Narrow Margins: The Narrow Boat Books: 1 Paperback – 21 Sept. 2009

This gets my personal 'book of the year' award - I LOVED it - funny, smart, enlightening, entertaining, hilarious, insightful ... I finished the book a week ago, and now I'm missing my daily boat-anecdotes ... Marie - get the damn sequel out soon - I wanna know what happened next! My only complaint is that this book has left me desperately wanting to make some sort of major life-change myself, and I know damn well that living on a boat is NOT for me ... time to re-think my existence.Seriously though, this is an excellent and infinitely readable book, telling a heart-warming tale that makes you reassess your life just as Marie, Geoff, Charlie, and Sam have. I shall be buying multiple copies and leaving them in my works' staff room, and giving them away as pressies to friends and family. Everyone needs to read this book!

I did find this a bit difficult to start with (having read some very heavy going science books for college just before hand!) but once I'd finished a couple of chapters, wow -it was a very funny book and having friends who live on a houseboat it made me think about them and the difficulties they had in moving from their boat to a house.It was funny and quite touching in many different ways and almost makes me want to sell the house and buy a boat myself even reading about the good and bad times this family have had on their boat, the Happy Go Lucky - and I love the name too.. Having to carry shopping - including all the water they need (including for washing themselves as well as cleaning teeth, etc)for miles from the nearest shop or supermarket, having to find long term parking for their car, using the locks - we live near one and having seen how many people try and jump off their boat to go through and fall into the lock, shows how difficult they can be - and reading this book, I have nothing but admiration for anyone, let alone a family with young children (and an elderly dog) in giving up a 'normal' family life and doing this, I admire Marie Browne and her family for having the courage to continue with this life 'path' for as long as they do. (I am reading the second book in the series so won't spoil it for anyone else).

I really enjoyed reading this book and it was very useful as it totally opened my eyes to the highs and lows of living on a narrow boat. I think this author may have saved me from a huge mistake in the future! It is funny and very readable and I appreciate the author's honesty, telling us the truth of how it is. I would love to see lots of before and after photos of the boats the author and her family have renovated. I've read all of the books in the series and would love to find out how the family are doing now, I feel I got to know them very well!

Having been on just the one narrow boat holiday, this book appealed and I have to say didn't disappoint. It brought back memories of the fun of steering a 50+ foot narrowboat for a week in both driving rain and warm sunshine, of negotiating the locks, the swing bridges and the tight turns etc. The book is written with a lot of humour and some pathos and is worth the effort as it follows the ups and downs of learning to cope with a change of lifestyle from house to boat dwellers with all the highs and lows this transformation brings, especially when you add into the equation, children and pets.

As a child many years ago I was given Paddington Bear books by Michael Bond and would sit reading them over an over again giggling and laughing out loud. This is the first book that has caused this same reaction since then and as I write this I am at the wrong side of 61. I made the mistake of taking this book to the hospital a few days ago to read while sitting in the waiting room waiting for a blood test. Unfortunately while there I read the chapter where Marie and Geoff are trying to manhandle the new bath into the bathroom. I won't spoil it for you but suffice to say that the other patients waiting in the room looked at me most strangely as I laughed out loud so much I nearly fell off the chair.... Brilliant. It does what it says on the cover..... Highly recommended !

It opens your eyes to many problems if thinking about doing the same. A nice idea just to get away from reality but think about the pitfalls . Of course that's life. But as the saying goes, life is what you make it. Happiness can be found wherever you look. A wonderful story. Well written

This story of family life on board a narrowboat was thoroughly entertaining from start to finish. A well written account of the highs and lows of the authors true life experience of boat refurbishment and an escape from normal life. Deserves its 5 stars as I couldn't put my Kindle down. With only a few canal holiday experiences myself this brought home the delights and pitfalls of this way of life, the experiences and people you meet along the way. Onward and upward to the next 2 books already bought by the same author. Highly recommended to everyone who wishes to share in an experience which was and is life changing. Go on you know you want to. Off down the canal now!

If you want a book that makes you snigger while waiting for the dentist, or laugh out loud where ever you are, then this is it! The trials and tribulations of a family whose life is turned upside down and inside out is revealed in a heart warming, honest and humourous manner. It will have you cheering from the side lines, curled up with laughter and crying along with them as they make the transformation from comfortable brick built home to life on the waterways.I loved it and, if there is to be one....would greatly enjoy the next saga.Buy it! you won't be disappointed.

It was on sale so I thought 'what the heck'. Narrow boats, typically 7 foot wide, are fun to read about in both the canals of the UK and France, so I was riveted right away. Their poverty made their tales all the more touching.I LOVED THIS BOOK. Marie Browne is a funny, insightful and skillful writer and I hope she keeps these books coming (there are three so far!). I'll buy them all. I loved the parts where they and their old dog fell repeatedly into nearly every river they traveled, and that was a LOT of the time. <chuckles>

This is an excellent well written book about living full time on a Narrow Boat in England. The couple sell everything, buy a run down boat, and begin a life on the water. Their adventures rebuilding the boat, and learning to pilot it and live full time on a boat is very entertaining. A really good read, especially if you have ever spent time on the canals of England.

A skilled writer who could make the most mundane experiences jump off the page, particularly for a reader who started out with not the vaguest idea of what a narrow boat is. From necessity there is much repetition (how many ways are there to embed the bow of a boat into a muddy bank and then extricate it) but this author handled it with ease making the 'book' (in my case an iPad) difficult to put down. Actually sad when arriving at the last page!Anxious to get my hands on the sequels which in itself indicates that the story is worthy of a high rating.This book will interest most readers.

Enjoyed reading their challenges of renovating and traveling on board Charlie, and their everyday life on board. If only they have a map of roughly where they were sailing, and a few pictures attached - that would have enhanced my enjoyment 10 fold. Overall, it was a nice read.

Being a boat person too, but based in the Netherlands, I am always curious to read books and blogs about Narrowboating life in England. I really enjoyed Marie Browne's account of how she and her husband by a run down NB, travel as total novices to their mooring in cambridgeshire, re-furbish the the boat themselves and learn to love the life of water rats. I was hooked from the first page and found it funny, touching, honest and very true to my own experiences of boat conversion - everything takes at least three times longer than you think it will! If I have any criticism at all, it's that in the first half of the book, there's a bit too much detail about what she does to keep Sam entertained. This gets less when their daughter joins them, but it wouldn't have hurt to cut out some of the trivia. I also (personally) didn't like some of the expletives that come into the dialogue and are clearly very true to life but seem a little out of place in what is otherwise really good writing. It would have had a five from me otherwise as the rest is brilliant.