My Books

My third – and most wholesome –  book. This is my story of discovering the world of endurance sport and the challenges that go with navigating this transition from a London city chic. This book was long-listed for The William Hill Sports Book of the Year when published in 2018.

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If you had told me three years before I wrote this book that I’d be getting up at 6am on Sundays to swim in a freezing reservoir and spending my Saturday nights unshowered, covered in mud, in a pub, I would have spat out my champagne. But when I decided an alternative social activity that didn't involve drinking, it became more than just a running hobby. It was a holistic path to overturning old labels that girls like me aren't tough. Soon, I set myself the seemingly impossible goal of qualifying as a Team GB triathlete.

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Reviews

‘A chatty, and sometimes racy, account of going from glamour girl to GB triathlete.’

(Daily Mail, Friday Books)

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‘I love Helen Croydon’s honesty. It makes me connect with every word she writes!’

(Jo Good, BBC Radio London)

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‘Helen’s portrayal of her transformation through running is utterly brilliant. It’s warming, funny and extremely relatable!’

(Editor, Women’s Running Magazine)

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‘This has to be one of the most enjoyable running related books I have ever read. It is incredibly well written and brilliantly captures why so many people of all abilities take up running or triathlons in the first instance…I found myself captivated, nodding along in agreement and smiling to myself as I recognised so much of what she described.’

(So Let’s Go Running Magazine)

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‘Proof that we can all surprise ourselves and those that know us. A great tale with honesty and plenty of humour. I might get my running shoes on yet…’

(Lucrezia Millarini, ITV News)

Screw the Fairytale was my second book, and my most serious because it was research-based, rather than first-person memoir.

 

Frustrated by the seemingly ubiquitous view that everyone needs to find a partner and kids to be happy, I set out to investigate whether the ‘fairytale’ model of marriage and kids is still appropriate for our modern day world.

 

Through anecdotes from my own colourful love life at the time, to undercover missions, including a meeting for sex addicts, a ‘wife-finding’ tour to Ukraine and staying in a polyamorous commune in The Highlands, along with interviews with anthropologists, psychologists, swingers, sperm donor mothers and more, I set out to map the real landscape of modern relationships.

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Featured or mentioned in: The Independent, Metro, Evening Standard, CNN, Sunday Magazine (New Zealand), Prospect Magazine

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Sugar Daddy Diaries was my first published book in 2011 (Random House). It’s a memoir of a wonderfully fun and care-free period of life where I dated older men. (“older” being mid-40’s, which seemed older then!)

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It made the WH Smith best-seller list when published in 2011. I never set out to write a dating memoir, but like any writer, we write about what is most interesting in our life journey at the time. And during that time (my late 20s), I was exploring my sexual freedom, I loved being single and I had a penchant for older, sophisticated silver-fox types.

 

When I discovered a ‘sugar daddy’ dating webiste, I joined for fun. Little did I know it would propelled me into a world of Prada shopping trips, five-star travel and fascinating characters. I kept a diary – like any natural writer does. And it wasn’t long before it became evident I had to write it up as a book.

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Reviews

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Lorriane, ITV: “A fascinating read.”

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News of the World: “Searingly honest” “A fast-paced trip into a world most of us will never get to access.”

 

Closer: “Her juicy adventures will keep you hooked.”

 

Manchester Evening Standard: “Enlightening, exceptionally well-written confessional that makes us question our preconceptions about relationships.”

 

Cosmo voted Sugar Daddy Diaries Book of the Week

 

Lost in the City: “Refreshingly open, truthful and deals with the trials and tribulations of social stigma, online dating, and what, as a woman, ‘we should want’.”

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The Erotic Review: “A riveting read that catapults you from Primark to Prada in a few short pages…. The author slips in intriguing insights into the female psyche: power as an aphrodisiac; the traditional relationship and how it fits with a modern girl’s life.”