Like many, I’m fascinated by the lives of other people, how patterns weave themselves through the generations, how shared DNA links us to people we can never meet.

How many times in our own lives have things happened and we’ve sad, ‘Well, who would have thought we’d end up here… this would ever have happened to us?’

Memoirs are generally the domain of the rich and famous, whose public faces grace the tabloids or covers of celebrity magazines. The thing is, while I am interested the the great and the mighty, I’m far more interested in the humble and ordinary whose lives are filled with equal drama, excitement and tragedy.

Maggie Myklebust is one of those people.

She’s the same as the rest of us, taking what life throws her way, dealing with it the best she can. What makes her different is this humble, self-effacing woman decided to write about her life. And what a journey it’s been.

Her story melds with that of her great-grandparents who left a small Nordic island to follow the American Dream. She was born and raised in New Jersey, growing up American but with stories of the ‘old days’ and regular visits back to the home country when she was growing up – where she first fell in love.

Fast-forward a few years (I don’t want to spoil the story) and she’s married to her high school boyfriend, had three children in rapid succession and finds herself trapped in an abusive marriage.

Escaping the marriage she flees back to her roots. What follows is the stuff of good fiction, except it’s real life, with real people. A second marriage to the love of her life, one stepchild, two more children, one of whom is diagnosed autistic. The chance to travel and live back in the States for a while, a period in the Netherlands, and finally back to Norway.

It’s more than a record of a physical journey. It’s about finding yourself and your place in the world, accepting what’s happened in your life, coming to terms with it and finding peace. Finding ‘home’ wherever that may be. In Maggie’s case ‘home’ turned out to be the strangest twist of all.

What shines through this book is the honesty in the writing. She doesn’t gloss over her mistakes or the decisions she’s made. She takes full responsibility for herself and her actions. It’s a testament to who she is that she has maintained a good relationship with her parents and own children. She’s taken life on the chin, rolled with the punches and survived.

For a regular girl from New Jersey, it’s been a heck of a ride.

Fly Away Home, Maggie Myklebust

Format: Available in Paperback and Kindle (File Size 768 KB)

Print Length: 304 pages

Publisher: Summertime Publishing (3 April 2012)

Sold by: Amazon Media EU S.à r.l.

Language English

ISBN-10: 1904881734

ISBN-13: 978-1904881735

Follow Maggie’s blog at

www.flyawayhomebook.com