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Only in Spain: A Foot-Stomping, Firecracker of a Memoir about Food, Flamenco, and Falling in Love
In search of herself, Nellie Bennett fell passionately in love...with the land of flamenco
One day, Nellie Bennett falls in love with flamenco in a Sydney dance studio. Tired of her boring retail job and longing to get closer to the authentic experience, she packs her suede dance shoes and travels to Seville, Spain. What Nellie didn't realize is that flamenco is not just a dance; it's a way of life. While there, she falls in love three times-with a smoky-eyed dance teacher, a tempestuous Gypsy, and with a handsome Basque chef-only to discover that it's the country that's held her heart all along.
One day, Nellie Bennett falls in love with flamenco in a Sydney dance studio. Tired of her boring retail job and longing to get closer to the authentic experience, she packs her suede dance shoes and travels to Seville, Spain. What Nellie didn't realize is that flamenco is not just a dance; it's a way of life. While there, she falls in love three times-with a smoky-eyed dance teacher, a tempestuous Gypsy, and with a handsome Basque chef-only to discover that it's the country that's held her heart all along.
304 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2012
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862 people want to read
About the author
Nellie Bennett
2 books12 followersNellie Bennett grew up in Sydney, Australia. When she was in her early twenties Nellie discovered flamenco dance and travelled to Spain to further her studies at the birthplace of flamenco, Seville. She soon fell in love with all things Spanish, and moved to Madrid, where she learnt to dance from the neighborhood gypsies. Nellie has worked as a screenwriter in both Australia and Bollywood, and contributed feature articles to The Australian and The Sydney Morning Herald. Her interests include Spanish history and culture, and regional languages.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 104 reviews
January 28, 2016
This book was a big let-down. Although the plot line is very clichéd, there is so much more the author could have done to make this book better (possibly taking a writing class?). The metaphors are highly simplified, repetitive and amateur-ish. Example - The author uses the word "gyspsy" about eight billion times instead of looking for a synonym or a creative way of describing the same concept that was mentioned earlier in the piece. I was also annoyed with the narrator’s lack of preparation for her trip which made a lot of the “stories” just about her own grossly ignorant blunders. Example - A vegan who doesn't think to look for a grocery store when moving to a country where meat is a big part of the local diet and ends up getting sick later on for not taking care of herself. On the plus side, it’s a quick read. I bought this book because I was moving to Spain and wanted some travel literature to feed my enthusiasm. This did do that a little bit, but not in the same way a real writer could. I would recommend this for someone going to the beach or taking a long flight and looking for something they can read in 1-2 days. This is light and somewhat fun but definitely not literature. There is much better travel lit out there. To be honest, I'm surprised this got published. But so did Snooki's book, right?
September 30, 2014
Only in Spain was a delightful walk through Spain in flamenco shoes. I studied abroad in Spain and found myself laughing out loud every few pages at how similar Nellie's experiences were to mine. I totally connected with the journey from the struggles and misunderstandings in the beginning, to the exuberance of trying the new foods, all the way to taking things to the limit (even though I didn't run away with gypsies, but I've had similar crazy experiences). The title really says it all- Only in Spain. How many times when I've been there and seen things that could be categorized as both good and bad, but either way, just so different than how we do things at home and thought to myself "this is why I love Spain." Nellie captures those delightful moments in this book.
Her writing style is so inviting and humorous that I feel like I'm having a conversation with a best friend. An example is when she talks about her tolerance for hot Spanish men going up as she lives there- and she explains that everyone down to the mail man is drop-dead gorgeous and she can't go getting all weak in the knees every time she walks out the door! Or when she first arrives to the airport in Spain and is all jet-lagged and looking as tired as she feels, then being stopped by a customs agent that could be a male model. I know this experience first-hand. Her observations about the different regions of Spain are also spot on, from the dark-eyed olive-skinned beauties of the south all the way to the mountain men living in the north.
The real meat of this whole story (about a vegan, lol) is that she had a dream and she followed it. She fell in love with Spain and she made it happen on a shoestring. It wasn't always easy and she gave us her honesty in showing us that she didn't always even enjoy the experience- but then she would stop and look around and realize that flamenco (and her dream) were in the small moments of life all around her everyday. This is a good lesson for anyone, no matter what dreams you may have.
Her writing style is so inviting and humorous that I feel like I'm having a conversation with a best friend. An example is when she talks about her tolerance for hot Spanish men going up as she lives there- and she explains that everyone down to the mail man is drop-dead gorgeous and she can't go getting all weak in the knees every time she walks out the door! Or when she first arrives to the airport in Spain and is all jet-lagged and looking as tired as she feels, then being stopped by a customs agent that could be a male model. I know this experience first-hand. Her observations about the different regions of Spain are also spot on, from the dark-eyed olive-skinned beauties of the south all the way to the mountain men living in the north.
