreciation of Pam and dig a little deeper into his own emotions about leading a separate existence from his parents most of the year. I suppose, seeing where he grew up and meeting his parents, it's not too surprising that his British reserve took hold and he left that part out.
The parents, Jessie and Lew, are really the heart and soul of this book. They are quirky, moody and not particularly adorable. Denis treats them with affection and patience, but his annual visits are often more focused on sightseeing than spending time with his parents. And about the sightseeing...Denis's wife Frances is an intense history buff. The sights she wants to see are often not those you or I would ever have heard of, unless we frequent blogs about all things British. In their travels they come across situations and people who are often frustrating. (Kind of like reading the Kindle edition, where the first letter of a sentence is often not capitalized, and the punctuation is iffy.) When reading these accounts, I occasionally smiled but the book was far from hilarious.
I guess at the bottom of my ambivalence about this book is the fact that I expected a heartwarming, charming travel memoir. This turns out to be a story of real working-class England, not very glamorous but with its own quiet charm nonetheless. I do think it is worthwhile to read - in the paperback edition, not on Kindle - but don't expect a rollicking good time.
As a Brit myself I can only say "Hats off to you Dennis". I could not put it down as it took me back to my many memories of trips home. Now my husband is reading it and if it is not about war or history he usually does not show any interest.
Thanks for a great read and I look forward to more books from you. Sheila.
Thanks for a great read and I look forward to more books from you. Sheila.
Taking this book on my next London trip
I found this book in the travel section, which I thought at first might have been a mistake. The first chapter felt very much like memoir. The expatriot brings his wife home to meet his parents and chaos ensues. But as I continued reading, the travel aspect became more apparent. Like the travelogue writers of the 19th century, Mr. Lipman takes us away from the five-star hotels and the bright city lights. Out beyond the tourist maps, royal dungeons and double-decker buses, into the true heart of England. Quaint and beautiful nooks and crannies that Americans never set foot in, unless they've gotten lost on the way to Stonehenge or Bath. Elegant mansion gardens, quiet cathedrals, cozy small-town pubs, and rustic rental homes. This is where the postcard photos end and the real England begins.
But venturing into the English countryside with the Lipmans is a journey not for the faint of heart. It has all the hazards of an African safari. Interrupted naps, swarms of tea-guzzling relatives, strange encounters with locals, treacherous quests for food, half-broken telephones, and the occasional "grr" from somewhere behind us. Mr. Lipman faces it all with unending patience and an unwavering sense of humor. His dedication to the tale is obvious right from the start. He doesn't even allow the almighty euro to distract from the narrative. He focuses on the quality of his experiences, or lack thereof, and rarely mentions the actual price of anything.
At its core, A Yank Back to England is the story of a son and his parents trying to relate to each other. The son reluctantly rediscovering his past and the parents struggling to keep up, both literally and figuratively. Charged with emotion, the story surrounds us and makes us feel it. Mr. Lipman paints a picture of not only his colorful family, but of the world they've lived in, the memories they share, and the things that just won't change.
But venturing into the English countryside with the Lipmans is a journey not for the faint of heart. It has all the hazards of an African safari. Interrupted naps, swarms of tea-guzzling relatives, strange encounters with locals, treacherous quests for food, half-broken telephones, and the occasional "grr" from somewhere behind us. Mr. Lipman faces it all with unending patience and an unwavering sense of humor. His dedication to the tale is obvious right from the start. He doesn't even allow the almighty euro to distract from the narrative. He focuses on the quality of his experiences, or lack thereof, and rarely mentions the actual price of anything.
At its core, A Yank Back to England is the story of a son and his parents trying to relate to each other. The son reluctantly rediscovering his past and the parents struggling to keep up, both literally and figuratively. Charged with emotion, the story surrounds us and makes us feel it. Mr. Lipman paints a picture of not only his colorful family, but of the world they've lived in, the memories they share, and the things that just won't change.
One of the perks of running [...] is that I get my hands on and hear about more Anglophile related books than I used to. A Yank Back To England is my new favorite Brit book and I recommend it to all Anglophiles.
A Yank Back To England is written by Denis Lipman and if that name sounds familiar it's because Denis and his wife Francis have been contributing British recipes to Anglotopia for the past 6 months. When I heard Denis had a book coming out - I begged for a copy and have been reading it for the last two months (I'm a slow reader and we've been very busy).
The book is fantastic - but what's it all about? Well, Denis is British and has lived in the US or most of his adult life, later marrying his lovely American wife. Denis does not have a particular love for his old country and loves America - however his wife had other ideas and demanded that they attempt to enjoy England when they visited Denis's family every year.
