Finding Myself in Britain

findingmyselfA spiritually infused, sometimes rain-soaked look at the traditions, quirks, and customs of British life and faith. As Michele Guinness says in the foreword, “There were moments when her honesty and pain choked me, others when she made me laugh out loud. From toilets to tea and tennis, drizzle to driving, reserve to religious observance, sarcasm to self-deprecation, queuing to cricket, not to mention language, class, and vicarage oddities, it’s all there – the British foibles that make other nations think us bizarre… Yet in Amy’s gentle hands it’s a revelation – funny, challenging, surprising, chastening, and cheering.”

“Amy helps us see that through all life’s seasons we are held and kept by the love of a faithful God, that in Him we lose and find ourselves, and in Him we are home.” Jo Saxton, speaker and author

“A delightful and insightful view of life from both sides of the pond. I was especially taken by her through-the-year approach, highlighting each season – an ideal way to capture the beating heart of each country. In a word, I loved it.” Liz Curtis Higgs, best-selling author, Thorn in My Heart

How to Purchase

Available in the UK from lovely Christian bookshops, or online from Eden and Amazon. Available Stateside from Amazon.

You can grab signed copies of the book from me.

Reviews

Christianity magazine, January 2016

Christianity magazine, January 2016

Church Times, 6 March 2016

Church Times, 6 March 2016

Blogs

Me-and-Amy-252x300My editor, Jennie Pollock, shares my gaffe of introducing myself in the American way in a British setting, and more in her review.  She reflects,

What struck me as I read, though, that her life story is, as so many of ours are, about being edited by God. He gives us freedom to write our stories, but comes alongside and graciously cuts, trims, tightens and reworks different areas (if we will let Him), to shape our lives to tell His story, not our own. A story recognisably ours, but infinitely better than we could have ever crafted ourselves (yes, I know I sound like I’m comparing myself to God here – well, we are made in His image…!). If Amy had been able to cling to all the things she thought made her who she was, she’d never have found her true self in the One who made her so much more. Finding Myself in Britain will encourage and inspire…

12075052_10101453138690580_983512826593439371_nAmy Robinson is a fellow VW and writer. I appreciate her honest review (she didn’t love the italicized asides, which is fair enough). She says:

Amy’s story of finding herself in Britain – not only transplanted from her American home and culture, but also married to an Anglican priest with all of the culture shock that can entail – is full of humour, faith and insight, not to mention facts about America I never knew, and facts about how the two nations experience each other that should be essential reading for anyone planning to cross the Atlantic.

…What was this book?  A memoir? A devotional? A how-to-live-in-a-vicarage manual? Whatever it was, I didn’t actually want to read the final chapter as I sat there in the garden. Closing the book was like having to say goodbye to a friend after a week’s holiday together. Thankfully, though, you can always turn back to page 1 of a book and start again. And then there’s all those recipes to try.

The Unsubtle Reviewer gave a review-cum-dialogue:

Finding Myself in Britain is a thoughtful, perceptive, funny, gently probing exploration of the many aspects of life – faith, family, food, friendships, landscape, learning, love – that weave together to create our own uniqueness. But this isn’t a review of the book, it is a response, a dialogue with it if you will. I chose it because it tells of a life very different from mine but is centred on matters that I also find important – knowing and being comfortable with one’s self, knowing God and making sense of the Church. When trying to work out who we think we are we tend to look for the exotic in our lives – the pains, the losses, the career, the great high points, as the elements that define us. However, in Finding Myself in Britain Amy Boucher Pye reminds us to look much closer to the hearth for the keys to our make-up.

Bex Lewis gives a fantastic overview, complete with an accompanying video:

Throughout the book, Amy gives a sense of searching, exploring and finding identity, not only in our earthly lives, but in our search for our heavenly future. Where does God want us to be now, and how do we ‘shed a dual approach to life’? How do we deal with the feeling of being a stranger and a foreigner – whether travelling, or living out our lives on earth?

LRAmy-B-PyePopular historical fiction writer Julie Klassen blogged on tea, including my chapter on the nation’s favourite drink:

I’ve also been reading a book by Amy Boucher Pye, who grew up not far from where I live in Minnesota, but is now a London vicar’s wife. Her book is called Finding Myself in Britain. As a lover of all-things-British, I’m enjoying reading about the differences in cultures, traditions, vocabulary, etc. between Americans Brits, and in particular, the chapter devoted to tea. If you are a fellow Anglophile, you’ll want to read Amy’s book for yourself.

Tanya Marlow asks deep and probing questions. I reveal more than I intended in her interview on her blog. Also, a cute photo of me and my sister and brother when we were kids. Gotta love the seventies’ fashions.

Listen in!

Loved being at Premier Christian Radio this morning. Such fun.

Loved being at Premier Christian Radio.

I explore favourite British quirks in an interview on Inspirational Breakfast, 8 October 2015, with John Pantry.

A lovely chat with two well-known Christians: “In Good Company with Jeff Lucas and Ruth Dearnley,” 25 October 2015.

Finding Myself in Britain from Amy Boucher Pye on Vimeo.