I would recommend this book to anyone who likes travel, new experiences and humour. Though I have never visited the Alpujarras I feel this gives a true taste of Spain. (My daughter who has spent the last three springs there says the same.) Chris Stewart may have made more money if he had continued as drummer with Genesis but his Spanish experiences sound so much more fulfilling. ( )

This book is subtitled "An Optimist in Andalucia" and that very much sums up this delightful book of a couple moving to southern Spain. There has been a glut recently of people moving abroad, leaving the reality of life in England behind to try and capture that holiday feeling every day in another country (and yes, I'm just as guilty spending a couple of years in Spain myself) and this has led to a lot of books being published as everyone thinks they are the next Peter Mayle and Peter Kerr. But this is a genuine, funny and touching view of life in rural Spain, I loved Chris' writing which captured the countryside, the characters he has met and his adventures in joining the local community.
Without giving anything away Chris moves to a farm in Spain in some sort of "Good Life" self sufficiency experiment that Tom and Barbara would be proud of in Spain and of course not everything goes as it should do. But the eternal optimist Chris never moans about any of this, never tries to blame anyone else but simply always looks to the positive side of things and this despite no access road, electricty or water at one point. His neighbours of course help him out and the interaction between all the people he meets, the local farmers, ex pats, new age travellers and hippies make sure there is never a dull moment.
A great read I would recommend to people who like travel / autobiographies. ( )

A really good book: If you have been a fan of Peter Mayle who seems to be the senior statesman of "honey let's quit our jobs and buy a place in a foreign land" genre of literature, then you should also like this book. Although not as humorous or wry as the "Provence" series, the author does well by inviting you into his life with a degree of candor and unassuming charm that is much more refreshing than the somewhat tiresome cadence of self absorbed authors such as Francis Mayes ("Under the Tuscan Sun"). Unlike Mayes or Mayle, the author actually attempts to assimilate himself to a greater degree by taking over the farm to become a farmer, as opposed to an author, as so many other books of this type demonstrate. From this perspective, it becomes a refreshing change of pace and perspective for the reader.This book is good, easy to read and enjoy, but will not go down as a classic. Never the less, if you want a fun and easy to take dose of living in a foreign land, this one is for you. The ending page is also special.

Loved this book so much - am heading to Spain in 2009 to walk the Camino

http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/6... ( )