Ishbel Holmes (author)

Ishbel Holmes has had a rough upbringing. Her father left when she was young, and then her mother abandoned her because she didn’t seem to fit with her life. She was abused in the care system and survived through her tenacity. At the age of 21, she had a stark choice; die, or choose to live.

She chose the latter.

She made the decision to cycle the world even though she didn’t really have the resources or equipment to do it. Since then she has pedalled through 20 countries, cycled mountain passes and across salt plains all on a painfully small budget or sometimes no money at all. A spell cycling on the velodrome with the Iranian Team had some success but didn’t make her happy either. In Turkey though her solo ride around the world came to an end when a stray decided to follow her when she was cycling along. She assumed it was just following for a brief period of time. But it didn’t leave, even after she sprinted away, so in the end, she stopped and it caught her up. She set up camp, cooked food for herself and ate what she could. She saw the dog eating her leftovers and it lay down to sleep as she went to bed. Looking out the following morning, she couldn’t see it initially, but it was still there; perhaps she wasn’t going to be doing this alone after all.

So begins her adventures with this dog that she called, Lucy. She built a box to go on the front of the bike for her. The intention was to take her to an animal shelter where she could be properly cared for, and with the help of people all around the world on social media managed to get her there. However, there was something that didn’t quite add up with the shelter, so he headed back in the following day and took Lucy away. Now there were two of them for her to look after, once again people all around the world stepped in to help her and her new companion.

It is not the best-written book that I have read, but that is not the point of it. It is a heartwarming tale of a broken and abused woman whose four-legged companion opens her heart to a new world of possibilities. Lucy’s devotion to Ishbel heals her and shows her the positive side of humanity and this is what makes it a great book to read.… (more)