The Author
Angie’s books are based on her true-life experiences inspired by the highs and lows of a distant past that has given her the strength to tackle each day with a smile. Lighthearted and poignant Angie tells her story with with honesty and bags of humour, focusing on everyday situations that many women will relate to. Throughout her story Angie champions the importance of self-belief by tackling the subject of self-confidence and how the lack of it often effects so many in our society. Convinced confidence needs to be nurtured and encouraged by those around us, Angie’s message to other women: “The key to self-confidence is believing YOU CAN!”
Jennifer Brown’s Journey
Five feet one and full of fizz, Jennifer Brown lights up the room. She has a gorgeous partner, a wicked best friend, and a boss who doesn’t mind that she’s the worst typist on the planet. She’s loyal, generous and irredeemably ditzy. Everyone loves Jennifer Brown.
But can she learn to love herself? When her world caves in, she needs every ounce of her steely core to step back from the abyss and take charge of her life, reinventing herself first as cook and housekeeper to a saucy sexagenarian, then as manager of a tumbledown country estate with sensitive secrets. Peopled by a battalion of hilarious characters from the caustic, cross-dressing confidant to the besotted ex-boyfriend with a barmy ex-wife, Jennifer Brown’s Journey is a heartwarming, thoughtful, often poignant portrait of the trials of life as a thirty-something woman. Jennifer Brown champions the importance of self-belief, and the value of a bucket-sized glass of wine in a tight spot. And, always in the background, there’s the quiet man with the warm eyes, and the velvet vowels.
What on earth is Jennifer Brown going to do about him?
JENNIFER BROWN MOVING ON
Jennifer Brown Moving On
She’s back!
Five feet one and full of fizz, Jennifer Brown has learned to roll with the punches and adapt to whatever life throws at her. It’s thrown plenty in the past and she’s had to use her steely core to reinvent herself, first as cook and housekeeper to a saucy sexagenarian, then as manager of a tumbledown country estate with sensitive secrets. In Jennifer Brown On The Move, this Bridget Jones with knobs on is taking charge of her life again, showing the world she can move in the most exalted, high-power circles and lose not an ounce of her gutsy, down-to-earth charm. Her hilarious cross-dressing confidant Will is on hand once again, with pearls of caustic wisdom, and her old boss Jonathan Dashwood-Silk breezes in and out of her life, still dripping charisma but still needing our heroine to dig him out of the odd hole. As she crosses continents and breaks bread with the world’s movers and shakers, Jennifer Brown finds her mind still troubled by thoughts of the quiet man with the warm eyes and the velvet vowels. Then that daydream is torpedoed when she’s invited to his wedding. But you know Jennifer. She never gives up!
JENNIFER BROWN TO THE MANNER BORN
This Bridget Jones with knobs on has moved on quite a bit since she was the worst typist on the planet, using every ounce of her steely core to rise to the shedloads of challenges life has thrown at her. In Jennifer Brown To The Manner Born, our fiery five-foot-one free spirit has greatness thrust upon her, now that she’s been gifted the rambling Elizabethan manor house she used to manage. But you know Jennifer – she can move in the most sophisticated of society’s circles and lose none of her gutsy, down-to-earth charm. And, as always, she’ll need all her reserves of energy, strength and good humour to keep a whole host of balls in the air – the threat of financial ruin, her best friend’s broken heart, and two proposals of marriage. Oh, and two unexpected llamas. As usual, she’ll find creative ways to deal with it all. But the universe is about to choose the happiest, most rewarding time in Jennifer’s life to throw her the biggest challenge yet.
Reviews
Absolutley Brilliant!
A complete delight from start to finish!
Heartwarming and funny
Funny, sad and beautifully written. If lockdown left you re-evaluating your life? Or perhaps it has taken you on your own journey of self-discovery? This feel good story will have you howling with laughter.
Heartwarming and funny
A complete delight from start to finish!
