Packing Up: Further Adventures of a Trailing Spouse

Keenan's (Diplomatic Baggage) follow-up to her first memoir about life as a diplomat's wife is a blend of gentle self-deprecation, confessional asides, and wondrous observations. She presents her stories as a series of journal entries. Topics range from the lighthearted%E2%80%94planning daughter Claudia's wedding, coping with husband AW's snoring, musing over the prospect of becoming a grandmother%E2%80%94to the discovery of a malignant lump in her breast. No matter the topic, Keenan keeps her tone cheery. She indulges in some name-dropping%E2%80%94"I met Annabel Elliot, who is Camilla Parker Bowles' sister"%E2%80%94and, on occasion, sounds a bit spoiled ("she thought I, the one-time fashion and beauty editor of the Sunday Times, was looking for a job at Woolies"). When AW's work takes them to Baku, Azerbaijan, Keenan admits, "I am the luckiest person on earth, why do I feel so anxious?" Though she hardly has room to catalog her life of extensive travels, Keenan notes recent highlights here: a drive through the Azerbaijan countryside, a trip to Holland to give a talk, a literary festival including stops in Jerusalem and the West Bank, and a health spa in Sri Lanka. She closes with the trials of AW's retirement, fearing restlessness after such a cosmopolitan life. Agent: David Godwin, David Godwin Associates (U.K.). (Oct.)