My big move: I’d lived in western Sydney my entire life – but I found myself in the UK’s ‘happiest place’

‘I began to ride along the canals of the River Leam and into the neighbouring towns of Warwick and Kenilworth, names I recognised from Elizabeth Bennet’s fateful tour towards Pemberley.’ Until I was 25, I’d lived in the same house, on the same street. But after a shaky start in Shakespeare’s county, I got a bicycle, learned to drive and wrote a novel Find more essential summer reading “I thought you’d look like someone from Home and Away.” The cheerful woman greeted me in the lobby. I didn’t look anything like a Summer Bay resident in my suit, blue hijab and heels coated with dirt from my walk up the gravel driveway. I was frazzled and only just on time. Foolishly, I’d assumed that my non-driving urban lifestyle could still be supplemented with ride-sharing. I did not yet appreciate that there were none going to the village of Leek Wootton. The taxi driver had dropped me at the back of the enormous grounds, and eventually I found my way to a stone-fronted mansion. It looked more like the Downton Abbey estate than a venue for a job interview. As I was introduced to my future colleagues, I was struck by their friendly curiosity about how I’d found myself here. I didn’t blame them; I was wondering the very same thing. ‘I didn’t look anything like a Summer Bay resident’: Zeynab Gamieldien at Compton Verney estate in Warwickshire in 2020 Up until the age of 25, I’d lived in the same house on the same street. I’d been lucky enough to travel extensively, but I’d always returned to the familiar comforts of home. Getting married and moving out of home was my first big move, but when my husband was offered his dream job shortly thereafter, we made the decision […]

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