last updated: 6 November 2025
easy town books
rethinking – well, everything
All prices include VAT.
book 1
beginning
Alice Adler sets out to convince the US billionaire Tom Holbon to build a town experiment. The aim of the experiment is to rethink — well, everything.
Eventually Tom Holbon agrees to use his contacts and assembles a team of experts to create a first draft for the town and for the experiments. The experiments aim at finding out which environment might allow humans to thrive.
While the focus is initially on neurological patients, soon additional features catch the team’s attention, such as business ideas which empower, town layouts and architecture which focus on human well-being, the role of arts & crafts in a vibrant town, the invention of special gardens such as the Senses Garden or the party den, and quite a bit more.
In between, there are personal stories, connections and clashes to discover.
e-book, 531 pages, 134k words
pdf file, optimised for mobile phone & tablet
Price: €8.08 (incl. VAT)
ISBN 978-3-00-060915-2
Chapters
The Letter
Beginning
Week 1 — Settling in
Week 2 — Health & Care
Week 3 — Economics & Business
Week 4 — Ecology & Agriculture
Week 5 — Arts & Crafts
Week 6 — Admin & Society
Week 7 — Research & Education
Week 8 — Design
New York
The First Easy Town Conference
Back at Tom’s
Epilogue
Next: book 2, travelling
Coming up: book 3, shaping
Coming up: book 4, building
Author’s notes
book 2, travelling, part 1
Travelling around the world, Alice and her team build an international network for the Easy Town Project.
Travelling with them are the past, personal demons and unwittingly the issue of sex.
Alice isn’t happy about being on this handshaking mission. She would much rather be with her main team in London and work on the town ideas.
But as each encounter in the different countries adds a challenge, an inspiration or a new question, Alice eventually concedes that this journey is worth all the trouble — and that the experiences will shape the future of the town project.
Besides, Alice enjoys most of the adventures, and her recklessness has the occasional field day.
The first part of the journey takes the travelling team to San Francisco, Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires, South Africa and Australia.
While book 1, beginning, introduces the town project, book 2, travelling, places the town ideas in a broader and international context.
book 2, travelling, includes a recap of book 1, beginning, at the end of the book.
e-book, 509 pages, 128k words
pdf file, optimised for mobile phone & tablet
Price: €9.09 (incl. VAT)
ISBN 978-3-9821289-6-2
Chapters
part 1
Prelude
Happy Flying
San Francisco, California
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Buenos Aires, Argentina
South Africa
Flight to Sydney
Australia
Time off
Next: book 2/2, travelling
Author’s notes
Recap, book 1, beginning
book 2, travelling, part 2
Refreshed from the holidays in Australia, the travelling team begin the second part of their journey around the world.
However, the visit to China is very different from everything the team have encountered so far, and the following stops couldn’t be more different either.
There are secret meetings, revelations, unexpected adventures, big questions regarding politics, economics, religion and society, the past bubbles up, new ideas take shape, danger keeps closing in, and that’s not even the half of it.
This second part of the journey takes the travelling team to China, Otaon in the Middle East, Romania, Russia and Berlin.
book 2/2, travelling, includes a recap of book 1, beginning, and a recap of book 2/1, travelling, at the end of the book.
e-book, 789 pages, 197k words
pdf file, optimised for mobile phone & tablet
Price: €11.11 (incl. VAT)
ISBN 978-3-9821289-9-3
Chapters
part 2
Flight to Beijing
China
Otaon
Romania
Flight to Moscow
Russia
Berlin
Afterthoughts
One more step
Next: book 3, shaping
Author’s notes
Recap, book 1, beginning
Recap, book 2/1, travelling
book 3, shaping
part 1: arrivals & shaping
The first day alone is packed with encounters of all colours and vibes, allowing the reader to dive straight into the heart of the town project and also into the hearts of some of the main characters.
Alice grimaced. She hadn’t expected this. She should have known. All she had expected from today was a happy return to the project, loads of smiles and big hellos and too many hugs. But not this.