What follows is an account of a Brit rediscovering England all over again and learning what it means to be British and also American at the same time. You can take the man out of Britain but you can't take Britain out of the man!
Denis Lipman writes with a wry, sensibly British sense of humor that is occasionally inflected with some Americaness. His writing reminds me quite a bit of Bill Bryson. Denis is a bizarro Bill Bryson - Bill Bryson being an American living in Britain who's gone native and wrote lovingly about his new and old country - Denis being the Brit who's settled in America and does the reverse.
The most colorful characters in the book are Denis's parents who are basically forced to see the sites and sounds of Britain and grumble all along the way, not really understanding why anyone would want to drive an hour away to see another country church.
I really enjoyed reading about their travels across the length and breadth of Britain and when I put the book down, I was left wanting more. Here's hoping Denis writes another book!
If you're an Anglophile, you must own this book.
A Yank Back To England is written by Denis Lipman and if that name sounds familiar it's because Denis and his wife Francis have been contributing British recipes to Anglotopia for the past 6 months. When I heard Denis had a book coming out - I begged for a copy and have been reading it for the last two months (I'm a slow reader and we've been very busy).
The book is fantastic - but what's it all about? Well, Denis is British and has lived in the US or most of his adult life, later marrying his lovely American wife. Denis does not have a particular love for his old country and loves America - however his wife had other ideas and demanded that they attempt to enjoy England when they visited Denis's family every year.
What follows is an account of a Brit rediscovering England all over again and learning what it means to be British and also American at the same time. You can take the man out of Britain but you can't take Britain out of the man!
Denis Lipman writes with a wry, sensibly British sense of humor that is occasionally inflected with some Americaness. His writing reminds me quite a bit of Bill Bryson. Denis is a bizarro Bill Bryson - Bill Bryson being an American living in Britain who's gone native and wrote lovingly about his new and old country - Denis being the Brit who's settled in America and does the reverse.
The most colorful characters in the book are Denis's parents who are basically forced to see the sites and sounds of Britain and grumble all along the way, not really understanding why anyone would want to drive an hour away to see another country church.
I really enjoyed reading about their travels across the length and breadth of Britain and when I put the book down, I was left wanting more. Here's hoping Denis writes another book!
If you're an Anglophile, you must own this book.
Denis Lipman's book, "A Yank Back to England" was an extremely welcome Christmas gift. I started reading it immediately and was just as quickly drawn into the descriptive and lively stories that Denis tells of his travels back to England with Frances - his American wife - and later, with their young daughter Kate. For me, this was the kind of book where you say: "I don't want this to end." I could not put his book down and read it all in less than two days. This book is so much more than a travel book or memoir -- it is written like a novel, with memorable scenes, lovable characters, and witty dialogue. And, what humor! It is a book that made me smile or gave me a laugh on just about every page. Pure enjoyment! This reader is already looking forward to his next book.
My dear American friend Nancy sent this book to me. I am a expat. Brit and she thought I would enjoy it - I did. I have not had so many true laughs in so long...Denis Lipman is so right....those that can deal with England stay and those that can't emigrate. I plan to read it again over Christmas - the fact that an American enjoyed it says much about the author. I have lived and still do with all those absurd eccentricities mentioned in his book. I have lived in America since 1982 and was born in Belfast, N. Ireland. There lies a whole new set of weird, out of the ordinary experiences!
Jo Smith
Jo Smith
Although falling short of its potential, a worthwhile read nonetheless
In a few words, Denis Lipman's "A Yank Back to England: The Prodigal Tourist Returns" is a worthwhile, fast-reading book that is rather unique in that it is part travelogue, part memoir.
Mr. Lipman, born in the East London industrial town of Dagenham is the product of UK working class parents, and has found considerable success in America where he was an aspiring magician. After meeting his lovely (American) wife Francis whilst in the US, the couple have been residing in Washington DC where at the beginning of the book they were proud parents of their infant Kate. Through a series of six chapters, Lipman writes about his annual trip back to southern England where he generally spends a few days of sightseeing with his wife and daughter before meeting up with his quirky parents, and other fun-loving members of his family usually in the (southern) English countryside.
