Brown Owl's Guide to Life...Not what I expected

Title: Brown Owl's Guide to Life
Author: Kate Harrison
ISBN: 978-0-7528-8097-6
Rating: 6/10
Genre: Fiction, Comedy, Women's Fiction,
Book: Paperback

"I pick the dress up. I was so small. And the dress was so horribly unflattering, the cut emphasizing my round shoulders and chubby legs. There are a few more badges sewn into the arm: a pair of scissors, for the Needlework badge...Next to the scissors is a globe, for Brownie Friendship, gained by finding a penpal called Sheree who lived in the Australian Outback...Finally, there's the embroidered treble clef. The Musician."


I thought this book would take me back to being a Brownie myself. My Mother-in-law bought me this as a treat and I was really looking forward to it. I thought as a current Brownie leader that I would really enjoy a fictional book being about the Brownies. However, this was not the case. I had spoken to a couple of other Brownie leaders who had already read the book and they were not impressed. I read it anyway with high hopes. I did relate to a number of the things which Harrison talks about but I could not get past how negative Harrison was about a number of aspects about her friends, about Guiding and about the main characters own personal image.

The main character, Lucy Collins is a mum of one who lives with her husband in the suburbs of Manchester. She is a "stereotypical" stay at home mum. She does work but her main focus in life is her husband and her daughter. That is until Lucy's mum, Judith, dies after a short but awful illness. This is a shock to Lucy and she starts to re-evaluate her
life. Lucy's husband wants a stay at home wife for him to care for and to pine for him when he has gone out to the big world of work. This is what Lucy thought she wanted, she thought she liked the comfort of being looked after but she is thrown into turmoil and has to make some massive decisions about what she wants.

Lucy used to be in the Brownies, her mum was the Brown Owl as was her Grandma before her. For me personally, Guiding is about buildin
g and encouraging the abilities of girls. It is about developing a girls confidence and making sure she knows she can do things. Helping and boosting her thoughts in a safe space designed just for girls. The Brownies which Lucy seemed to go to, ran by Judith, was not like this. I don't know whether this was the author's intention or whether she just does not know the aim of Girlguiding but she talks in such a negative manner about everyone in the book. Harrison allows Lucy to talk negatively about all of her Brownie friends and each character, Terry, Chris and Paula, especially Paula. There is a very negative image of themselves. Paula repeatedly talks about her self as a huge, fat person. She talks about herself being grotesque and monstrous. How she can't walk down the street without becoming out of breath and sweating. How she spends all her time either in bed or on the computer and can get sores from lying down for too long. I had this image of a massively obese person. A person who struggles to look after themselves due to their size and weight. In the book, Paula talks about how she is a hideous size 18. A size 18!!! Yep, a size 18! I was so annoyed when I read this that Harrison clearly has this distorted image of what a size 18 person is like and she feels they should be ridiculed and humiliated rather than encouraged and promoted, if they feel the need, to lose weight.

I thought the characters didn't have much depth and for two best friends, Lucy and Terry do not know each other very well. They talk about having known each other for years and how no one else could change their relationship, yet they don't tell one another anything and they do not keep in touch very well. Judith talked to Terry more about her relationship and life than she did her own daughter. Then Terry kept this information from Lucy when she knew Lucy wanted to know more about her late father. Chris is to wrapped up with her own life because she can't see how her life is worthwhile without either a man in it or her business and Paula has this warped image of herself.

Even with the downfall of the main characters, the background story isn't too bad. The lives of the girls interlink and come back together in adult life and they are able to rekindle their friendship. They make new friendships and new relationships, re-evaluate their own lives and decide what they want and what they don't. Lucy working through her thoughts and worries about her relationship with her husband, Paula dealing with her online obsession of gaming, Chris deciding if she does want to move from man to man and Terry working out which man she actually wants. Lucy creates a new friendship with her late father's friend and this made me feel really uncomfortable. I'll leave this for you to decide what you think, I was not a fan.

Overall I did not like the characters in this book. They were very negative and Harrison tries to put a massive downer on Guiding. I am not having this. I would absolutely recommend anyone to join Girlguiding. Those of you who follow my blog will know the amazing opportunities I have had from Guiding, new friends, Switzerland, Go Karting, Rock Climbing, Kayaking and I am so looking forward for what is to come, Pack Holidays, The Deep, India and much more! Join us, you won't regret it!

I don't think I would recommend this and I have favourably given it a rating of 6 but that was really pushing it. I was not impressed.
Rating: 6/10
10-Word-Review: Not what Guiding is about, need to get better friends.

The next book I will be reviewing is an audiobook I have been listening too in the car. The Runaway by Katie Flynn, this review will be coming very soon. The book I am just about to start reading will be reading, All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr. I will be reading this alongside Poppy Loves Book Club and will be joining in in their online book review session on 31st January 2018. 2018! Wow. Please join in with the chat. Once again, thanks for reading...Steph xx