Eva Reddy's Trip of a Lifetime

Fiona McKenzie Kekic

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English

HARPER360
01 August 2025

Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945); Adventure; Australian Fiction

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Mrs Winterbottom Takes a Gap Year meets The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and Where'd You Go Bernadette in this witty novel about coming of (middle) age and discovering that you don't have to be who you've become.

How hard can it be to find a pair of Bollywood-dancing septuagenarians?

When Eva Moore wakes up on her fiftieth birthday, her drab middle-class life immediately starts to unravel. First, she receives an anonymous Facebook message claiming her husband is having an affair. Next, she is restructured out of her job by her obnoxiously young boss. Then, just when she thinks her life can't get any worse, her elderly parents wilfully go missing from their group tour of India. All they've left behind is an increasingly bizarre series of TikTok videos.

Eager to put some distance between herself and her failing marriage, Eva undertakes a rescue mission, determined to save her parents from certain disaster. She wants to find them. But what Eva really needs is to find herself. If she can do that, she might get a second chance at life and love - and, along the way, become an inspiration to anyone who fears their best days are behind them ...

Witty, warm and acutely observed - a book club book from an extraordinary new Australian voice about taking life, and adventure, by the horns. A funny, defiant shout into the face of society's expectations around ageing.

PRAISE:

'Eva Reddy took me on a wild, comical ride through India with a dash of romance on the side as she discovered friends and family may shape our lives but being true to yourself is the most important thing. I loved being along for the journey.' - Tricia Stringer, bestselling Australian author

'Fiona has taken the gritty challenges of infidelity, middle age, dementia, unemployment - not to mention traveling in India - and wrapped them up in a charming fairytale that tells you all is not lost.' - Tracy Grimshaw

'An important message delivered with humour and warmth. So much I could relate to!' - Tracy Bowden

'It's a funny, irreverent rollick, filled with likeable crazies. Proof that you really can 'kickstart' life - at any age - as long as you're a certain kind of woman.' - Ray Martin

'Every serious journalist thinks they will one day write a book - most don't. Fiona continues to demonstrates that she has not only the skill, but the drive and courage to write very clever fiction. Eva Reddy's Trip of a Lifetime is a terrific holiday read.' - Sandra Odorisio

'What a wild ride! Funny, poignant ... much of it hilariously relatable. Eva is the pin up girl of the sandwich generation.' - Melissa Doyle

'Laugh-out-loud funny from the very first page. Eva Reddy is immediately relatable and likeable as a main character. A fast paced, easy read - funny, and insightful - with a lovely dash of nostalgia for women of a certain age. Brava!' - Angela Cox

'A warm, amusing and adventurous tale of one woman's search for answers ... and herself.' - Kim Lock, author of The Other Side of Beautiful

'A coming of (middle) age romp that has an abundance of wit and pathos. Finding destiny through desperation gives us all hope, and in this delightful novel, many laughs along the way. Eva speaks for and to millions of women who share her experiences, fears and triumphs, beautifully distilled into an addictive read.' - Tara Brown

By: Fiona McKenzie Kekic
Imprint: HARPER360
Country of Publication: Australia
Dimensions: Height: 235mm, Width: 155mm, Spine: 27mm
Weight: 437g
ISBN: 9781038945648
ISBN 10: 103894564X
Pages: 272
Publication Date: 01 August 2025
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Fiona McKenzie Kekic is a recovering television professional with credits ranging from 60 Minutes to Married at First Sight. Her face even featured on the Sale of the Century Fame Game board back in the day. This remains an unlikely and slightly absurd career highlight. Television has always been cutthroat, but it was an especially tough road for a woman back in the eighties and nineties. After way too many scarring years in commercial news and current affairs, Fiona co-wrote Boned with her equally disgruntled colleague Jane Hansen. They lived through every hideous, misogynistic moment they recounted anonymously in that novel. Boned was published in 2008. Judging from the constant scandals and million-dollar payouts, nothing much has changed. But they did make the bastards squirm for a while. Television and its dastardly cast of characters continue to appear in Fiona's stories. But she's now stepped away from that world to concentrate full time on writing and to make the most of life's next stage. She believes absolutely that middle age is just the beginning and that women only get stronger as they age. There is a world of both figurative and literal mountains out there to prove it. Fiona lives in Sydney with her husband Murat, son Arley and their rescue cattle dog Vels. Photo credit: Clive Jeffery