Heartwarming and funny
I haven’t enjoyed a book as much as this in a long time. I felt like I was following her journey and meeting the characters with her. It’s beautifully written and a real page-turner. I absolutely cannot. wait for the sequel.
A complete delight from start to finish!
A complete delight from start to finish!
A complete delight from start to finish!
Jennifer Brown's Journey was a complete delight from start to finish. I honestly read the entire story in one 3 hour sitting!⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Simply Wonderful.
Fun, heartwarming and absolutely brilliant.
A complete delight from start to finish!
A fantastic read! Picked it up this morning and read the whole thing in one sitting! Funny, moving, encouraging. A great read for a lazy day in the sun or tucked up next to a roaring fire. Can’t wait for the next one!
Fun, heartwarming and absolutely brilliant.
Fun, heartwarming and absolutely brilliant.
Fun, heartwarming and absolutely brilliant.
A fantastic read, picked it up this morning and have just finished it in time for tea! Funny, moving, encouraging.
This is a little gem of a read
Fun, heartwarming and absolutely brilliant.
Fun, heartwarming and absolutely brilliant.
I urge all to have a read of Jennifer Brown’s adventures... we can all identify with her at some stage - a highly entertaining observation of life’s ups and downs, dips and turns 😆Well done Angie Langley 👏🏻
‘Jennifer B’ The Musical!
'Jennifer B' the musical theatre adaptation of 'Jennifer Brown's Journey' premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe, August 2019. The musical written by Tish Tindall has being produced by Lossiemouth Entertainment Academy in Scotland which shot to fame in 2014 when the late Hollywood Producer and TV Personality David Gest asked Tish Tindall and LossieEA co-founder Diane Aspinall, to breathe new life into a project originally conceived by himself and Michael Jackson; a musical based upon the life and works of Robert Burns.
Jennifer Brown and me!
An old school colleague of mine recently posted a comment on my social media page saying that our old English Teacher would have been astounded to learn that I’d become an author….I’m pretty certain she would have fallen off her chair! As a child I was desperately shy, especially at school and unlike the rest of the class dreaded the sound of the bell announcing that it was break-time Peering out the window I always hoped for rain so I could stay inside, instead of hiding in the corner of the playground, too nervous to join in with the others.
At secondary school my confidence improved slightly, but it was still a major crisis when asked to stand up and speak during english lessons which often ended in recitals of garbled gobbledegook, giving the rest of the class a good laugh and making me a prime target for a group of girls who constantly bullied me. The three Susan's or the ‘Sisters Spiteful’ as I referred to them, took great pleasure in ridiculing me at every opportunity and I was often on the receiving end of a sly punch or a sharp dig. But worse than that was the constant whispering I had to endure from them as they huddled together at the back of the classroom giggling about me. My only defensive mechanism in those days was to escape into a world of endless daydreams which provided me with the ability to detach myself from my immediate surroundings and disappear into a ‘La La Land’ of romantic heroes' and happy forever endings. My school reports were predictable. Angela won't achieve anything in life unless she stops her silly daydreaming, although ultimately for me it was a matter of blocking out their cruel jibes and getting through school.
At the age of thirteen still struggling with self-confidence issues, I was cast in a comical role for an end of term drama production. Horrified, certain my English teacher had stitched me up, it took every ounce of courage to get up on stage and play the part. Bizarrely I pulled it off and rather enjoyed the role-play of someone other than myself. Suddenly realising that I had the ability to make people laugh this new found talent quickly became my new mechanism of survival. For the first time I could express myself instead of hiding behind my shyness. Best of all the Sisters Spiteful suddenly sensing my new popularity, willingly accepted me into their fold.
Of course the downside of all of this led me straight out of the frying pan into the fire as very soon I was at their beck and call, acting as the class clown to make them laugh. My school grades plummeted, I began skipping lessons, but at that time being part of the gang was all that mattered to me, even if it meant leaving school with a limited amount of qualifications.
