In Search of a Simple Life Books in Order

Mary-Jane Houlton and her husband sell their home and set off through France aboard Olivia Rose with their dogs. Their journey explores the practical challenges, unexpected friendships and changing priorities of a life with few possessions and no fixed address.

After years of seasonal boating, Mary-Jane and Michael Houlton make an off-grid cabin in rural France their winter home. Building a simpler life brings practical challenges and natural discoveries while Brexit and the pandemic complicate their move.

Mary-Jane and Michael Houlton embark on a smallholding life in Wales, learning to grow food and care for livestock. Following the rhythms of the seasons, this memoir explores their attachment to the land and why their dreams eventually changed.

Returning to their boat in France in 2020, Mary-Jane and Michael Houlton find themselves isolated by lockdown. Their memoir follows the eventual return of travel, from waterways and city stops to house-sitting and journeys by bicycle.

Houlton spends a year asking questions about the wildlife around her French cabin and her boat in the Netherlands. Weekly discoveries lead her to reflect on curiosity, the natural world and the value of paying closer attention.