-AS FEATURED IN 'THE TELEGRAPH'-
Mary Mae Lewis
Where There's A Will, There's A Woman
As a teenager, Kath Tyler dreamt of leaving her working-class life behind her and living a more upwardly-mobile one. Born and brought up in the Potteries, she was thrilled to meet gifted engineer, Robert Llewellyn, a schoolteacher based in London.
What Kath had not bargained for though was the eccentric family that she was taking on after marrying Rob: a dotty antiques dealer, a wayward son, a daughter who dabbled in the Dark Arts and a famous Welsh artist – they all tested Kath’s patience and increased her wanderlust.
Intrigued by the promise of a life abroad, the young couple journey to exotic lands; their eventual dream is to be one of the Ten Pound Poms.
Tragedy strikes though and the call of family brings Kath home to the Potteries once more; her shock loss is only tempered by the blossoming of her journalist flair.
Where There’s A Will, There’s A Woman is a powerful and emotional saga that starts in the Swinging Sixties and travels with the reader to the present day. It weaves around the lives and loves of two families who might have been worlds apart, but were brought together by the feisty determination of a Midlands girl, who knew how to smooth over troubled waters.
But… will Kath’s fire and grit be enough to solve two Llewellyn family mysteries?
Time will tell…
Don't Stop The Fiesta
It had always been a far-off dream of Stoke-born Mary’s to settle in Spain, and after so many years travelling around the world, living in exotic places such as Grand Cayman and Malawi, her dream was close to being realised. However, with husband Chris content to tinker with all kinds of machinery back home in Staffordshire, how was Mary going to persuade him that Spain was the ultimate place for them?
All was solved with the idea of his converting an ex-Liverpool Council single-decker bus into a serviceable mobile home – and, with that accomplished, they were on their way – along with beloved dog, Josh. After saying hasta la vista to their British life, they set off for a grand adventure and - twenty years later - they are still having it!
It hasn’t all been plain sailing though for Mary and Chris; it was initially hard for them to settle into a more relaxed pace of life… and the endless excuse of manana! Mary: It was then that I realised that manana doesn’t just mean the very next day, but just means sometime the day after; that could extend to even a week or more.
Intent on living life to the full in Spain, meant the adventurous couple had to get used to a whole ‘new normal’ and their flexible approach has been to the fore during the last few years that have seen both Brexit and the Pandemic.
Don’t Stop The Fiesta is aptly named, as Mary and Chris are determined that nothing will put an end to their casa life of: sea, sun, music and parties. This jam-packed book is a non-stop rollercoaster of a read; the pace never slows down, even when family ties pull the couple back and forth to the UK.
If you’ve ever wondered what life in Spain could look like for you, then read on… it hasn’t always been roses around the door for Mary and Chris – but they never want to stop their Fiesta!