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My Love Affair with England: A Traveler's Memoir
A midwestern writer describes her passion for the land and legacy of Great Britain, with anecdotes of her travels through the countryside, theater-hopping, ghost-hunting, her first doomed honeymoon, and more.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1992
8 people are currently reading
864 people want to read
About the author
Susan Allen Toth
15 books24 followersDr. Toth graduated from Smith College and Berkeley and received a Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota in 1969. She taught English at San Francisco State College and now teaches at Macalester College in Minnesota. Toth has contributed articles and stories to a wide range of magazines and newspapers. She has written two memoirs—Blooming: A Small Town Girlhood (1981) and Ivy Days: Making My Way Out East (1984). She has also written a series of books on England, including My Love Affair with England (1992), England as You Like It (1995), England for All Seasons (1997), and Victoria, the Heart of England: A Journey of Discovery (1999).
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 79 reviews
May 9, 2023
This being the coronation weekend of King Charles III, and me being the Anglophile I am, I took this beautiful signed copy of My Love Affair with England: Traveler's Memoir by Susan Allen Toth from my library shelf where it has been for too many years. This is an extraordinary book as Ms. Toth shares the love that she has had for England for more than thirty years. As a child growing up in the mid-west, she associated the imaginary world with England, not only Mother Goose but most familiar fairy tales. And so were the fairy tales, myths and legends of King Arthur, Robin Hood and other heroes like St. George where they all seemed to live in England.
When Toth decided to major in English literature at college, she arranged to spend a summer in England and discovered the romance of history as she wandered through London, hitchhiked to Stonehenge, Warwick Castle to Loch Lomond. In the words of the author:
Immersed in the awe of Stonehenge, Toth describes thinking of Thomas Hardy's Tess lying exhausted on one of those stones. She also thought of the Druids in flowing robes, and of the midsummer solstice and sacrificial rites. Toth emphasizes that although she sensed ghosts everywhere that summer, she didn't find them alarming.
Since Susan Allen Toth is a professor of English literature, it is not surprising that she sees regions of England in literary terms. When she explained to her sixteen-year old daughter why they were in the Dartmoor region for one night as she described to her that when the mist descends on the moor, one can barely see a foot ahead as in The Hound of the Baskervilles.
Along with a colleague, they applied for a stipend for an off-campus interim course abroad, taking a group of students to London teaching a course about the backgrounds of an English novel including Thomas Hardy and D.H. Lawrence, Jane Austen and Virginia Woolf, as well as her favorite, Charles Dickens. Their itinerary concentrated on London, but with a trip to Yorkshire when teaching the Brontes. Salisbury Cathedral was also on the itinerary with the tie-in being Hardy. The decision was made to allow the students to explore London considering all background such as shopping on Bond Street as Mrs. Dalloway, or a walk down the bustling Strand as Dickens was a journalist. There was also an early-morning visit to Covent Gardens as Shaw's Eliza Doolittle or the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace. Also included were museums and monuments, shops and parks, fancy pubs and cheap restaurants.
This was a lovely book and aptly titled: My Love Affair with England, indeed! Ms. Toth was also taken with the beautiful gardens throughout England as I was as well, whether it be Kew Gardens outside London, or the beautiul Kent countryside including the White Cliffs of Dover. A few more beautiful passages from the book:
When Toth decided to major in English literature at college, she arranged to spend a summer in England and discovered the romance of history as she wandered through London, hitchhiked to Stonehenge, Warwick Castle to Loch Lomond. In the words of the author:
". . . I found myself not just tipping my toe into the current of the past but almost sinking into it over my head. When I walked down Whitehall, where Charles I, flawed but gallant, had been executed, or stood in the shadow of Donne's shrouded effigy in St. Paul's, or strolled the pleasure grounds at Hampton Court where Anne Boleyn had dallied with Henry VIII, I felt historical ghosts around me."
"The entire country vibrated with spirits, who glided through intervening years, decades, centuries, and even recorded history itself with an ease that astonished me. When I saw Stonehenge, it made me feel that England was a spiritual tuning fork, humming to all those distant vibrations."
Immersed in the awe of Stonehenge, Toth describes thinking of Thomas Hardy's Tess lying exhausted on one of those stones. She also thought of the Druids in flowing robes, and of the midsummer solstice and sacrificial rites. Toth emphasizes that although she sensed ghosts everywhere that summer, she didn't find them alarming.
Since Susan Allen Toth is a professor of English literature, it is not surprising that she sees regions of England in literary terms. When she explained to her sixteen-year old daughter why they were in the Dartmoor region for one night as she described to her that when the mist descends on the moor, one can barely see a foot ahead as in The Hound of the Baskervilles.
Along with a colleague, they applied for a stipend for an off-campus interim course abroad, taking a group of students to London teaching a course about the backgrounds of an English novel including Thomas Hardy and D.H. Lawrence, Jane Austen and Virginia Woolf, as well as her favorite, Charles Dickens. Their itinerary concentrated on London, but with a trip to Yorkshire when teaching the Brontes. Salisbury Cathedral was also on the itinerary with the tie-in being Hardy. The decision was made to allow the students to explore London considering all background such as shopping on Bond Street as Mrs. Dalloway, or a walk down the bustling Strand as Dickens was a journalist. There was also an early-morning visit to Covent Gardens as Shaw's Eliza Doolittle or the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace. Also included were museums and monuments, shops and parks, fancy pubs and cheap restaurants.
