From the blurb I'd expected a more straightforward sort of comedy memoir in the style of Bill Bryson, but Terry Darlington's prose is almost Joycean - full of brief sentences, poetic allusions, stream-of-consciousness, foreign phrases and bawdy jokes. A classic example of someone with too much time on their hands that think they have a talent for writing to supplement their pension - can only assume Mr Darlington either used some of that pension to fund this book or he is related to the publisher. The author is a Welshman with a very good turn of phrase, and the marital effects of living in a small space while fighting the recalcitrant properties of water bring welcome chuckles. the Phyllis May was an airship passing through the clouds, forbidden to land, though her captain longed for the streams and woods below.

I knew there were forests of weed beneath the glassy cool translucent wave, and green herds that swim through rainbows from the skies . I find Terry's descriptions of the scenes he encounters, the dry humour he sees in the world around him, including the dog, fantastic reading. If you are interested in canal/boating life as well as a bit of a voyage - and/or you are interested in th culture of France - I think this book is for you. It's lovely to read, and much more fun than Bill Bryson, but you HAVE to imagine Terry Darlington speaking to you across the kitchen table, doing impressions of French people and singing and quoting Rimbaud at you, otherwise you're missing out on half the book and what you ARE reading doesn't always make sense. When a friend lent me this book in October, I was somewhat surprised, to start with, by the way it was written.

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He's clearly a well-read man and at times you could almost describe his style as 'stream of consciousness' but ultimately unless, like me, you share his love of canals and boating, running, beer and France, and appreciate his sense of humour, you are unlikely to enjoy this book. It's described (as can be seen from the cover above) with words like "classic" and "comic" on the lines (I guess) of Three Men in a Boat or Bill Bryson's travel books, and some reviews are 5 star raves.

Enjoyed the book but not as much as I liked the book where this couple took their boat through the Deep South of the United States.

The publisher also needs a review on how they choose books if this is the best they can come up with. They love every living creature to a rapture unless you are small and furry and trying to get the hell out of here. Then I strip naked, grease myself all over, and hang upside down among the ironmongery, grunting and cursing. Like many Welshmen he is talkative and confiding, but ill at ease with practical matters and liable to linger in public houses. While the thesis for this book was an English narrowboat (canal boat) taken down England, across the channel, into Belgium, and then to the south of France, the actual amount of material devoted to boating or canal details could have been summed up in less than 15 pages.On the Phyllis May you dive through six-foot waves in the Channel, are swept down the terrible Rhône, and fight for your life in a storm among the flamingos of the Camargue. Aboard the Phyllis May, you'll dive through six-foot waves in the Channel and be swept down the terrible Rhône. The hilarious and true story of two senior-citizens and their whippet dog who hatch, plan and carry out a “lunatic scheme” to sail from Stone in Staffordshire to Carcassonne in the South of France.