IT’S A LOT TO UNPACK
“Oh what a book! I devoured every word, every page and every chapter within a few days.
She writes with wisdom, humour and perfectly measured sharpness resulting in a truly clever memoir that had me laughing out loud and clapping my hands in admiration for a writer that tells it like it is and does a brilliant job in doing so.”
Keri Bloomfield, author of Nothing Like a Dane
“Fantastic, φανταστικός, fantastisk, fantastisch! Honour manages to marry wit and humor with snark and sarcasm, combining history with herstory, all while spinning a sort of romance novel! Applause and praise for this memoir that will leave you completely sated, even if no one has ever made you a vanilla & chocolate espresso cake.”
Diane Nelson, Goodreads
“Honour’s writing is the real star of the show. Easy to follow yet full of intertwining themes, vivid images and deep emotions. The chapter titles are so clever and had tunes stuck in my head for days. A truly captivating and delightful book!”
Kerry Bastow, Barnes & Noble
Publisher’s Weekly
“Honour writes with quick wit and bruised candor about her rocky first few months in Cyprus, during which she moped and struggled to adapt to the relaxed pace of life. Then, with equal panache, Honour illustrates how, as her husband’s work whisked them to Copenhagen and then Berlin, she learned to extricate her self-worth from being a “New Yorker” or an “expat,” and came to appreciate the resilience that the family’s new lifestyle fostered in her and her children. This will resonate with anyone who’s had to redefine themselves under unexpected circumstances.”
It’s a Lot to Unpack is the perfect swag for international organizations, international schools, and globally mobile companies. If you’re interested in purchasing a large number of copies, let’s work together.
Anyone who’s experienced a globally mobile life, or even anyone who’s searched for their sense of identity and purpose among life’s challenges, will find something of themselves in this funny, wise, and endearing book.
–Catriona Turner, author of Nest: A Memoir of Home on the Move
The story
Our expatriate journey started in Nicosia, Cyprus, the world’s last divided capital. Fifteen years later we ended up in Berlin, another famously divided city. Walking through this gritty landscape, so reminiscent of the late 80s New York of my memories, it’s impossible to escape the idea of walls. The reminders are everywhere you turn. And so the theme of separation, of here and there, us and them, started to haunt me, and by default, my writing. What started out as another compilation of observational essays turned into something more introspective and ultimately cathartic. This is a book about beginnings, endings, but most of all, all the living and learning we do in the middle bits.
I’m so excited to share this book with you. It is the story of our lives abroad but it is also the story of my journey, the one to find the woman I packed away in New York all those years ago.
At its heart, It’s a Lot to Unpack is a story of finding yourself in unexpected places. I hope that readers find can a piece of themselves within its pages as well.
Dina Honour 