Book news!

My debut memoir Nest releases 5 June 2023!

Kindle readers can pre-order right now on Amazon.

Click below for your location or search your local Kindle store for ‘Nest Catriona Turner’

“After years of life-changing transition, how could I know what normal looked like any more?”

When Catriona Turner seized the opportunity to leave Scotland for a three-year stay in southern France with her fiancé, she had no idea that over a decade later, she would have moved on from the Pyrenean foothills to the bustling urban hills of Kampala, the dusty Atlantic beaches of Congo, and the flat suburbs of Denmark.

But adventure came at a price. Away from her career, raising children between international moves, Catriona lost her sense of direction. Alongside amazing travel, enriching new friendships, and unimagined opportunities, came family separation, an emergency birth, a political lockdown, and endless culture shock.

Lost in mental health struggles, she became a foreigner in her own home, and fumbled for a sense of purpose. But life on the move meant she had to confront her core belief about what it means to be home. And just when Catriona thought she had it all figured out, along came a global pandemic.

Pre-order bonus!

Email proof of your pre-order to catriona@thefrustratednester.com and I’ll send you the first three chapters now!

You’ll also be entered into a giveaway to win a personalised signed paperback of Nest bundled with two other books of life abroad. ‘Once Upon an Expat’ and ‘Life on the Move’, both edited by Lisa Webb, are packed with personal stories from women experiencing life beyond their own borders. I’ll send the books to the winner wherever you are in the world.

With lovely prose and deft craft, Catriona Turner brings the reader with her not just to fascinating locations around the world, but through her equally compelling inner journey. Don’t miss this memoir of a woman coming home to herself.

International bestseller Rachael Herron

I love Nest! Catriona is an exceptional writer, and a lot of readers will gain comfort from this book. I can’t wait for my friends to read it!

Keri Bloomfield, author of ‘Nothing Like a Dane’

Hello! I’m Catriona, the writer formerly known as The Frustrated Nester. I’m Scottish, and I’ve spent the last fourteen years living abroad with my family, between France, Uganda, Congo, and Denmark.

Scroll down to explore blog posts about living abroad, places we’ve been, and more.

But now, we’re moving back to Scotland. My next book will explore the process of returning. They say repatriation is the hardest move – will I feel at home there again? You can support this work in progress and read along in real time here.

Learn more about me at the – you guessed it – About page, and sign up for exclusive email updates right in your inbox here. In between, you’ll mostly find me on Instagram.

P.S. If this is your first visit, I’d love to know how you got here! Email me: catriona@thefrustratednester.com

Explore the blog:

Thank you Wayne

I’ve just logged off from the livestream of the memorial service for the writer Wayne Milstead, who died suddenly last month. Wayne and his husband Aaron ran Circle of Missé, the writing retreat. I’m sharing here what I wrote in an email the day I heard the shocking news. It was in 2015, when we…

The Certainty of Granite

This phrase, ‘The Certainty of Granite’ is one that I’ve had knocking around for years, and it was the working title of my book before I settled on the one I have now. Instead, earlier this year I crafted this poem from various notes and journal entries. The ideas here don’t resonate in the same…

The Art of Finding Home

… The friendships I’ve made with people because we connect over performance, or books, or because we’ve worked on a passion project together, those have been important in a different way. Because they connect with a deeper, stronger part of my identity, one that is a constant, regardless of circumstance. It’s connecting with that sense…

Paris Sketch: Monet at l’Orangerie

I wrote this during a moment of reflection in front of Monet’s famous Water Lilies, and it’s only lightly edited here. Scroll down for more information about the gallery. It’s hard to resist people watching instead. Just two elliptical galleries, no hurry, no trying to take in every painting and learn the significance of what’s…

On Crossing Paths and Feeding the Soul

It’s my birthday weekend, so here’s a treat! I’m sharing my fortnightly email this week with anyone who wants to read it! If you like it, get more about connection, expat insights, and creative living resources by signing up here. I had two meals in a row this week that fed my soul, as well…

The Roles Not Chosen

September 2020 ‘Which company does your husband work for?’ I was so taken aback by the question I just answered it. In the next moment, the event organiser called for everyone’s attention to introduce a speaker. I half-listened as I mentally retraced the friendly conversation. We’d been talking for maybe five minutes about the challenges…

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