I impulsively purchased this book as a mechanism to temporarily transmit my mind from the grind of a busy schedule into the lushness of the English countryside. While I was not disappointed in the travelogue component of the book, I became much more engrossed in the people that Lipman writes beautifully about. The relationship Lipman has with his parents is never well-defined, and I found myself being more most eager to learn how the once ambivalent relationship with his aging parents would develop as they continue to age throughout each subsequent trip back. There were wonderful anecdotes about how Lipman and his father (who turns 90 around the middle of the book) learn more about each other through countless nightcaps of Jack Daniels.
The main criticisms I have are as follows:
(i) Several questions that are inevitable to develop in the reader's mind go unanswered. For example, Lipman states little to no conclusion on important matters such as: (i) coping with aging parents, (ii) his views of his native England through the eyes of both a tourist an an expat, and (iii) how his working class roots shaped him and his views of who he is and where he came from.
(ii) To reinforce what another review had to say, by Chapter 5 it becomes apparent that Lew and Jessie (Lipman's parents) are not in a sufficient condition to comfortably embark on these trips, particularly considering Denis and Francis wish to be proactive in exploring countless churches, castles, and historical landmarks that require a nontrivial amount of walking (in which Lew and Jessie often either stay home or wait in pubs). Why would Denis not visit them in their Dagenham home, where they are comfortable and at ease, as oppose to clearly inducing considerable amounts of stress? He and his family could have embarked on short trips after visiting Lew and Jessie in Dagenham, and covered a greater geographic diversity of England and the UK.
(iii) There is a bit of redundancy after the first two or three trips to various cottages. The premise is simple: they rent a cottage in southern England, they explore nearby points of historical interest, they have a few brilliant interaction with quirky locals, they drink a preposterous amount of tea (and sometimes other beverages), see other family members, and have a few humorous meals together. This essentially describes chapters 2 - 6 (Chapter 1 is about his visit back to Dagenham). While each cottage they rent does sound marvelous, there could have been a bit more diversity in both their experiences and geography. If Denis and his family would have visited his parents in Dagenham for a few days, they could have explored the Dales in northern England, and maybe seen Scotland, Wales, and the midlands which would have given a more complete description of the UK countryside as oppose to the southern English countryside.
The part travelogue, part memoir is the strength of this book in my opinion, and overall I would unambiguously recommend this book quite highly, even in spite of falling short of its potential.
Mr. Lipman, born in the East London industrial town of Dagenham is the product of UK working class parents, and has found considerable success in America where he was an aspiring magician. After meeting his lovely (American) wife Francis whilst in the US, the couple have been residing in Washington DC where at the beginning of the book they were proud parents of their infant Kate. Through a series of six chapters, Lipman writes about his annual trip back to southern England where he generally spends a few days of sightseeing with his wife and daughter before meeting up with his quirky parents, and other fun-loving members of his family usually in the (southern) English countryside.
I impulsively purchased this book as a mechanism to temporarily transmit my mind from the grind of a busy schedule into the lushness of the English countryside. While I was not disappointed in the travelogue component of the book, I became much more engrossed in the people that Lipman writes beautifully about. The relationship Lipman has with his parents is never well-defined, and I found myself being more most eager to learn how the once ambivalent relationship with his aging parents would develop as they continue to age throughout each subsequent trip back. There were wonderful anecdotes about how Lipman and his father (who turns 90 around the middle of the book) learn more about each other through countless nightcaps of Jack Daniels.
The main criticisms I have are as follows:
(i) Several questions that are inevitable to develop in the reader's mind go unanswered. For example, Lipman states little to no conclusion on important matters such as: (i) coping with aging parents, (ii) his views of his native England through the eyes of both a tourist an an expat, and (iii) how his working class roots shaped him and his views of who he is and where he came from.
(ii) To reinforce what another review had to say, by Chapter 5 it becomes apparent that Lew and Jessie (Lipman's parents) are not in a sufficient condition to comfortably embark on these trips, particularly considering Denis and Francis wish to be proactive in exploring countless churches, castles, and historical landmarks that require a nontrivial amount of walking (in which Lew and Jessie often either stay home or wait in pubs). Why would Denis not visit them in their Dagenham home, where they are comfortable and at ease, as oppose to clearly inducing considerable amounts of stress? He and his family could have embarked on short trips after visiting Lew and Jessie in Dagenham, and covered a greater geographic diversity of England and the UK.
(iii) There is a bit of redundancy after the first two or three trips to various cottages. The premise is simple: they rent a cottage in southern England, they explore nearby points of historical interest, they have a few brilliant interaction with quirky locals, they drink a preposterous amount of tea (and sometimes other beverages), see other family members, and have a few humorous meals together. This essentially describes chapters 2 - 6 (Chapter 1 is about his visit back to Dagenham). While each cottage they rent does sound marvelous, there could have been a bit more diversity in both their experiences and geography. If Denis and his family would have visited his parents in Dagenham for a few days, they could have explored the Dales in northern England, and maybe seen Scotland, Wales, and the midlands which would have given a more complete description of the UK countryside as oppose to the southern English countryside.