As an adult my self-confidence grew in dribs and drabs. I learnt how to get by putting on a smiley face and subsequently my eager to please attitude led me in to secretarial world where I fitted well. and what I didn’t know, I blagged my way through. Fast forward to ten years ago when I was least expecting it, a failed long-term relationship suddenly sent my world spiralling out of control. For all my eagerness to please, I somehow found myself virtually homeless with little more than two suitcases full of clothes and a few odds and ends. Once again my lack of self-worth dived close to zero.
After a year of relying on the kindness and generosity of good friends I finally decided it was time to take a risk, step out of my comfort zone. So I applied for a live-in job and set off on a journey of self-discovery that would both challenge my strength of character and take every ounce of self-confidence. It was the loneliness of a those of jobs that led me to writing ‘Jennifer Brown’s Journey’ which is based on my own experiences and struggle to regain my self-confidence.
To be honest my initial attempts at writing a book only served to highlight the wasted periods of my education, but never one to give up on a challenge I persevered, determined to improve. I disciplined myself to write for at least two hours a day, which to fit in with my job turned out to be either very early in the morning or late at night. I knew I wanted to write a humorous book, and one which people could relate to. Not having had any previous experience, I started by jotting down every humorous situation that I could think of….and trust me, there have been many! Then I constructed a brief outline of what had happened to me, embellishing the various characters I met along the way.
There were times when I could just sit down and the inspiration would flow but other times when flashes of inspiration would occur in the middle of the night or in the early hours of the morning, and it was at times like that when my best work has been done. Gradually embellished by my imagination and sense of humour which allowed me to develop the storyline, my book took shape. Two years later my first book Jennifer Brown’s Journey was completed. By now I’d started to blossom, affirmation of my new, confident self and its success led to the creation of the sequel.
The last few years have been some of the happiest of my life, but the biggest blow came in 2020 with the loss of my deeply loving and endlessly supportive husband, Brian, to pancreatic cancer. Not only was it heartbreaking to deal with his illness, but suddenly I had to contend with the many Covid restrictions which were hastily being put into place at that time. The Salisbury Hospice At Home nurses were truly amazing and despite the incredibly stringent and clinical backdrop of the strict Government legislation they brought compassion and care into my home and helped Brian maintain a certain dignity during the final weeks of his life.
You never notice how much space someone fills in your life until the space is empty. Brian died on 21st March, the first day of spring, two days before the first national lockdown. Sadly Covid took away my right to say a final goodbye, denied him a funeral and even prevented me from grieving with my family and friends, leaving me to cope alone.
During those dark days I needed a distraction desperately, so I took a deep breath and launched myself into writing the final book in the Jennifer Brown series. It wasn’t easy, my emotions were raw, but like my heroine Jennifer who champions the importance of self-belief, I was determined to finish it.
Perseverance and discipline together with buckets of tears and long nights spent at my laptop, knowing that Brian would be cheering me on, Jennifer Brown To The Manner Born was finally finished. Now I am hoping along with my two previous books, Jennifer Brown’s Journey & Jennifer Brown Moving On, my story will bring some laughter to others who may have gone through a similar experience as I did losing a loved one during lockdown.
Looking back, although my shyness always inhibited me as a child and led me to spend a lot of time being outside of the so-called “popular group,” on a positive note, as the years have passed, I Can learning to cope on my own. I’ve learnt that everyone goes through rough periods. That we all have moments where circumstances outside of our control make our lives harder.
We aren’t born with self-confidence, it’s something that needs to be nurtured. When we have healthy self-esteem, we tend to feel positive about ourselves and about life in general. It makes us better able to deal with life's ups and downs. Writing Jennifer Brown has given me the courage to laugh at myself instead of worrying about what others think. My books have taken me on a journey, allowed me to celebrate my triumphs as well as my failings. Finally I’ve discovered who I am ....