Book launched after blunder and near-fatal accident involving author

Eileen Ike West, the American author of the new book.

The remarkable journey of American writer Eileen ‘Ike’ West began in the summer of 2017 when she thought she’d booked a three-month bed-and-breakfast stay in Somerset to write an adult fiction book and visit friends nearby.

But when she arrived in England, it became apparent that she had mistakenly booked to stay in Misterton, north Nottinghamshire, rather than the village of the same name in Somerset!

Eileen became fond of her hosts, John and Liz Kingdom, and through their 13-year-old daughter, Millie, an enthusiastic reader, she ended up writing a children’s book instead. After returning home to Texas, she organised to have it published by an independent publisher in Misterton, JJ Moffs.

The new childrens book, launched at Misterton Primary School.

However, just days before her flight from the US, tragedy struck and she was mown down on a pedestrian crossing in an accident, suffering multiple, life-changing injuries.

She remains very ill, and so asked Millie to oversee the book’s launch, which was held at Misterton Primary School last week. The book is called ‘Another Giant World’, and all royalties will go to the mental-health charity, Help Me Im Fine, which is based in the village.