Pages: 355 pages, 128k words
Format: pdf
Price: €8.08 (incl. VAT)
ISBN 978-3-9821289-3-1
Contents
Arrivals
1 September
Straight into the heart of the town project and of some of the main characters
15 September
The arrival of the international teams, royals, spies, toilets & rethinking
Shaping
3 October
big & crossover meetings, shaping key buildings, anchors & a squad
15 October
The opening of the Front House and many callers
31 October
The town layout & composition plus Halloween
book 3, shaping
part 2: entanglements & silence
In the second part of book 3, personal entanglements take centre stage. It is a textbook case of what happens if we can’t, for whichever reasons, talk with each other openly.
Meanwhile the teams complete their final draft for the town, and there is a wonderful chapter with Alice, Andy and chickens. Mind you, Daria bursts the bubble, but Raiden has the idea that gets them back on track – with chickens.
After days of all-teams meetings in the atrium, the plans for the town are finally complete, and Leo’s team send them out far and wide to countries who might be interested in hosting the town experiment.
In the evening, the teams come together for a final and memorable winter party before the winter break.
And then there was silence.
Christmas Eve falls into this silence for Alice.
But the Christmas chapter starts with Andy and in an unlikely place, in a setting, we haven’t seen him in before. With his scene a chapter unfolds which is woven from five different stories and allows glimpses into many more.
I dedicate the Christmas chapter to everyone who has trouble with that night or with all Christmas days. And I hope that the many layers and the very different stories, can bring some soothing and some smiles to many.
After Christmas, Alice, still on her own, is faced with the fact that no one has made an offer for a town site.
The New Year passes, the teams begin to return, and still no offer. That’s when a big question begins to loom above all their heads: Where do we go from here?
‘Alice, I need you to check in with me frequently over Christmas and New Year.’
‘Dennie, I have survived many Christmases. Why shouldn’t I survive this one?’
‘Christmas shouldn’t be about survival.’
Pages: 282 pages, 89k words
Format: pdf
Price: €8.08 (incl. VAT)
ISBN 978-3-9821289-8-6
Contents
entanglements
11/12 November
Consequences & entanglements
26/27 November
More entanglements, a dance and a fall
2 December
Chickens
And then there was silence
14-16 December
ready, a party, departures, silence
24 December
New Years Eve
28 December
Silence persists & a song for the New Year
6 January
A new year
book 3, shaping
part 3: Where do we go from here & decisions
Returning to the project from their winter break, the teams bring back many new ideas for the town. This sort of helps them to deal with the fact that the future of the project hangs in the balance.
An unexpected event shakes the teams to the core and a crisis between Alice and Tom deepens as the end of January looms, the day when the future of the town project will be reviewed.
The 31 January is a hard day, but at the end of it, the team emerge with a new vision.
Two weeks later, we see how that vision unfolds and how differently the main characters deal with it.
As Tom and Alice clash over the future of the project again, a new, unexpected and secretive player enters the stage and asks for a meeting.
Alice, Jack, Andy, Farid and Security agree to the meeting, eventually. But whomever they might have expected, it was not this person, nor the other one.
There is some kind of game involved, but in the end, the new players offer the project land for the town.
The next day, Alice and some of her team take a look at the proposed site.
Alice is not the only one who wonders what to make of this offer, though it is Andy who goes on a full meltdown of anger and opposition.
But by the time, Alice takes her decision, things have happened, she never expected.
‘We are still doing our core work.’
‘Which is?’
‘Rethinking everything. A town would be great, but we don’t need it.’
‘That’s not true and you know it. So long as we don’t have a town, we will just be another group of people with big ideas. The town is our only chance to demonstrate what might be possible.’
‘I know,’ Alice said quietly. ‘And I swear I will not give up on our town. Right now, we are rearranging our project. But we will keep our work going, and we will grow until someone has the guts to open the doors to us.’
Pages: 340 pages, 118k words
Format: pdf
Price: €8.08 (incl. VAT)
ISBN 978-3-9821289-2-4
Contents
Where do we go from here?
10 January
sex talk & conference preparations overshadowed by a clash
13 ff January
The unexpected expected
31 January
The deadline
Decisions
15 February
transformations, more clashes & the summons
16 February
Could this be a site for the town?
17 February
What would you do?, Can we put together a promising campaign team? & A suggestion