This was a lovely book and aptly titled: My Love Affair with England, indeed! Ms. Toth was also taken with the beautiful gardens throughout England as I was as well, whether it be Kew Gardens outside London, or the beautiul Kent countryside including the White Cliffs of Dover. A few more beautiful passages from the book:
My obsession with gardens developed over many years. On my first several visits to England, I noticed them, of course, because they burst from everywhere, from London parks to city window boxes to the doorsteps of tiny cottages. Staring out of a train window, I could see white and pink lupin, blue delphinium, and purple iris waving gaily in the backyards of the dreariest row houses. Almost everyone in England seemed to have a rosebush somewhere, gracefully bending over a front walk or climbing a trellis or rambling along a wall. At any great country house, I found a landscaped park or flowering terraces or enclosed gardens or perennial borders."
"What impressed me most about English gardens was thteir generosity of spirit, an exuberant lavishness that could not always be contained within the strict squares or rectangles."
August 19, 2011
I picked up My Love Affair with England again recently, for what must be the umpteenth time, in preparation for my upcoming vacation. I first read this cheery travel memoir when I was in high school and had no chance whatsoever of going to England because my parents didn't have any desire to go. I've since read it many more times. I've become familiar with the stories that Susan Allen Toth tells about her favorite country, so that they almost feel like bedtime stories.
Travel memoirs walk a tricky line. On the one hand, they can be overly saccharine and romantic, imbuing the places and the locals with too much quaintness. Not only can that be hard to swallow, but it's also rather patronizing. On the other hand, I've read travel memoirs that gleefully zero in on the "seedy" parts of the subject country - and "seedy" parts do exist in every country, even a country as cozy as England - and take too much delight in describing teeming underworlds of malcontents, oily gas stations and fluorescent lights. That's not why I travel, and that's not why I read travel writing.
Susan Allen Toth walks the line perfectly. She doesn't shy away from discussing the less savory parts of her trips - her daughter's Dickensian foreign exchange experience, for instance, or the freezing hotel that almost gave one of her students a recurrence of kidney disease. But while those parts are sprinkled in for a bit of realism here and there, they are by no means the main focus of the book. Susan Allen Toth clearly loves England - everything about it. She loves the great country houses, sprawling gardens, inviting tearooms, mysterious family ghost legends, wooded or breezy cliffside walks, and fun local customs like badger watching or sheepdog competitions. She throws herself into her English travel experiences with enthusiasm and open-mindedness and seems especially adept at locating the quaint and bizarre just off the beaten path. Read this book and you too will embark on your own love affair with England. If you can't swing the plane ticket right now, trust me, My Love Affair with England will tide you over until you can.
Travel memoirs walk a tricky line. On the one hand, they can be overly saccharine and romantic, imbuing the places and the locals with too much quaintness. Not only can that be hard to swallow, but it's also rather patronizing. On the other hand, I've read travel memoirs that gleefully zero in on the "seedy" parts of the subject country - and "seedy" parts do exist in every country, even a country as cozy as England - and take too much delight in describing teeming underworlds of malcontents, oily gas stations and fluorescent lights. That's not why I travel, and that's not why I read travel writing.
Susan Allen Toth walks the line perfectly. She doesn't shy away from discussing the less savory parts of her trips - her daughter's Dickensian foreign exchange experience, for instance, or the freezing hotel that almost gave one of her students a recurrence of kidney disease. But while those parts are sprinkled in for a bit of realism here and there, they are by no means the main focus of the book. Susan Allen Toth clearly loves England - everything about it. She loves the great country houses, sprawling gardens, inviting tearooms, mysterious family ghost legends, wooded or breezy cliffside walks, and fun local customs like badger watching or sheepdog competitions. She throws herself into her English travel experiences with enthusiasm and open-mindedness and seems especially adept at locating the quaint and bizarre just off the beaten path. Read this book and you too will embark on your own love affair with England. If you can't swing the plane ticket right now, trust me, My Love Affair with England will tide you over until you can.
March 17, 2013
I haven't had so much fun since I went to England! Although I'm afraid no one else will really care much about this book unless they have spent time there.
I felt like Susan Allen Toth perfectly explained why someone can fall so in love with England and just itch to get back there again. I loved her descriptions of the gardens, the people, the funny quirks of the British, the manor houses . . . and although I will probably never be able to spend as much time there as she has, it reminded me of why England is in my blood and why I love to think about my England adventures whenever I am feeling down. *sigh*
I felt like Susan Allen Toth perfectly explained why someone can fall so in love with England and just itch to get back there again. I loved her descriptions of the gardens, the people, the funny quirks of the British, the manor houses . . . and although I will probably never be able to spend as much time there as she has, it reminded me of why England is in my blood and why I love to think about my England adventures whenever I am feeling down. *sigh*
August 16, 2016
I really loved this book. It was so relaxing reading about Toth's trips to various stately homes and churches, manicured gardens and untamed walkways. I think my main reason for enjoying this book is that Paul and I are planning to go back to London for our honeymoon next year. It's "our" place. Reading this book you realise that a large proportion of the joy Toth derives from her trips to England comes from the fact that she shares the experience with her husband, James. While her friends seem somewhat bemused with her love of England, James drives her down country lanes and windy roads to get to places she wants to visit because they have quirky names. They experience England together, not doing just the touristy things but embarking on the sort of trips that they enjoy but others would dread. It was a very enjoyable read and I will definitely read more by Toth. It also helped alleviate my longing for another Helene Hanff book
January 18, 2018
With chapters on sheep dog trials, an unexpected foray into the high life at the Savoy, the royal family, badger-watching, incredible and peace-inspiring gardens, the delights of the a good walking-stick, and the joys of walking where the paths lead you, this book was mostly right up my alley.
