This book is basically a travel log and a personal log rolled into one. The author was unhappy in many areas of her life. She had problems with her husband, her children, her job and ultimately her self.
She decides the solution to her problems is a once in a lifetime trip to the British Isles and Ireland. The trip was fabulous. She saw things, met people and had insights that were not possible to experience in any other way.
Having said that, I found Marilyn to be selfish. She refers to her husband as though he were an afterthought. Although he was certainly without faults, she had a lot of culpability in her "dire straights" and I don't think she was willing to own up to that.
In my mind she took the easy route of blaming "the man" for holding her down and the only way she was going to "find herself" was on her own - or in this case with a group of strangers.
As she travels, she is unhappy with accommodations, people, and situations and still somehow says how good all of this is. When she finally arrives home she is surprised her husband is withdrawn and unaffectionate. Maybe had she included him in the journey things would have been different.
One of the things she discovered on her journey was that she liked her own company and that she was, indeed a strong, independent woman. Both very good things but it is too bad she had to learn them at the expense of others.
For the insights into oneself I would recommend the book. For a role model on how to achieve those insights, I would suggest you look elsewhere.
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