My Writing
My Writing
Discover My Books
Continue to read below to find out more about the two books I have written. My first book ‘Lockdown Stories’, is a powerful collection of writings and reflections from around the world during the pandemic. My most recent book, ‘Gutsy Travels: Travelling the World With My Invisible Friend…’ explores my adventures to some of the most remote corners of the world while facing the added challenge of living with Crohn’s Disease.
Gutsy Travels
Lockdown Stories
New Release
When Love Slips Away
A moving story of love, loss and second chances. Perfect for fans of Jojo Moyes, Kristen Hannah and Taylor Jenkins Reid.
• An uplifting novel, spanning three decades, that asks whether it is ever too late to find love.
• Debut fiction from the non-fiction author of Gutsy Travels.
Dee’s life unfolds through first love, loss, heartbreak and the enduring strength of friendship from the summer of 1977 to the eve of her fiftieth birthday on the Greek island of Paros.
From a teenage romance to the devastating loss of the man she believed she would spend her life with, Dee is forced to rebuild herself more than once. As she creates a new life and reconnects with family she never knew existed, she begins to believe that happiness may still be possible.
Then, on the night of her fiftieth birthday, an unexpected face from her past appears, making her wonder whether love has not slipped away after all.
Latest Release: Available Now
Gutsy Travels
“Joanna’s travels include voluntary work and fundraising for a Crohn’s charity, with highlights such as trekking Machu Picchu, climbing the Three Peaks in Transylvania, building a house from banana leaves in Cambodia, and working with elephants in Thailand. She also recounts a medical emergency in Madagascar and regularly going to bed hungry in Switzerland due to misunderstanding about dietary limitations.
Written in a fast-paced, often humorous style, this collection of unique stories showcases Joanna’s resilience, proving that chronic illness doesn’t have to be a barrier to living an adventurous life.”
My Debut Book
Lockdown Stories
“Joanna’s travels include voluntary work and fundraising for a Crohn’s charity, with highlights such as trekking Machu Picchu, climbing the Three Peaks in Transylvania, building a house from banana leaves in Cambodia, and working with elephants in Thailand. She also recounts a medical emergency in Madagascar and regularly going to bed hungry in Switzerland due to misunderstanding about dietary limitations.
Written in a fast-paced, often humorous style, this collection of unique stories showcases Joanna’s resilience, proving that chronic illness doesn’t have to be a barrier to living an adventurous life.”
Reader Reviews
Read What Those Who Have Read The Books Think
4.5 Review average from my book readers
Goodreads
We follow Dee’s life from a young age into her fifties. It takes you through love, heartbreak, loss, and trying to rebuild your life along the way. As a woman in my fifties, this one really hit home for me. It took me on an emotional journey and had me thinking about life, love, and all the choices we make along the way. Such a beautiful and relatable read. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!
NetGalley
Suffering from Crohn's Disease since her 20's, Joanna O'Donoghue made up her mind to live life to the fullest - and that included travelling the world with her 'invisible friend'! Her bravery is breathtaking and to say that many of her experiences were 'challenging', would be an understatement. This book will be a route-map to living, whether you've just been diagnosed, or you've lived with the disease for a long time. An interesting addition to the book are the two 'guest' chapters - the first, about getting through airport security when you a serious medical condition and have to travel with lots of medication in your hand luggage: the second about the difficulties parents of neurodivergent children face, when taking them on holiday. Both a must read!
Maureen Taylor
I loved this book for its honesty and humour combined with insight about the day to day experience of living with Crohn’s disease while travelling around the world. A truly inspirational and entertaining read for all.
Christine Hartley
A wonderful collection of inspiring anecdotes of travelling the world while living with the challenge of Crohns disease. As a fellow traveller, I really enjoyed Jo's descriptions of the places she visited and the colourful characters she came across. Some left me in awe of her bravery and resilience when falling ill in the most remote places, others left me crying with laughter picturing her grappling with a rather mischievous baby elephant! I hope to read more about her adventures in the future.
