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Diplomatic Baggage: The Adventures of a Trailing Spouse
Brigid Keenan was a glamorous and successful young London fashion journalist. But falling in love with a diplomat saw her leave behind the gilt chairs of the Paris salons for a large chicken shed in the forests of Nepal. Thirty years later (at the farewell party for the Papal Nuncio in Kazakhstan), Brigid found herself wondering whether her decision had been the right one....more
Paperback, 304 pages
Published
March 1st 2007
by John Murray
(first published 2005)
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It started off rather annoyingly. The writer begins her tale by describing her misery in the middle of nowhere. While her husband worked, she spent the day crying in desperation and loneliness. Further reading clued me in that she'd been following her husband for 30 years and she was no longer the young, diplomat's wife. In my head, it was tough reconciling a middle-age woman with that kind of whiny, immature attitude.
The subsequent stories are no better: the time line jumps around depending on...more
The subsequent stories are no better: the time line jumps around depending on...more
I loved this book. It is exactly the life that I live as an expat. This should be required reading for everyone who desires to live abroad.
Lines that I loved:
Today is my first Monday, the day that every wife of a man working abroad most dreads; the day your husband goes to the office and you have to face your new life alone.
I bolted up here to the attic [away from the maids:] to avoid looking purposeless in front of them, or worst of all, bursting into tears.
I gave up in despair and spent the r...more
Lines that I loved:
Today is my first Monday, the day that every wife of a man working abroad most dreads; the day your husband goes to the office and you have to face your new life alone.
I bolted up here to the attic [away from the maids:] to avoid looking purposeless in front of them, or worst of all, bursting into tears.
I gave up in despair and spent the r...more
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I'm really not sure how much of this book can be explained by the British national tendency to self-deprecate, and how much is that this woman really is a useless ditz.
I'm inclined to think it's mostly the former. If one were to go entirely by this memoir taken at face value, this reporter-turned-diplomat's-spouse has spent pretty much her entire life collapsing into tears, shrewishly nagging her husband, ruining dinner parties, and scandalizing the natives of whatever posting she's sent to. Sin...more
I'm inclined to think it's mostly the former. If one were to go entirely by this memoir taken at face value, this reporter-turned-diplomat's-spouse has spent pretty much her entire life collapsing into tears, shrewishly nagging her husband, ruining dinner parties, and scandalizing the natives of whatever posting she's sent to. Sin...more
This book is hard to classify - in bookshops it's marketed in the travel section. However, the reality is it's half-way between an autobiography and a travel book - and it fails heavily on both counts. The author isn't that well known, and her life and 'adventures' are not really that interesting to warrant an autobiography. It fails as a travel book - apart from the section on Syria, there really isn't a lot to recommend it. It does, however, give an insight into the life of a diplomat's wife,...more
A not bad description of life as a trailing spouse, although the author is in the diplomatic world (which is not exactly the same as us common folk . . .). Nevertheless, she paints an accurate picture of what it is like settling into a new place. She has staff usually, and that makes her life somewhat easier . . . but it is a charming enough read with some good chuckles as well.
I own a copy if anyone wants to borrow mine.
I own a copy if anyone wants to borrow mine.
I really didn't care for this book when I started. I was all set to be sympathetic after the introduction, where she talks about how easy it is to look at the sometimes luxurious conditions diplomats live in and not realize how hard it is for the diplomat's family, but then in the first few chapters, it was like she was trying as hard as she could to make me think as little of her as possible.
I could deal with her crying with every new posting, although the way she described it seemed a bit over...more
I could deal with her crying with every new posting, although the way she described it seemed a bit over...more
Brigid used to be a fashion journalist in London until she fell in love with her now diplomat husband. She becomes uprooted from her familiar surroundings and transplanted to the different countries her husband gets assigned to.
She shows that being an ex-patriate's wife is not as glamorous and prestigious as we all thought they are; instead the author presents us with an endlessly engaging tale of diplomatic protocol, difficult teenagers, homesickness, frustrated career aspirations, and languag...more
She shows that being an ex-patriate's wife is not as glamorous and prestigious as we all thought they are; instead the author presents us with an endlessly engaging tale of diplomatic protocol, difficult teenagers, homesickness, frustrated career aspirations, and languag...more
Jun 17, 2008
Pania
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
traveller's
Recommended to Pania by:
found it at charity shop
Pretty good, although written by an anti-semite. I learned of an interesting new conspiracy about the lockerby air disaster, its worth reading just for that, plus the bit about the flesh-eating maggots that lived inside her thigh in the Gambia, oooohhh!
