Always One Step Ahead of the Storm is a novella written from the perspective of the Author’s 8 year old self as she and her family embark on a 12 month journey around Australia in a 17.5ft caravan. In her memoir Phoebe shares her memories of the places she visited, the difficulties her family experienced as they travelled from location to location, hampered by the elements during that year. For any reader who is interested in history, travelling or even Australia as a place of interest whether for home or holiday this will be an enjoyable read for you.
Written from an 8 year old’s perspective in the year of 1974 and relying on her memories, Phoebe touches briefly on events and places that stood out for her during this time. There is no major drama or conflict shared, in her telling of the difficulties the family faced, after all, an 8 year old views the world through different eyes to that of an adult. What does come across in the narration is that Phoebe was blessed with a loving family, and that this was a truly educational, a challenging but wonderful experience that she remembers fondly. The photographs and images at the end are a lovely addition although they are in black and white, which makes it difficult to identify her ‘crush in the blue shirt,’ but readers can soon work this out with the subsequent photo’s shared!
Phoebe has also included some of the memories and thoughts of her mother which brings additional insight and warmth to the sharing of this experience, an experience I am sure many of us would love to have the courage to embark on for ourselves. As much as I would love to visit and travel around Australia, the local wildlife would be too much of a challenge for me.
I enjoyed reading Phoebe’s memoir and I award 4 stars.