The real meat of this whole story (about a vegan, lol) is that she had a dream and she followed it. She fell in love with Spain and she made it happen on a shoestring. It wasn't always easy and she gave us her honesty in showing us that she didn't always even enjoy the experience- but then she would stop and look around and realize that flamenco (and her dream) were in the small moments of life all around her everyday. This is a good lesson for anyone, no matter what dreams you may have.
September 11, 2018
I'm about to move to Spain for work, and as a young single woman, I thought I would enjoy the adventures of another woman who left everything behind for a new life in Spain. While I enjoyed the writing of the book, I had to keep reminding myself that Nellie is only 22 and admittedly had lived a somewhat sheltered life prior to her big life change. She made a lot of foolish choices and was utterly unprepared for so much of what she encountered; that makes an interesting memoir, but I found myself constantly thinking, "Are you serious?" with her decisions.
It's a book about flamenco dancing, mostly. The food and falling in love, not so much.
It's a book about flamenco dancing, mostly. The food and falling in love, not so much.
August 8, 2014
Toma que toma!
I adore reading memoirs. I feel as if my life is enriched through the well-written, honest, soul-searching experiences of others. A wacky, difficult or unusual experience will linger in my mind, but it infuriates me when bloggers embark on experiences just for a book deal. And I despise poor writing.
I can truly say that Nellie is the first memoirist that I want to be my friend in real life. She is so funny, so honest, so true to herself and the spirit of the memoir that I wanted to hop on a plane to Spain and search for Nellie at flamenco bars and beg her to spend time with me.
Nellie shares her difficulties of being a vegan in Spain (rolling), disappointing her parents (by drinking boxed wine and having an normal job) and the thrill of a single kiss from her hot flamenco teacher. The writing is so approachable and Nellie so charmingly likeable and honest that I can recommend this book as the book to read if people want to give memoirs a try.
I'm not into flamenco dancing myself, but Nellie's enthusiasm, passion, and clearly-written prose elevate this memoir to one of my top 5, definitely.
I adore reading memoirs. I feel as if my life is enriched through the well-written, honest, soul-searching experiences of others. A wacky, difficult or unusual experience will linger in my mind, but it infuriates me when bloggers embark on experiences just for a book deal. And I despise poor writing.
I can truly say that Nellie is the first memoirist that I want to be my friend in real life. She is so funny, so honest, so true to herself and the spirit of the memoir that I wanted to hop on a plane to Spain and search for Nellie at flamenco bars and beg her to spend time with me.
Nellie shares her difficulties of being a vegan in Spain (rolling), disappointing her parents (by drinking boxed wine and having an normal job) and the thrill of a single kiss from her hot flamenco teacher. The writing is so approachable and Nellie so charmingly likeable and honest that I can recommend this book as the book to read if people want to give memoirs a try.
I'm not into flamenco dancing myself, but Nellie's enthusiasm, passion, and clearly-written prose elevate this memoir to one of my top 5, definitely.
August 4, 2016
A delightful read!! Loved "traveling" with Nellie as she threw herself into the world of Flamenco and Spain. She definitely has the adventuresome gene and over came her fears of the unknown. Humorous and descriptive ( I can smell the orange blossoms in Seville), she also peppers the story with a few "harlequin fantasies", quite the imagination, this girl.
A sales clerk at an upscale department store in Sydney, Australia has left her bored, and on a whim she signs up for a Flamenco class. Falls in love with the music and dance, and is enticed by the thought of going to Spain and living the dream! She ends up in Seville for a few months and lives a life full of dance, music and the European lust for life. Back in Australia, she longs for the life she left and soon is trying to figure out a way to go back to more Flamenco classes in Spain permanently. Her move to Madrid without a job, place to live or command of the language is a brave one indeed! Come with Nellie as she has the experience of a lifetime!
Makes on want to run right out & buy some Flamenco music and take a few lessons!!!!
A sales clerk at an upscale department store in Sydney, Australia has left her bored, and on a whim she signs up for a Flamenco class. Falls in love with the music and dance, and is enticed by the thought of going to Spain and living the dream! She ends up in Seville for a few months and lives a life full of dance, music and the European lust for life. Back in Australia, she longs for the life she left and soon is trying to figure out a way to go back to more Flamenco classes in Spain permanently. Her move to Madrid without a job, place to live or command of the language is a brave one indeed! Come with Nellie as she has the experience of a lifetime!
Makes on want to run right out & buy some Flamenco music and take a few lessons!!!!
August 17, 2021
I ❤️ Spain 🇪🇸! A delightful, fun, vivid memoir 💫 💫 Olè!
November 24, 2015
Talk about living the dream: Bennett, frustrated with her dead-end job, made up her mind to save up and move to Spain to study flamenco. She went for a holiday, and then she went back to stay.
