Smelling the Breezes by Molly & Ralf Izzard

5 out of 5 stars

A copy of this was provided free of charge from the publisher in return for an honest review.

Travelling anywhere with a small child is an adventure in its own right, whether you are just heading to the beach for a day out or contemplating a small holiday. The thought of going on a 300-mile walk around Lebanon with four small children, and two donkeys is enough to send a chill down my spine.

However, some people are made of much sterner stuff than I am and two of them are Ralph and Molly Izzard. In 1957 they embarked on this venture around the country. Their walk would take them through villages and towns and along some pretty precarious paths and up into the pastures in the hills where men herded goats.

Their four blond children were a passport to a lot of warm hospitality. People were pleased to see them and wanted to hear why this British family had chosen to walk their little bit of the country. Izzard doesn’t paint a rose-tinted view of the country, rather you get to see things as they are in their slightly scruffy sun-bleached reality. The balance between the travel, the people and the meld of cultures is spot on.

I thought that this was a wonderful travel book. Molly, who wrote the majority of the prose is a sensitive traveller, open to new people and places whilst attending to the needs of her young family. Places and people are beautifully described, and the way that she has written it means that you feel like you are alongside the children and donkeys and walk the dusty roads on their  trek. Very highly recommended.