Driving Over Lemons, by Chris Stewart (Sort Of 1999)

Neil's picture
Neil

I guess this book is in the same Good Life Abroad genre as A Year in Provence, or Under The Tuscan Sun, and it's the first in a series of 4 or 5 books that Stewart has written about his farming life in Andalucia. Chris Stewart impulsively buys a run down sheep farm in a remote part of Spain. It has no running water or electricity, and requires crossing a river to gain access. Through a combination of determination, optimism, and friendship with the peasant neighbours, he and his wife Ana manage to scrape a lifestyle which is enviable, and the book is hilarious, full of misadventures and evocative writing. It has deservedly become a classic of the genre.