I was worried that I would hate this book because the author was grating on my last nerve in the first fifty pages. However, after that, I ended up loving her. Yeah, she's a little nuts. But wouldn't you be if you followed your husband from India to Barbados to Gambia to Syria and so on? If she didn't embellish the stories, she's had one hell of a life as an expat. Even if she did embellish! I found myself laughing out loud at times, and I don't really laugh out loud too much when reading. Her s...more
Interesting, light hearted contemporary follow up to a book that I loved reading about a decade ago ('Daughters of Brittania'). The topic might be somewhat interesting to travel buffs, ex-pats and the likes, but AW's character (while espousing the 'stiff upper lip') seems disconnected from what modern readers might define as an engaged/supporting partner. That said the book was full of cute and funny stories, anecdotes, travel blurbs and the like. The end did feel a little rushed but certainly K...more
i found the author to be rather whiny and annoying. also would have appreciated her expressing a little more respect for herself. self-deprecating is one thing, but she kept talking like she assumed herself a failure. that being said - it was still a fairly enjoyable read. i felt like it could have had a bit more of a narrative thread - it was kind of just a collection of random memories - but at least some of the stories were funny.
in our book club, about half the people hated the book and the...more
in our book club, about half the people hated the book and the...more
Has some very interesting and hilarious stories, but her unmistakable upper-class background (her father was brigadier-general in the Indian army) and the fact that she's constantly trying to make out that she's just an "ordinary" person, gets quite annoying, as does the repeated name-dropping. Whilst she seems intent on convincing the reader of the contrary, she comes across as having spent most of her time abroad either organising, (with the help of cook, housemaid and butler) or attending, di...more
A wonderful witty compilation of personal experiences stockpiled over the course of decades spent in exotic locations as the trailing spouse of a (British) European Commission diplomat. From Nepal to Trinidad to India to Syria to Kazakhstan, this witty British woman (who happens to be a professional journalist) serves up amusing antecdotes about her foreign travels and unusual experiences (and reveals the challenges of raising kids abroad). For those of us who have lived overseas as diplomatic s...more
So....I have FINALLY finished this book. What a chore! It took me about six months.
It is the story of a 'trailing spouse' otherwise known as an expat wife. Holding that esteemed title myself, I thought I might find the author easy to identify with. As it turns out, her life as an expat was very different than mine. She has lived in some very remote and underdeveloped regions...and I really couldn't identify with those experiences. I could relate to the lonliness one feels when first arriving in...more
It is the story of a 'trailing spouse' otherwise known as an expat wife. Holding that esteemed title myself, I thought I might find the author easy to identify with. As it turns out, her life as an expat was very different than mine. She has lived in some very remote and underdeveloped regions...and I really couldn't identify with those experiences. I could relate to the lonliness one feels when first arriving in...more
Apr 29, 2008
Carrie
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
All ex-pat wives around the globe
Recommended to Carrie by:
Erika
If you ever want to know what it REALLY feels like to follow a working spouse into a different culture... Read chapter one. I could relate and laughed so hard it hurt.
Everyone told us that ex-pat life is really rough the first six months... but then you 'get it' and can really enjoy the time. It is true, that especially the first 3 months .. that as i sent emails to friends and family, i cried so hard into my laptop that i feared it may short circuit. Now 9 months later, i am really enjoying lif...more
Everyone told us that ex-pat life is really rough the first six months... but then you 'get it' and can really enjoy the time. It is true, that especially the first 3 months .. that as i sent emails to friends and family, i cried so hard into my laptop that i feared it may short circuit. Now 9 months later, i am really enjoying lif...more
A fascinating and hilarious book. Brigid Keenan seems to have the most astounding luck - good and bad - and she writes about it with wit and honesty. She recounts the adventures of her life as a diplomatic wife in an easy, engaging style that had me laughing out loud on every page. This book is therapy and an education combined. Even as I ached in sympathy for her traumatic moments and marveled at her composure, I was ready to pack my bags and sign up with the State Department.