The part travelogue, part memoir is the strength of this book in my opinion, and overall I would unambiguously recommend this book quite highly, even in spite of falling short of its potential.
This book touched me on several levels that I did not expect. First, I lived in London as a child back in the early 70s, so the author's description of his life as child there brought me way back. Second, I have -- dare I say it -- elderly parents. So Lipman's description of his parent's and aunt's aging, particularly his mother's memory slippage was a bit poignant -- cut very close to the bone. Finally, the book was also about searching for the ideal of how one think's of England. And that search through the country and seaside towns also brought back great memories. As other's have already stated, the book is very well written and I couldn't put it down. I'm already hungry to see Lipman's next book!
Altho I have piles of "to be read" books, "A Yank Back to England" went straight to the top of the list the moment I bought it. Once started, it was very hard to put down and I never wanted it to end! The book is funny, touching, poignant and really hit home for a dedicated anglophile with an English husband who can't ever get back to England often enough. This is the real England - good and bad, yet even with the bad bits, it is surely the most beautiful place on earth!!
Thank you, Frances, for talking your husband into writing this book!!
And, as an added bonus - while looking at the reviews, I discovered "Smitten by Britain" - a very cool website for those of us who are entirely smitten!!!
Thank you, Frances, for talking your husband into writing this book!!
And, as an added bonus - while looking at the reviews, I discovered "Smitten by Britain" - a very cool website for those of us who are entirely smitten!!!
So much more than a "travel book", the author relates his trips back to England (with wife and daughter) to visit family and see the country of his birth. Readers with aging relatives will immediately feel a kinship with him as he relates their adventures with warmth, the occasional frustration, and familiar emotion. As an added bonus, you'll learn a few things about Merrie Olde England!
Holidays, History, and the Parents
A Yank Back to England proves that you can go home again--but be prepared for some surprises. Denis Lipman's story of his re-acquaintance with his native land is a charming tale of holiday houses, history, and family rediscovered. By introducing his American wife and young daughter to the land of his birth, Lipman sets in motion an extended journey that reconnects him with his aging parents as well as with England itself, and the results are often unexpectedly touching. Full of relish for meals shared, sights seen, and the decidedly odd characters met along the way, Lipman tells his story with great good humor and a genuine, if hard-won, affection for the country and the family he left behind.
Warm hearted, educational and very funny
I thoroughly enjoyed Denis Lipman's book, A Yank Back to England. His appreciation for his home country and his eccentric and endearing family bring a new dimension to a "travel" book. He juxtaposes his upbringing and internalized memories of his home town with his adult view and understanding of love, family, devotion and sacrafice. His travels and insights into England's phenomenal history makes one realize that we "Yanks" are very young indeed.
Terrific read! Not only will this book have you laughing out loud, by the end you'll be looking up cottages to rent for your family and pondering if all those rumors you've heard about English food being bad could really be true.
This has to be one of the most pleasant books I've ever read. It's a delightful story of an American who travels back each year to visit his parents and relive many
of his memories of growing up in the East end of London in a small town called Dagenham, His parents and other members of his family have this reunion every year
and you have the feeling that you are right there with them. The author's wife is a history buff and on each visit they make daily trips to small historical villages. They
stay in charming little cottages, bed & breakfasts, and out of the way hotels. Every day is a wonderful adventure, Their daughter, Katie, is a delight. Denis' parents are
a real trip.
If you are looking for a book that is easy to read, with laughs and fun in every chapter, then this is for you. I loved it and even plan to read it again soon.
Highly recommended.
of his memories of growing up in the East end of London in a small town called Dagenham, His parents and other members of his family have this reunion every year
and you have the feeling that you are right there with them. The author's wife is a history buff and on each visit they make daily trips to small historical villages. They
stay in charming little cottages, bed & breakfasts, and out of the way hotels. Every day is a wonderful adventure, Their daughter, Katie, is a delight. Denis' parents are
a real trip.
If you are looking for a book that is easy to read, with laughs and fun in every chapter, then this is for you. I loved it and even plan to read it again soon.
Highly recommended.
A terrifically charming, funny, perceptive and quirky journey - filled with all sorts of delightful experiences and idiosyncratic characters - made all the more compelling because it's true.
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