⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 7/10
Over the last twenty years or so, there have been a huge number of books written by British people who have gone to live abroad, and felt the need to write about their experiences. Whether they’ve written because their new home has revealed the author inside, or because the whole scheme has been a disaster, and they are desperately hoping they can make some money from writing funny stories about backward neighbours, is anyone’s guess.
They range from the sublime to the ridiculous, from the endearing tales of learning about adapting to a new culture to those that essentially rage at all things ‘foreign’, where you wonder why the author went to live abroad in the first place. I’ve read a few over the years, and some have been entertaining and thought-provoking.
This volume is the second book by Chris Stewart charting his continuing struggles after deciding to go and live a partly self-sufficient life in one of the more remote areas of Andalucia. With his wife Ana, and now his daughter Chloe, he lives in a traditional small farm called El Valero. In the first book in the series – Driving over Lemons – he introduced himself and something of his life. In book two, we find him more settled, continuing to develop the farm, and building his new life.
As these books go, this is pretty good. He is an engaging writer, and his life and adventures are interesting enough to be worth reading about. He tells us more about his past, and how he came to choose Spain as a destination. His relationship with the local population is generally very good – although some of them are actually incomers too – and they seem to have accepted him.
The style is always light, even when things go wrong, and it makes for easy reading, and there are some very funny moments. The family, and the other main characters, are likeable and real. The one thing missing for me is his wife, Ana. Although she makes regular appearances throughout the book, she is never really fleshed out as a real person. This may be deliberate; perhaps she prefers to keep something back. But although I feel I get to know Chris quite well, I never feel I know Ana.
With this one reservation, the book is very readable. Yes, it’s light entertainment. But with some fun stories, and a few interesting thoughts about home, life, work and where we all fit in.
This is a review of the Sort Of Books 2011 Kindle edition.
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