At first I thought I'd never make it through this book. Ms. Keenan just seemed like a whiner! Always blaming the world for her own perfectly lucid decisions. But then I realised (euro spelling) that she is in fact a fantastic, likeable, witty, charming, adventurous, brave, self-aware, and talented whiner. I had to love that. Unless the last 10 pages disappoint, I'll give it a "Bafflingly inspirational," with 4 stars. Special thanks to Bonnie for the recommendation!
i really enjoyed it. in the beginning i was a little unsure because she seemed to be a bit complainy. but when the book gets going at the looking back portion of her life it's thoroughly enjoyable. there are lots of laugh out loud moments (usually on public transport for me - embarassing) and some very sad incidents or situations too. she has really led an interesting and sometimes challenging life (so the complaining is totally justified) and i gained a lot of interesting insight and informatio...more
This book made me laugh out loud on an airplane, causing my seat mates to eye me askance. I could relate to her various trials and adventures as the author and her family move round the world! Warning: you will enjoy this best if you have already experienced life cross-culturally or if you have no intention of ever doing so. Don't read it just before you go--it is a bit too realistic and might depress you.
Again, not the most literary work, but I chose it because I relate to the life of the main character. I found myself laughing, smiling and feeling like I was the one who wrote the book! I really enjoyed this read. Recommended for anyone with a traveling spouse.
What a life without a wife. What a life just being a follower. A very pedestrian view of what seems to be rather exotic. An emotional unstable woman who seems to spend much of her life in tears. If must be difficult to live life in someone’s shadow.
Mereke gave this book a 3.5.......so i'm giving it a 2.5 and the reason is that i did laugh out loud, but not as often as the book jacket would lead you to believe and in the end, it's cute and ok, but really nothing special. I actually got bored and just wanted it to end. Self deprecating humor only gets you so far.
Extremely witty and well written. I don't remember when I giggled that much reading a book, but getting to the point when she mumbled 'dostojevski' at the market in Almaty broke me :)
Excellent, suggest it to everyone!
Excellent, suggest it to everyone!
A light read, but good fun & interesting. Author has a certain wit I enjoyed, she is self-deprecating and I don't believe she was really such a whinger, in fact, I think she was plucky. An interesting life worth putting down on paper.
Jul 25, 2011
Tori
added it
2009- A ""light"" read about the struggles an ex-pat wife faces during her husband's postings. I thought it seemed a little outdated, and personally liked ""First Comes Love, Then Comes Malaria"" better, which is a similar book in the same vein.
I read this a few years ago, it is very funny. She describes all the challenges of living overseas and being a diplomats wife. Way less glamourous than you would imagine.
This is probably really 3.5 stars - it's written almost the way an animated long-lost friend might write you an email updating you on all her adventures over many years. It kind of weaves and winds without much plot, but it is quite funny - I laughed out loud constantly while reading and that's why I'd bump it up to 3.5 stars instead of just 3. You really come to know Brigid through the writing b/c she's pretty up-close-and-personal about herself and her family and that also makes it more enjoya...more
A very fun and realistic story of life as an expat, I only gave it four stars because it's not great literature but for an entertaining read, it is spot-on.
These memoirs of an ambassador's wife was a quick and easy read. Some of the stories were very funny and she definitely led an interesting life as an expat.
Reading this in preparation for my own life abroad beginning in March '08.
This is such a droll read that it's helped lighten the gloom I've been feeling about living in Siberia and Kazakhstan.
The first part of the book (chapter titled "Homesick on the Steppe") is actually about her posting in Kazakhstan. The first paragraph reads:
"Oh, God, I don't know if i can bear it. This is my first morning in Kazakhstan and it is only eleven o'clock and I've already run out of things to do and I have anot...more
This is such a droll read that it's helped lighten the gloom I've been feeling about living in Siberia and Kazakhstan.
The first part of the book (chapter titled "Homesick on the Steppe") is actually about her posting in Kazakhstan. The first paragraph reads:
"Oh, God, I don't know if i can bear it. This is my first morning in Kazakhstan and it is only eleven o'clock and I've already run out of things to do and I have anot...more
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“The ex-pat's life with all its homesickness and loneliness and privileges and perks, with its dizzy ups and miserable downs, was certainly not ordinary.”
—
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