Daisy’s Vintage Cornish Camper Van by Ali McNamara [BOOK REVIEW]

★★★★★

Daisy’s Vintage Cornish Camper Van by Ali McNamara is exactly the book I thought I needed to put me in a better mood!

When Ana inherits a camper van from her best friend, she needs to go to Cornwall to get it. A nice sea air and fish and chips are enver a bad choice. 

But when she arrives, she realises that the camper van is in a much worse state than she imagined.

The fixing will take longer than she anticipated. 

On top of this, Ana finds a series of unsent postcards dating back to the 1940s, hidden in the van. This is a sign and Ana wants to make sure the postcards are delivered. 

And while the camper van is restored and Ana is helping other people be happy, she may eventually notice she is finding her way back to happiness again. 

My Thoughts: 

Daisy’s Vintage Cornish Camper Van got my attention from the moment I saw that beautiful cover. Then, I read the synopsis and I was sold. 

For me, both camper vans and postcards have a big importance in my life. I have always wanted to have a camper van and be able to go on a road trips and experience that freedom. Even though I was lucky to be able to travel the world, it is never enough. 

“Yes, there’s definitely something about a camper van that makes people smile. They’re a happy vehicle, so people enjoy seeing them as much as their owners enjoy driving them.”

And postcards were always a way to travel without living my home. Get to meet other places and cultures, meet other people. It is extraordinary how many things I have learned about the world and the people from other countries just by reading their postcards.

“Deltiology – it’s the name for the study and collection of postcards. It comes from the Greek word deltios, which means “writing tablet” or “letter”.”

Ana is working in London, busy in her day-to-day job. When her best friend Daisy dies, she is completely lost. Daisy was everything she had, and now she is gone. When she inherits this van, Ana is eager to pick the van up and return to her normal London routine. She is not really a fan of travel, camper vans or camping. But Daisy was, and if she wanted for Ana to have this van and that was her last wish, this is the least Ana can do for her. 

“These old vehicles are very sensitive – especially camper vans. They’re the worst, very temperamental they can be.”

Throughout her stay, Ana meets Malachi, the mechanic, who sold the van to Daisy and who will help Ana restore it. He is a very interesting character with an interesting point of view on life.

He was my favourite character in the book. 

“People pay a lot of money these days to find themselves. They’re not really finding themselves, they’re finding a version of themselves they feel happy to be for a while.”

“We all change through our lives, and what you’re happy to be when you’re twenty is unlikely to be what you’re happy being when you’re older.”

Malachi also has a camper van himself. He always tells Ana why camper vans are amazing. If you are a fan of camper van, this book will be a favourite by default. 

“But… you’d be mad not to at least try camping in her. It’s a wonderful experience. You can drive where you like, set up camp and cook your dinner in the open air, even bed down under the stars if you’re lucky. The freedom is amazing.”

I loved everything about this book. The story was beautiful. All the characters were likeable and real. They all had their stories and points of development. It was nice to see Ana finally healing and learning to be happy again. Malachi’s story was beautiful and it was the perfect closure to his mission. Noah’s personal story was also heartwarming, as he learns to accept what happened in the past and be able to move on. I also really want to talk about the mystery couple from the postcards, but I won’t, in fear that I will spoil anything. But the development on that story was amazing and it helped Ana in many ways to heal herself, which was magical!

“If something is worth doing, Ana – I hear one of her favourite sayings echo in my ears – it’s worth doing well.”

To summarize – Daisy’s Vintage Cornish Camper Van is my new favorite!

Beautiful and heartwarming. It will make you want to go on a road trip. I definitely recommend Daisy’s Vintage Cornish Camper Van. And as with every book, I love learning random things, and here are some things I learned: 

“Did you know the phrase “dilly-dally” is commonly attributed to the English music hall singer Marie Lloyd, but was actually in use much earlier than her 1918 song, as far back as the seventeenth century?”

“A Splitty. It’s what we call a split screen camper van. All pre-1967 camper vans have a windscreen split in two. After that the new models all had the solid bay windows.”