Description

Meet Chris Stewart, the eternal optimist. A man who flies to Spain, sees a peasant farm on the wrong side of the river and, with scarcely a second thought, hands over a cash deposit. And then finds he has acquired not just the farm, but the farmer, too, who has no intention of leaving. Not to mention the lack of running water, electricity or even a bridge.

It would be enough to send most people straight back home. But Chris and his wife Ana are made of stronger stuff – and besides, they have sunk all their savings into their farm, El Valero, and buying a flock of sheep. So there is no turning back. Life gets tough, but it also gets good.

Driving Over Lemons is that rare thing – a funny, insightful book that charms you from the first sun-lit page to the last. And one that makes running an Andalucian mountain farm seem like a half-decent career move. It has been a major bestseller both in Britain and Spain.

Publisher Review

When an author is as modest and humorous as this, his story cannot be told too often. -- Elizabeth Buchan * The Times * Exquisite. In Driving Over Lemons the anecdote flourishes once more. -- Penelope Lively * Daily Telegraph * It is easy to enthuse about the simple pleasures of life, but hard to write about them well. Stewart's gift is to do so with the carefree manner of someone you've just met in a bar, and who is buying the drinks. -- Hugh Thomson * Independent *