Swallows & Robins

As the world’s worst housekeeper, running holiday homes wasn’t, with hindsight, a sensible idea. But two collapsing buildings on Susie Kelly’s land would cost more to demolish than to restore. Thus she became a seasonal landlady. Before the guests came the builders. No’s 1, 2, 3 all started promisingly, but by builder No. 4, and with her first guests just hours away, her patience was stretched to its limit. Her summer and winter visitors couldn’t, as they say, be made up, though, to spare their blushes some of them have been air-brushed. They brought with them laughter, tears, romance, friendship and occasional madness. And they all left behind jars of jam and pots of pepper. From them Susie learned that you don’t need to travel to find adventure. If you run holiday homes it comes to your doorstep. Unfortunately for Susie this included Ivy. The cleaning lady from hell.

Author Biography

Born a Londoner, Susie spent most of the first 25 years of her life in Kenya. In 2014, her memoir I Wish I Could Say I Was Sorry about an abusive childhood growing up in post-war London and Kenya, was a US digital top 50 bestseller. She now lives in south-west France with her husband and assorted animals. She believes that her explosive temper is a legacy from her Irish-American grandfather, but has no idea who to blame for her incompetence as a housewife. Susie Kelly is the Patron of the 2015 Charroux International Literary Festival.