This book by Susan Allen Toth, and another book I've recently read (A Fine Romance: Falling in Love with the English Countryside by Susan Branch) have done an amazing job at letting me live vicariously and travel the parts of England I would love to see someday. These two authors hit the nail on the head when it comes to describing why I feel drawn to England and what I would look for during a sojourn there.
This book acknowledges periodically that, just as with all places, England has changed over the years. It may not be as safe as it used to be. It isn't a fairy tale. But the attractions described in this book can still be found, and would still seem to fill the traveler with the greatest of satisfaction.
This book by Susan Allen Toth, and another book I've recently read (A Fine Romance: Falling in Love with the English Countryside by Susan Branch) have done an amazing job at letting me live vicariously and travel the parts of England I would love to see someday. These two authors hit the nail on the head when it comes to describing why I feel drawn to England and what I would look for during a sojourn there.
This book acknowledges periodically that, just as with all places, England has changed over the years. It may not be as safe as it used to be. It isn't a fairy tale. But the attractions described in this book can still be found, and would still seem to fill the traveler with the greatest of satisfaction.
November 19, 2007
Charming! Truly little vignettes of love for and about England, with some traveler's tips tossed in for good measure. Toth loves gardens and spends a great deal of time discussing them, and her section on Whinnie the Pooh's England was absolutely adorable! This added greatly to my joy and anticipation as I planned my trip to the UK!
March 5, 2017
Author Susan Allen Toth has visited England many, many times, and she has fallen in love with this country. Like any good love affair, however, there are good times and bad, times when the two are in sync and times when they are not on speaking terms, times when both are enraptured with each other and times when they are just about to break up. Toth goes to England for a variety of reasons: hiking trips, one (unsuccessful) honeymoon, ghost watching, hiking, a pilgrimage, college courses for students, and bird watching. Somehow, Toth knew not to risk her affair with England by permanently settling down; it was enough to visit frequently and unexpectedly.
June 22, 2023
I was inspired to read this book based on a glowing review on Goodreads by a friend. Plus I, too, love England; in fact, the UK. Here are my thoughts:
First, a well-read educated professor in English Literature, Toth writes with wit, humour, honesty and a graceful style. Who else would describe a wobbly decrepit chair thus:
...it stood in our bedroom, sagging to one side, while one arm listed in the other direction. Its faded brown-striped slipcover hung loosely, as if the chair had recently lost weight...
And so is the descriptive and atmospheric journey one takes as the reader follows Toth in her travels through coastal towns, and adventures such as a sheep dog competition, a badger family sighting, bird-watching, English gardens, English breakfasts, and more.
Like Toth, I revel in literary travel too and so on my last trip en-route to the Isle of Wight, I marched up lightly to the front door of Charles Dickens' birthplace in Portsmouth. Or of my own awe to visit Grasmere where William Wordsworth lived, worshipped, and died; or of the Lake District where Beatrix Potter wrote her books; and of course Stratford, Shakespeare's country as I call it, to visit Anne Hathaway's cottage.
I do feel that one needs to do the touristy things before one can venture to the paths less travelled. I love the countryside and I am enthralled by little trips to Leeds, Dover, and Canterbury whether to see a cathedral, the cliffs of Dover or a lovely castle rescued by an American heiress. I visited the UK three times but there is still so much more to see and do. This book is tugging at me again.
One thing to note is that this book is written in 1992; much has changed. I doubt one may find a "honesty policy" sign which reads - fix your own...leave money in a cup. Or whether Ms. Toth's quote of an old Sunday Times' description is more relevant of London's dire plight...dirty streets, immobilized traffic, a public transportation system close to collapse, outrageous housing costs, failing schools, rising crime rates...Or whether a signal man at a train station will be so willing today to show "the machinery housed beneath his signal station....where we studied an intricate array of levers, switches, and cables.."
I also marvel at my own ignorance having dined at the Spotted Dick on 81 Bloor St E, Toronto to learn in Toth's book that the spotted dick is a tender steamed pudding dotted with succulent currants and drizzled with a luxuriously rich and creamy vanilla custard. I also smile reading of the English' attempt at shaming those who had not volunteered during WW1 to hang a disk in the window to read NOONE AT HOME.
This book held my interest primarily due to Toth's writing and my own love of travel and reminiscences. Admittedly, I think it presents a romanticized version of England. Here is her lyrical report Up the Primose path:
Perhaps I love England most for its paths. They lead across pastures and cultivated fields, over stiles and through gates, into valleys and over hills, along the banks of rivers and canals, besides lakes and ponds, atop mountain ridges and seaside cliffs, past moors, meadows, bogs, and dunes, and through every English garden.
Take a trip down memory lane or indulge in some armchair travel. Three stars.
First, a well-read educated professor in English Literature, Toth writes with wit, humour, honesty and a graceful style. Who else would describe a wobbly decrepit chair thus:
...it stood in our bedroom, sagging to one side, while one arm listed in the other direction. Its faded brown-striped slipcover hung loosely, as if the chair had recently lost weight...
And so is the descriptive and atmospheric journey one takes as the reader follows Toth in her travels through coastal towns, and adventures such as a sheep dog competition, a badger family sighting, bird-watching, English gardens, English breakfasts, and more.
