So my recommendation is quite simple: If on an overcast January day when the sky is filled with scumble glazed clouds that are certain to deliver a deluge then I would suggest you find a quiet spot, curl up in an armchair, with a hot chocolate and a box of tissues. And if you dare to read this in a coffee shop then other customers will want to know why you are in fits of giggles. And there is an added and significant danger… you may end up snorting rather loudly too!

A couple of years ago, I went to the launch of Emma Kennedy's first book; How To Bring Up Your Parents. I had a great time and got drunk with the stars of stage and screen. Emma was absolutely lovely and the book was very funny. The tone of this story is brilliant and I can promise very accurate. I HATE, LOATHE and DETEST Camping.

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This book reminded me of family holidays where everything that could go wrong did. They are terrible at the time but funny when you are safely home. 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 10 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. Myfathernodded,thenslappedhimselfonthearmwithasuddenviolence.'God!'heexclaimed.'I'mbeingeatenalive!Awfulmidges!' Ican'trememberthelasttimeIsawrain,'answiseredmymother,lookingupandlettingherbookfallclosed.'Mustbewelloveramonth.It'llbenice.Cleartheair.'

It is not often I feel that I am so in tune with an author. However on this occasion her descriptions of travelling to Wales ring loud alarm bells in my head, for I too am a girl from the valleys born behind the gasworks, well no not literally, but in my grandmother’s house in Caerphilly, complete with outside carsy and coal bunker the size of a small shed. I feel I’m almost part of Emma’s film set or rather that she was part of mine, really quite scary on so many levels. iknowforafactthegradeboundariesaregonnabesolowthisyearforEnglishlanguagebeforeyouaskmewhy,thinkwhy. I’m not sure who suggested we read this book for our book group meeting but I shall be eternally grateful and I’m very glad they suggested it! Because I can’t recall crying this hard in a long time and I believe that laughing until you cry can be a cathartic experience. Of course the downside of crying whilst reading is that is that one’s eyes fill with tears and blur one’s vision. Enough material for a pretty good twenty minute standup slot, padded out to a quite ludicrous length - I'd managed to procure myself an ex-library Large Print edition which managed to stretch the ordeal out to almost 500pp of agony.

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This is an hilarious book written by Emma Kennedy about her and her parents calamitous camping holidays in the UK and France. Thiswasserious.Norummy,nowhist,nobeggarmyneighbour.Wewereskatingintoacatastrophe.Nowallwehadtolookforwardtowassittingaroundandstaringateachother.'Perhaps,'Ichippedin,inanefforttohelp,'wecouldinventanewgameusingallthosecorks?'Myparentsturnedandstaredatme.'Andwe'vestillgottheSlinky...'QuitewhatweweregoingtodowiththeSlinkyinatentwithnostairswasanothermatterbutbeforethatconundrumcouldbeunravelled,afat,splashingraindroplandedsquareonmyfather'sforehead. they were raw with grief and disappointment, and they had nothing to scratch up against except each other.”

The book is about her camping holidays from between the ages of 4 and 13 years old. A lot of the stories involve poor young Emma falling into toilets or being covered in poo or vomit. I loved her parents Tony and the long suffering Brenda who dreamed of a glamorous, normal holiday.Rain!'hesaid,wipingthewetfromhiseyebrow.'Let'sgetthetableandchairsinsidebeforeitreallycomesdown.Emma,yougetthecupsandplates.Andbecareful,Brenda.Don'tupendthetomatoes.Allthetunawillfallout.' Emma Kennedy's hilarious memoir of wet and windy family trips , NOW ADAPTED FOR THE MAJOR BBC ONE SERIES THE KENNEDYS. For Emma Kennedy, and her mum and dad, disaster always came along for the ride no matter where they went. Whether it was 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 Samehere,reallyhappywithhowitallwent Thoughtallthequestionswerereallykind!Whatdidyouputforthe4truestatementscauseInevertrustwhatIputeventhoughIt'susuallycorrectlol