A truly hilarious memoir of disastrous holidays, mostly camping, in the 70s. How I admire her parents’ dogged determination to have a good time and how very British of them to persevere. It brought back some memories of my own, but you don’t have to be a camper to love this, you just have to have a sense of humour.
For the Seventies child, summer holidays didn't mean the joy of CentreParcs or the sophistication of a Tuscan villa. They meant being crammed into a car with Grandma and heading to the coast. With just a tent for a home and a bucket for the necessities, we would set off on new adventures each year stoically resolving to enjoy ourselves. For Emma Kennedy, and her mum and dad, disaster always came along for the ride no matter where they went. Whether it was being swept away by a force ten gale on the Welsh coast or suffering copious amounts of food poisoning on a brave trip to the south of France, family holidays always left them battered and bruised. But they never gave up. Emma's memoir, The Tent, The Bucket and Me , is a painfully funny reminder of just what it was like to spend your summer holidays cold, damp but with sand between your toes.
Emma Kennedy is the author of nine books, including bestsellers The Tent the Bucket and Me and I Left My Tent in San Francisco. She has also written the Wilma Tenderfoot series for children. She has adapted The Tent the Bucket and Me for BBC1, renamed The Kennedys and is a regular writer on CBBC's Strange Hill High and Dangermouse. She is also an actress and has appeared in many award winning comedies including Goodness Gracious Me, People Like Us and Miranda. She is the Fun Editor at Tatler, won Celebrity Masterchef in 2012 and is a Guinness World Record holder.