Like Toth, I revel in literary travel too and so on my last trip en-route to the Isle of Wight, I marched up lightly to the front door of Charles Dickens' birthplace in Portsmouth. Or of my own awe to visit Grasmere where William Wordsworth lived, worshipped, and died; or of the Lake District where Beatrix Potter wrote her books; and of course Stratford, Shakespeare's country as I call it, to visit Anne Hathaway's cottage.
I do feel that one needs to do the touristy things before one can venture to the paths less travelled. I love the countryside and I am enthralled by little trips to Leeds, Dover, and Canterbury whether to see a cathedral, the cliffs of Dover or a lovely castle rescued by an American heiress. I visited the UK three times but there is still so much more to see and do. This book is tugging at me again.
One thing to note is that this book is written in 1992; much has changed. I doubt one may find a "honesty policy" sign which reads - fix your own...leave money in a cup. Or whether Ms. Toth's quote of an old Sunday Times' description is more relevant of London's dire plight...dirty streets, immobilized traffic, a public transportation system close to collapse, outrageous housing costs, failing schools, rising crime rates...Or whether a signal man at a train station will be so willing today to show "the machinery housed beneath his signal station....where we studied an intricate array of levers, switches, and cables.."
I also marvel at my own ignorance having dined at the Spotted Dick on 81 Bloor St E, Toronto to learn in Toth's book that the spotted dick is a tender steamed pudding dotted with succulent currants and drizzled with a luxuriously rich and creamy vanilla custard. I also smile reading of the English' attempt at shaming those who had not volunteered during WW1 to hang a disk in the window to read NOONE AT HOME.
This book held my interest primarily due to Toth's writing and my own love of travel and reminiscences. Admittedly, I think it presents a romanticized version of England. Here is her lyrical report Up the Primose path:
Perhaps I love England most for its paths. They lead across pastures and cultivated fields, over stiles and through gates, into valleys and over hills, along the banks of rivers and canals, besides lakes and ponds, atop mountain ridges and seaside cliffs, past moors, meadows, bogs, and dunes, and through every English garden.
Take a trip down memory lane or indulge in some armchair travel. Three stars.
July 6, 2020
I read this before a 2008 trip to England and again before I cull it out of my personal library. When I picked up the book, I thought: thumbprint travel! We subscribe to the thumbprint school of travel, which commits us to spending at least a week in one spot no larger than my thumbprint will cover on a standard folding map of England.
Susan Allen Toth is both an Anglophile and a bibliophile (they often go together, don't they?). I took to heart the many ways she coached her readers not to be Ugly Americans. At her suggestion we bought souvenirs in the grocery stores: Dorset honey, Colman's mustard and ginger biscuits. She is honest about attention fatigue after many visits to historic treasures. Honest? Reading this book, I wanted to go back to Great Britain.
I do wish, however, that she could have told her story without so much about her failed first marriage.
Susan Allen Toth is both an Anglophile and a bibliophile (they often go together, don't they?). I took to heart the many ways she coached her readers not to be Ugly Americans. At her suggestion we bought souvenirs in the grocery stores: Dorset honey, Colman's mustard and ginger biscuits. She is honest about attention fatigue after many visits to historic treasures. Honest? Reading this book, I wanted to go back to Great Britain.
I do wish, however, that she could have told her story without so much about her failed first marriage.
February 10, 2014
My Love Affair with England is a loosely-joined, non-chronological, series of essays covering about thirty years of travel in England from 1960 to the early 1990s. The topics range from food and sheep dog trials to the theater and the royal family. As one could guess from the title, this is a romantic look at the country of Shakespeare’s theater, Wordsworth’s daffodils, and Austen’s Lyme Regis.
This is at least the third time I’ve read My Love Affair with England, even though I’m not usually a re-reader. I pick it up every time I think I might finally enact my dream of visiting England. The current version of that dream has it penciled on the calendar for September.
More about this book and my travel dreams on my blog: My Love Affair with England
This is at least the third time I’ve read My Love Affair with England, even though I’m not usually a re-reader. I pick it up every time I think I might finally enact my dream of visiting England. The current version of that dream has it penciled on the calendar for September.
More about this book and my travel dreams on my blog: My Love Affair with England
January 1, 2016
I enjoyed every scene in the book.
Actually the format of the book is a bit disjointed and jumps unexpectedly from one visit to another, not necessarily in chronological order. Also she digresses at times to give us a glimpse of her marriages and brief affairs. But instead of distracting from her narrative, these elements add interest, in my opinion. After all, she is describing a love affair, not offering a travel guide.
This certainly is not your usual travelogue featuring the most popular attractions of the nation. Susan Allen Toth usually gets off the beaten path to find the real England, discovering many places and facts that the average traveler would not have the ingenuity nor the energy nor the nerve to uncover.
I found the trip thoroughly delightful and am looking forward to reading another of her books about this quirky but fascinating country.
Actually the format of the book is a bit disjointed and jumps unexpectedly from one visit to another, not necessarily in chronological order. Also she digresses at times to give us a glimpse of her marriages and brief affairs. But instead of distracting from her narrative, these elements add interest, in my opinion. After all, she is describing a love affair, not offering a travel guide.
This certainly is not your usual travelogue featuring the most popular attractions of the nation. Susan Allen Toth usually gets off the beaten path to find the real England, discovering many places and facts that the average traveler would not have the ingenuity nor the energy nor the nerve to uncover.
I found the trip thoroughly delightful and am looking forward to reading another of her books about this quirky but fascinating country.
