Are We Nearly There Yet? - Ben Hatch

A couple and their two young children under four set out on a five month road trip around Britain, predominantly England, to research and experience hotels and attractions in order to write a guide book packed with family-friendly tips.

Covering 8,000 miles in all in their epic car journey, what follows is an humourous, touching, endearing account of this journey and all their antics, from the laugh-out-loud hilarious to the downright embarrassing. Join them as they hunt for Wadcrags, play ‘I don’t spy with my little eye’, try in vain to find Wallace and Grommit, and whatever you do, be very careful with that toothbrush. The opening pages alone with Ben trying to load up the car for the trip are hilarious.

But more than this, it is interspersed with the author’s own recollections of family times past, and it also includes some incredibly difficult events regarding his father’s health which happen during the course of Ben’s road trip. There is some extremely amusing comic writing here, hilarious incidents and mishaps, and these are juxtaposed with moving passages dealing with the immense sadness of serious illness and a complex relationship between father and son.

This book will make you laugh, smile to yourself knowingly at times, and also you may well shed a tear or two, but Ben, Dinah, Phoebe and Charlie certainly make very lively and extremely entertaining companions to sit back and travel along with. 


Published in the UK by Summersdale and available now.


You can follow the author on twitter @BenHatch