Kelly Simmonds
What a shock when Joanna was diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease over forty years ago. Gutsy Tales. Travelling with my Invisible Friend demonstrates her refusal to accept this as a barrier to her desire to visit remote areas of the world. The book is a testament to her resilience and adventurous spirit. Joanna has travelled widely, challenging herself with an unwavering determination, often on volunteering expeditions to help others or fundraising for Crohn’s, alongside a quest for travel and adventure. Climbing to Machu Picchu and not on the tourist route. Working with children at a Day Care Centre in Quito at a dump. Building a house for a family in Cambodia. These are just a few of the stories she has to tell. There are some amusing incidents and some quite worrying and even dangerous. Sharing her travel adventures will serve as an inspiration to others, encouraging them to persevere and face new challenges. Gutsy Travels is well worth a read and I can recommend it wholeheartedly.
Jane Davies
Travelling the world is exhilarating but can be challenging at times, particularly for someone who faces the issues that Joanna does with a hidden disability. Her determination not to let this hold her back shines through the book and sometimes we even forget it is a problem until she reminds us. Not only has Joanna been able to help others by her volunteer work and raising money for Crohn’s research but she has spread the message about Crohn’s Disease to numerous fellow travellers and people around the world. This book is an entertaining read describing her experiences in Australia, Southeast Asia, South Africa, Madagascar and Central and South America and across the world, which gives readers unfamiliar to these countries an insight into them from her perspective. Hopefully it will encourage others who may face setbacks to push the boundaries and follow in her footsteps.
Jonathan Smith
Having read Joanna’s book of her travels I was transported to places I could only dream of going to. Joanna has shown us how to overcome the challenges she faced travelling with a diagnosis of Crohn’s Disease I admire her courage and her honesty. Travelling the world can be an amazing experience. To travel while you have a medical problem would stop most people in their tracks, Joanna shows us how to overcome adversity, by believing in her ability to know how to navigate the necessary problems. I highly recommend reading this book.
Rita-Marie Lenton
All the ‘stories’ are so diverse and many are very emotional. But all the stories show the determination of the writers not to give up. They also show how prepared we all were to ‘follow the rules’. A real treasure to snuggle down to!
Maureen Taylor
This book is a collection of various people’s reactions to the Coronavirus outbreak during 2020/2021. It reflects the shock, the tragedies and difficulties that were experienced but also the ways in which people coped, their positivity and resilience.
Gillian Agnew
Joanna along with her contributors takes us on a journey how different individual coped during the COVID pandemic.
Delmar Byers
This is a powerful collection of writings from around the world, written by those who survived COVID-19 but whose lives were touched by it in ways that are irreversible.
Mel
I enjoyed this book and found it fascinating to get an insight into how COVID-19 impacted people of different backgrounds worldwide. It is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand the human impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in a very readable way. A powerful reminder of the strength of the human spirit.
Kevin Yates
I enjoyed this book and found it fascinating to get an insight into how COVID-19 impacted people of different backgrounds worldwide. It is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand the human impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in a very readable way. A powerful reminder of the strength of the human spirit.
Kevin Yates
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Jo O’Donoghue is a fellow Norfolk writer and a friend, so it has been an absolute pleasure to read her latest book and first work of fiction, When Love Slips Away. While romance and contemporary fiction are not my usual genres, I found Jo’s book entertaining, well-paced, and thoughtful. Readers of her previous non-fiction, like Gutsy Travels and Lockdown Stories, will easily spot the familiar threads of her love for travel and reflections on solitary life. Jo writes with a free-flowing, uncomplicated style that makes the pages fly by—the book is around 230 pages, and I polished it off in about four hours. Without giving away any plot spoilers, the story follows Dee as she navigates the ups and downs of friendships and love interests. It is a narrative with a genuinely good heart and a solid anchor; the plot never drifts. Dee is an uncontentious, relatable protagonist whose love for music and travel clearly mirrors Jo’s own experiences, giving the novel an authentic touch of autobiography. One of my favourite elements was the accompaniment of a book soundtrack. Each chapter heading is named after a song, and the full playlist is provided at the back of the book. In hindsight, I wish I had queued up the playlist to listen in sequence as I read! As someone who doesn't routinely read this genre, I would call this a pleasant read about a character you grow to care for. It delivers what fans of the genre want: it obeys the best contemporary romance tropes, avoids unnecessary complications, and wraps up with a satisfying finale. A solid fiction debut—thanks, Jo!