December 16, 2012
I bought this little book at our library used book sale for $1.50 and have enjoyed it immensely. We just recently took our first trip to England and I was delighted to read about their adventures driving on narrow country roads as we had done! Really loved her insights and humor too. Wish I could visit this beautiful country as many times as she has, but maybe will get another trip in someday.
November 30, 2015
This book was almost okay. I was quite disappointed in it. I wanted more of England and less of Susan Allen Toth's emotional life. Her enchantment with England seems to be dependent on her current emotional situation--happily single, unhappily married, unhappily divorced, happily married. Even in the happy times, though, she includes so many negative things about England that I wonder about her so-called love affair with the country.
February 10, 2016
3.5 stars I'm reading two more of her books about England now. She provides so many useful insider's tips, particularly on gardens that shouldn't be missed (apparently there are thousands of those). I've found that she and I have completely opposite theories on the best way to pack for Europe, but I've decided not to dwell on that.
December 10, 2020
"Soon after we settled into our rooms, we met Mr. Fursdon outdoors. Inquiring whether we enjoyed nature, he said he could promise a treat after dinner. He had discovered a family of badgers. 'They don't come out until dark,' he said. 'We'll just have to wait.' His voice was full of joy. Twenty minutes into our vigil, tension heightened when a car approached the lonely road. 'Quick!' he hissed. 'Put your glasses down! If someone sees us, all of Widecombe will be out here!'
Though Americans often view England as an extension of the States, Susan Allen Toth knows differently. Where else could badgermania -- and Royal mischief -- still be taken so seriously? Ms. Toth brings this special England vividly to life as she recalls exploring the countryside, traveling both second-class and in luxury, theatre-hopping, ghost-hunting, and honeymooning. By turns humorous, bittersweet, and wonderfully eccentric, My Love Affair with England will be relished by every Anglophile and by those of us who dream of knowing another country as if it were our own."
~~back cover
This was a lovely book, and it really explored the England I'd want to see (and did see while I was there) should I be lucky enough to get back over there. She finds the out of the way places and the special moments that make England what I love. It was almost as good as being there myself!
Though Americans often view England as an extension of the States, Susan Allen Toth knows differently. Where else could badgermania -- and Royal mischief -- still be taken so seriously? Ms. Toth brings this special England vividly to life as she recalls exploring the countryside, traveling both second-class and in luxury, theatre-hopping, ghost-hunting, and honeymooning. By turns humorous, bittersweet, and wonderfully eccentric, My Love Affair with England will be relished by every Anglophile and by those of us who dream of knowing another country as if it were our own."
~~back cover
This was a lovely book, and it really explored the England I'd want to see (and did see while I was there) should I be lucky enough to get back over there. She finds the out of the way places and the special moments that make England what I love. It was almost as good as being there myself!
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August 8, 2024Susan Allen Toth’s My Love Affair with England: A Traveler’s Memoir is a collection of mini-essays recounting her experiences from visiting England many times throughout her life. Her favorite aspects of England involve ghosts, gardens, literature, country homes, and long, scenic walks. As a traveler ages, the travel changes too, and Toth shares her insights about youthful traveling, travels with (and without) family members, and the satisfaction of knowing a place well enough to experiment with veering off the common routes. Toth has beautiful sentences, a sly sense of humor, and a leisurely pace. My Love Affair with England: A Traveler’s Memoir is exactly the kind of armchair travel book that I’m always trying to find. Other suggestions are welcome.
May 13, 2023
Delightful travel memoir about the author’s love of England, a sentiment that I share whole heartedly. Her travels started in 1960 with a study abroad. Mine started with a study abroad program in 2006. It was interesting to see the similarities and differences of our experiences over the 40 year time difference. I enjoyed her thoughts about all things British. Very enjoyable if you share this interest.
March 1, 2019
This book took me forever to read. The book was good but not engaging enough for me to want to pick it up again.
September 25, 2010
I'm not sure how to accurately voice my feelings about this book. It was a fun read, given to me by my mother in preparation for my upcoming year in England. She thought I'd resonate with the author, who loves England for its literature and history. And I did. There were places where she came close to capturing what it is that so intoxicates me about the country of kings and poets, architects and scholars. But she also misses the mark, I think.
She is someone who likes to dabble in England, imagine herself touched by its history, enjoy a walk in a picturesque park. And that she conveys. But has she really been changed by England? Found the essence of her being wrapped up in the landscape, lost and found herself there? She gives hints of such moments -- small seconds of discovery -- but the structure of Toth's book does not easily lend itself to such vulnerability. Jumping crazily from topic to topic, with no clear thematic structure, or overarching vision, it's hard to see where the book is going, or to trust that it's really going anywhere. Is the narrator, who we've known for over 200 pages, any different at the end than she was at the beginning? Has she undergone transformation, as all heroines, even in memoirs, should? It's unclear. The answer is probably yes. Certainly she is not the college student who first experienced England one summer in the '60s, but the chaotic structure of her book has not really allowed us to see that change. To undergo it with her. Or to truly understand how England has been instrumental in it. Instead, we're given paragraph after paragraph of description. The names of great houses. Types of flowers. Species of trees. Sights on the coast. And it isn't that I mind so much. It's just that, without her personal connection to those places, those flowers, those trees, we might as well be reading a tour book.
England is a powerful topic for any writer, especially one who loves it as much, and knows it as well, as Toth seems to. However, no writer should forget that memoirs are ultimately about discovery of the self, and while Toth flirts with the issue, she ultimately leaves the real subject matter obscure.
