Afloat: A Memoir

What an enjoyable and engaging book. I loved all the granular detail of boat living, the portraits of the various characters who live on the water, and the moving story of Danie's family and her teenage years. The way she describes feeling powerless when in thrall to older boys will be painfully resonant to lots of women. Cathy Rentzenbrink, author of The Last Act Of Love

Danie Couchman grew up on the move, her family never staying still long enough for her to say where she's from. At twenty-five, and living in her seventeenth home, she finds herself drowning in the rush of London life, and makes an impulsive decision: to buy a narrowboat and make it her home.

Surrounded by an eclectic and itinerant community in the uncharted territory of the capital's urban wilderness, Danie becomes fully immersed in this hidden world. Each day onboard her boat Genesis is an adventure full of disaster and magic. Over five years of living off-grid, nomadic Danie learns to survive the many highs and lows of boat life alone, keeping herself, and her steel home, afloat.

A captivating debut, Afloat is the story of a young woman's desire to escape an ever more isolated city existence and reconnect with nature, discovering what is important in life.