Hayling Island writer feels ‘honoured and privileged’ by reception of her debut book The Girl From Pompey

Bryony Best, a 38-year-old holistic therapist from Hayling Island, documented her struggles and gave readers a glimpse into her past in her 2021 book ‘The Girl from Pompey’.

This book, a collection of both research and answers Bryony says she has gained from a quest for personal fulfilment, covers a wide range of hard-hitting subjects, including alcohol and drug addiction, childhood trauma, mental health, and wellbeing.

These topics are those that Bryony feels ‘with great certainty’ that she needs to teach to others through her book, having been ‘someone who has been lost in a dark space with little to no support’.

The inspiration for writing the book came from her recovery, which had started at a rehabilitation facility in Portsmouth, and since then Bryony says she became obsessed with discovering the key to happiness and fulfilment.

She describes the main focus of the story as the discovery and the journey towards it, one that she says she feels ‘all of us can welcome’.

Since its 2021 release, Bryony’s book has since garnered the attention of many readers, through ways such as radio interviews with the BBC and she is now looking towards book signings this month.

It has been described as ‘down to earth’, ‘real’, ‘funny’, and ‘hard-hitting’.

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Even though it may have seemed like an impossible task at first to get copies of her book to stores, Bryony is overjoyed to have gained support from local bookstores JK Wellness in Drayton and The Petersfield Bookshop in Petersfield.

She had ‘felt scared to share the book with the world but can honestly say that she feels both honoured and privileged for all the support’.

Currently, Bryony is writing her second book, a prequel to The Girl from Pompey, which outlines her experiences being sensitive to the supernatural.

The Girl from Pompey can be bought from the previously mentioned bookstores as well as on Amazon, with a coffee morning and book signing at the Kings Theatre on April 27 at 10am.