She is someone who likes to dabble in England, imagine herself touched by its history, enjoy a walk in a picturesque park. And that she conveys. But has she really been changed by England? Found the essence of her being wrapped up in the landscape, lost and found herself there? She gives hints of such moments -- small seconds of discovery -- but the structure of Toth's book does not easily lend itself to such vulnerability. Jumping crazily from topic to topic, with no clear thematic structure, or overarching vision, it's hard to see where the book is going, or to trust that it's really going anywhere. Is the narrator, who we've known for over 200 pages, any different at the end than she was at the beginning? Has she undergone transformation, as all heroines, even in memoirs, should? It's unclear. The answer is probably yes. Certainly she is not the college student who first experienced England one summer in the '60s, but the chaotic structure of her book has not really allowed us to see that change. To undergo it with her. Or to truly understand how England has been instrumental in it. Instead, we're given paragraph after paragraph of description. The names of great houses. Types of flowers. Species of trees. Sights on the coast. And it isn't that I mind so much. It's just that, without her personal connection to those places, those flowers, those trees, we might as well be reading a tour book.
England is a powerful topic for any writer, especially one who loves it as much, and knows it as well, as Toth seems to. However, no writer should forget that memoirs are ultimately about discovery of the self, and while Toth flirts with the issue, she ultimately leaves the real subject matter obscure.
May 18, 2018
Toth certainly has a way with words when describing her love for England and its charm and wonder. I found the sweetest chapter to be the one about her travels with her husband and the most toilsome to be the ones that include too much personal information (did we really need to know those details?) and a descent into whining or political correctness.
December 30, 2022
Lovely book, worth every bit of five stars. It's a mix between a conventional travel guide that lists a lot of places you might go and a memoir by someone who loves to travel and tries to experience beyond the most obvious touristy attractions. The writing isn't as sparkling as the best travel writers, and sometimes the author goes too deeply into lists of plants at the many gardens she's visited, but it's a breeze to read and a joy to walk in her footsteps. You can read it as a simple "armchair traveler" who enjoys someone else's pleasures, or you can use it as a travel planner (which is my intention).
I bought the book used in 2022, and it's nearly a quarter-century old. I have no idea how much suburbanization and tourism have encroached on the quiet corners of England that Toth loves, but I looked up a bunch of places she referenced, and they still seem to hold at least most of the charm that she experienced on her visits. She was already noting with dismay that homogenization was setting in, at least in the larger towns that she visited.
Toth's forte seems to be gardens, historic homes, and quiet hamlet villages in the countryside. In her day, these were found through meticulous research in guidebooks and pamphlets, a few letters sent months in advance, and expensive phone calls when needed. And maps, maps, maps. I'm old enough to have used maps for traveling in the US West and Canada, and I understand her joy of map-reading and her occasional frustrations. Today, I imagine one can find all the places on Toth's list a lot more easily with an iPhone. I don't think that will undermine the experience, unless the easier access has turned them into destinations for tour buses.
Anyway, I love how she traveled, as it's the same method I developed for my wife and myself. We haven't had the luxury of traveling as much as Ms. Toth, who seems to have multiple overseas getaways every year, but our principles are the same. 1. Stay somewhere for multiple days (Toth recommends a week), and take day trips from a central location. 2. Make some of your meals in-house or at least prepare picnics so that you don't waste time looking for food that turns out to be bad. 3. Look for out-of-the-way and purely local activities while also enjoying the famous attractions. This might be an obscure museum, a small graveyard, or a yard sale. 4. Slow down --- look at the sky, listen to the birds, smell the cut grass, read the informational signs, go to the grocery store and farmer's market. 5. Keep a diary. 6. Accept that some things won't go well, but don't be discouraged. You can count on something wonderful happening around the next corner or later in the day.
That's how Toth rolls, and her attitude of wonder pervades this book. She opened my eyes to places that I'd love to visit in England, such as the Cornwall area. Her warning is well-taken that it's filled with English tourists during the high season, but she tells you how to find the less busy areas. As for Dorset, she explains how a week's rambling in small towns and across fields can be a wonderful release from regular life. And her choice of the Scottish Highlands accords perfectly with a trip we planned but had to delay due to Covid; now, thanks to this book, I will revise our Highlands itinerary when we go in the future.
I bought the book used in 2022, and it's nearly a quarter-century old. I have no idea how much suburbanization and tourism have encroached on the quiet corners of England that Toth loves, but I looked up a bunch of places she referenced, and they still seem to hold at least most of the charm that she experienced on her visits. She was already noting with dismay that homogenization was setting in, at least in the larger towns that she visited.
Toth's forte seems to be gardens, historic homes, and quiet hamlet villages in the countryside. In her day, these were found through meticulous research in guidebooks and pamphlets, a few letters sent months in advance, and expensive phone calls when needed. And maps, maps, maps. I'm old enough to have used maps for traveling in the US West and Canada, and I understand her joy of map-reading and her occasional frustrations. Today, I imagine one can find all the places on Toth's list a lot more easily with an iPhone. I don't think that will undermine the experience, unless the easier access has turned them into destinations for tour buses.
Anyway, I love how she traveled, as it's the same method I developed for my wife and myself. We haven't had the luxury of traveling as much as Ms. Toth, who seems to have multiple overseas getaways every year, but our principles are the same. 1. Stay somewhere for multiple days (Toth recommends a week), and take day trips from a central location. 2. Make some of your meals in-house or at least prepare picnics so that you don't waste time looking for food that turns out to be bad. 3. Look for out-of-the-way and purely local activities while also enjoying the famous attractions. This might be an obscure museum, a small graveyard, or a yard sale. 4. Slow down --- look at the sky, listen to the birds, smell the cut grass, read the informational signs, go to the grocery store and farmer's market. 5. Keep a diary. 6. Accept that some things won't go well, but don't be discouraged. You can count on something wonderful happening around the next corner or later in the day.
That's how Toth rolls, and her attitude of wonder pervades this book. She opened my eyes to places that I'd love to visit in England, such as the Cornwall area. Her warning is well-taken that it's filled with English tourists during the high season, but she tells you how to find the less busy areas. As for Dorset, she explains how a week's rambling in small towns and across fields can be a wonderful release from regular life. And her choice of the Scottish Highlands accords perfectly with a trip we planned but had to delay due to Covid; now, thanks to this book, I will revise our Highlands itinerary when we go in the future.
February 10, 2025
The reason behind this memoir was to help the author understand why she always wants to go back to England instead of visiting a different country for the first time, and since I can relate to that I felt compelled to read it.
Like Toth, "From the beginning, my relationship with England was an inextricable tangle of imagination and reality."
Also like Toth, I love English food, especially their breakfasts and high teas. "Who could drive past the rain-soaked green pastures of the West Country and doubt that cows munching on that emerald grass and drinking from those tree-dappled streams would turn out superior butter?"
I learned from this book that I should have looked for "devils on horseback" at a restaurant there -- perhaps I will try making it at home.
I laughed at Toth's stories of the English people she interacted with -- the sheepdog trainers, the bird watchers, and the story of Kling Kling the Pekinese (BEWARE! HEAVENLY PEKINESE WITH SUICIDAL TENDENCIES!). I also liked her thoughts on small English country churchyards ("For someone who yearns for a sense of continuity, a country churchyard is reassuring"). However, I did not like reading about her relationship dramas and political views (a rather American thing to do, I think, not something a proper Englishwoman would've done), or about her fascination with haunted places, so I will be "regifting" my copy of this book to a used bookstore.
Most of all, I miss England's countryside and gardens, and happily for me, Toth's strength lies in her nature descriptions:
"The joy of most English paths is how quickly anyone can feel alone on them... One moment, a straight cement line, whizzing cars and thundering lorries, acrid fumes and oily smoke. Another moment, a quick turn of the path, violets poking up through a hawthorn-and-hazel hedge, the gray flash of a disappearing rabbit, and the tantalizing scent of unseen wild roses."
"It was a sunny September day, with only the faintest wisps of clouds in the blue sky... Behind lay the familiar patchwork of Exmoor, the glowing green of fields and pastures separated by the darker green lines of hedgerows, with other irregular shapes of shimmering moorland. The heather was in full bloom, an ever-changing palette of lavender turning into a brownish mauve, touched with the gold of gorse. Ahead of us was the sea, an empty bright blue that made us blink, blending into the only slightly paler blue of the sky."
The English countryside will likely remain unspoiled throughout the next century, yet the England in this book is a different England than the one ruined by migrants today. Because of the current events, I am thankful for books (like this one) that help us remember England as I was blessed to have experienced it: England, when it was English.
Like Toth, "From the beginning, my relationship with England was an inextricable tangle of imagination and reality."
Also like Toth, I love English food, especially their breakfasts and high teas. "Who could drive past the rain-soaked green pastures of the West Country and doubt that cows munching on that emerald grass and drinking from those tree-dappled streams would turn out superior butter?"
I learned from this book that I should have looked for "devils on horseback" at a restaurant there -- perhaps I will try making it at home.
I laughed at Toth's stories of the English people she interacted with -- the sheepdog trainers, the bird watchers, and the story of Kling Kling the Pekinese (BEWARE! HEAVENLY PEKINESE WITH SUICIDAL TENDENCIES!). I also liked her thoughts on small English country churchyards ("For someone who yearns for a sense of continuity, a country churchyard is reassuring"). However, I did not like reading about her relationship dramas and political views (a rather American thing to do, I think, not something a proper Englishwoman would've done), or about her fascination with haunted places, so I will be "regifting" my copy of this book to a used bookstore.
Most of all, I miss England's countryside and gardens, and happily for me, Toth's strength lies in her nature descriptions:
"The joy of most English paths is how quickly anyone can feel alone on them... One moment, a straight cement line, whizzing cars and thundering lorries, acrid fumes and oily smoke. Another moment, a quick turn of the path, violets poking up through a hawthorn-and-hazel hedge, the gray flash of a disappearing rabbit, and the tantalizing scent of unseen wild roses."
"It was a sunny September day, with only the faintest wisps of clouds in the blue sky... Behind lay the familiar patchwork of Exmoor, the glowing green of fields and pastures separated by the darker green lines of hedgerows, with other irregular shapes of shimmering moorland. The heather was in full bloom, an ever-changing palette of lavender turning into a brownish mauve, touched with the gold of gorse. Ahead of us was the sea, an empty bright blue that made us blink, blending into the only slightly paler blue of the sky."
The English countryside will likely remain unspoiled throughout the next century, yet the England in this book is a different England than the one ruined by migrants today. Because of the current events, I am thankful for books (like this one) that help us remember England as I was blessed to have experienced it: England, when it was English.
September 17, 2018
Journal entry regarding this book from nine years ago: " I enjoyed this book so much that I'm going to get a copy for my permanent collection. For some reason, I seem to have developed somewhat of an annoyance/dislike/aversion to England in the last few years but this book has really changed my mind. I want to have a copy for myself to use as a guide and plan a trip of my own someday.
Since the book was written 18 years ago, I am interested in finding out what Ms. Toth and her husband are up to now. I think it's wonderful that she found such a loving life partner and travelling buddy in her second husband, James."
Today's journal entry:
It's funny how one's mind can change about a book over time. The first time I read this, I was completely enraptured and immediately in love with England. This time through though, I found the book to be pretty depressing overall. Maybe it's because I've had my own happy experiences in England now to compare it to, but I just found it pretty negative this time around.
The essays included span at least 30 years--- she's gone as a single young woman, a single woman in her 30s, a teacher, a mother, a married woman to a man who wasn't that into it...and a married woman with a husband who was a kindred spirit. Those are the ones I enjoyed the most---the ones featuring her, now deceased, husband and best friend. The ones featuring her spoiled brat daughter, Jenny, were my least favorite. Nothing at all endeared me to that whiny whiner.
Much of the book's references were outdated (Reagan, Diana) but I did relate to the desire to pretend like I live there when I visit. It's much more fun to see England as a wannabe resident than as a tourist---cheaper too.
I didn't enjoy many parts---a lot of going on about her personal life that I couldn't relate to---and the sheep dog trials went ON and on...not a fan.
I did enjoy the chapter on walking sticks.
So, overall, I think there have been much better travels journals written---my own included. However, since this one did play a part in my own love affair with England, I suppose it's not all bad.
Since the book was written 18 years ago, I am interested in finding out what Ms. Toth and her husband are up to now. I think it's wonderful that she found such a loving life partner and travelling buddy in her second husband, James."
Today's journal entry:
It's funny how one's mind can change about a book over time. The first time I read this, I was completely enraptured and immediately in love with England. This time through though, I found the book to be pretty depressing overall. Maybe it's because I've had my own happy experiences in England now to compare it to, but I just found it pretty negative this time around.
The essays included span at least 30 years--- she's gone as a single young woman, a single woman in her 30s, a teacher, a mother, a married woman to a man who wasn't that into it...and a married woman with a husband who was a kindred spirit. Those are the ones I enjoyed the most---the ones featuring her, now deceased, husband and best friend. The ones featuring her spoiled brat daughter, Jenny, were my least favorite. Nothing at all endeared me to that whiny whiner.
Much of the book's references were outdated (Reagan, Diana) but I did relate to the desire to pretend like I live there when I visit. It's much more fun to see England as a wannabe resident than as a tourist---cheaper too.
I didn't enjoy many parts---a lot of going on about her personal life that I couldn't relate to---and the sheep dog trials went ON and on...not a fan.
I did enjoy the chapter on walking sticks.
So, overall, I think there have been much better travels journals written---my own included. However, since this one did play a part in my own love affair with England, I suppose it's not all bad.
July 9, 2023
3.5 stars. The author writes with wit and honesty about how trips to London are interwoven throughout her life, and provides many details about a world of travel and a London that no longer exist (dressing for airplane rides, champagne and filet mignon on college flights, sterling silver toast racks).
Some of the level of detail grew wearisome since it's no longer accurate travel information, but the sections about the author's life in London and positive/negative experiences that made her who she is were fabulous. Satisfying enough armchair travel if you know it was published in the early 90s and mostly takes place prior to that (will Charles and Diana stay together, she wonders?)
Some of the level of detail grew wearisome since it's no longer accurate travel information, but the sections about the author's life in London and positive/negative experiences that made her who she is were fabulous. Satisfying enough armchair travel if you know it was published in the early 90s and mostly takes place prior to that (will Charles and Diana stay together, she wonders?)
September 2, 2025
This a memoir of the author's experiences in England over many years and how they marked various points on her journey from a college student to a successful woman happily married to her second husband. Some chapters were quite personal, perhaps too personal. Nevertheless, the jumps in time from one trip to another left me with unanswered questions. Other chapters felt like a friend's lighthearted, envy-inducing tales of what she did on her latest vacation.
The question at the heart of the book is why Toth loved England so much and always wanted to return. I feel like she could have attempted to answer that question in far fewer pages.
The question at the heart of the book is why Toth loved England so much and always wanted to return. I feel like she could have attempted to answer that question in far fewer pages.
September 22, 2025
As an English History nut this book has been on my list for awhile to read. While it was nice to hear about the different areas of the country and the authors travels and interactions, I found the book to be light on the history and heavy on how each stop she made had a direct impact on her life. It would have helped if the chapters were written in chronological order of her travels as opposed to one chapter was of her first visit, then a chapter of her tenth visit then one on her first visit again. Still for a lover of England and travel, it was still worth the time to read.
May 5, 2017
A little dated (1992) memoir of the author's travels in the English countryside and London> I'm not sure it could be reproduced today. 1960 , when the first essays were written until 1992 when the book was published were much gentler times than today.
August 28, 2019
This was an interesting memoir of a woman who visited the UK several times in the 60s,70s and early 80s. I enjoyed much of her descriptions, but I also think I had high expectations of it bringing me back to England and, though it did at times, I mostly felt disconnected.
May 18, 2017
I have read this book several times, and I enjoy it every time. My own love affair with England is only from a distance, but I love hearing about this author's frequent trips.
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July 17, 20191960current day Non-fiction account of travels to England
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