It's a pretty chatty, informal memoir. You don't need to know much (or, really, anything) about flamenco to understand what she's doing, although I did raise my eyebrows pretty early on at her aspirations to go professional—not that it's impossible, but given that she had no ballet training (which she says would have been pretty necessary) and was getting a relatively late start, I wondered just how probable it was.
And yet. She went, probability be damned, and I have a tremendous amount of respect for that. I suspect that keeping the goal pretty open-ended helped a lot—there isn't the same sense of overwhelming culture clash that I got from Almost French, and less pressure to fit in. I mean...this is her list of New Year's resolutions (page 234):
-Dance flamenco
-Learn ballet
-Run away with the gypsies
-Fall in love
-Wear polka dots
-Toma que toma
No wonder I'm in this situation, she thinks, with goals like that (234). And yes, she makes some decidedly questionable choices. She romanticises gypsy life and then comes to the conclusion that the stereotypes are all true (trying to avoid major spoilers!).
One of the most interesting things to me, though, is the ending. I see that a number of other readers have taken issue with her decision there.
Anyway, not amazing, but thoroughly enjoyable, somewhat romanticised travel lit.
It's a pretty chatty, informal memoir. You don't need to know much (or, really, anything) about flamenco to understand what she's doing, although I did raise my eyebrows pretty early on at her aspirations to go professional—not that it's impossible, but given that she had no ballet training (which she says would have been pretty necessary) and was getting a relatively late start, I wondered just how probable it was.
And yet. She went, probability be damned, and I have a tremendous amount of respect for that. I suspect that keeping the goal pretty open-ended helped a lot—there isn't the same sense of overwhelming culture clash that I got from Almost French, and less pressure to fit in. I mean...this is her list of New Year's resolutions (page 234):
-Dance flamenco
-Learn ballet
-Run away with the gypsies
-Fall in love
-Wear polka dots
-Toma que toma
No wonder I'm in this situation, she thinks, with goals like that (234). And yes, she makes some decidedly questionable choices. She romanticises gypsy life and then comes to the conclusion that the stereotypes are all true (trying to avoid major spoilers!).
One of the most interesting things to me, though, is the ending. I see that a number of other readers have taken issue with her decision there.
Anyway, not amazing, but thoroughly enjoyable, somewhat romanticised travel lit.
September 24, 2012
At 22 Nellie Bennett is fed up with her job working retail in Sydney where people have to get Sunday jobs just to finance their fashion habits. When she reads a magazine article featuring gypsy chic, Nellie decides to enrol in a flamenco dance class. Having neither a background in dance nor any Spanish blood to speak with in her family tree, flamenco might seem a bit of an odd choice but Nellie falls in love with the passion and fire that the flamenco dancers embody.
Not content with just learning the steps, Nellie goes to Spain to have the adventure she’s always dreamed of having rather than just dreaming about it. She danced the Sevillanas at te Feria de Sevilla, attended the Amor de Dios in Madrid, ran away with the gypsies, fell in love and throughout it all Nellie managed to keep her love of flamenco and her sense of adventure.
This book made me fall in love with the Spain I experienced through Nellie’s eyes. She has a way of making even the direst of situations seem not so bad – there were times when I was really worried about her but she approached each challenge with a sense of pragmatism and optimism.
I loved the way that Nellie contrasted the drab boring everyday life of the shop girl versus the flamboyant and passionate life of a Spanish flamenco dancer. The people, the food – it all sounded incredible and almost had me booking a plane ticket to Spain so that I too could experience the way of life she described – the azahar (the orange blossoms of Seville), the palmas (the clapping rhythms that seemed to be the base beat to Spanish life) and especially the food that even vegan Nellie couldn’t resist.
Nellie might be a hopeless romantic but she’s not hopeless – I adored her style of narration and was thoroughly entertained by her humour and overview of life. This is a fantastic story of life, love and the fiery passionate outlet of expression that is flamenco.
Olé!
Not content with just learning the steps, Nellie goes to Spain to have the adventure she’s always dreamed of having rather than just dreaming about it. She danced the Sevillanas at te Feria de Sevilla, attended the Amor de Dios in Madrid, ran away with the gypsies, fell in love and throughout it all Nellie managed to keep her love of flamenco and her sense of adventure.
This book made me fall in love with the Spain I experienced through Nellie’s eyes. She has a way of making even the direst of situations seem not so bad – there were times when I was really worried about her but she approached each challenge with a sense of pragmatism and optimism.
I loved the way that Nellie contrasted the drab boring everyday life of the shop girl versus the flamboyant and passionate life of a Spanish flamenco dancer. The people, the food – it all sounded incredible and almost had me booking a plane ticket to Spain so that I too could experience the way of life she described – the azahar (the orange blossoms of Seville), the palmas (the clapping rhythms that seemed to be the base beat to Spanish life) and especially the food that even vegan Nellie couldn’t resist.
Nellie might be a hopeless romantic but she’s not hopeless – I adored her style of narration and was thoroughly entertained by her humour and overview of life. This is a fantastic story of life, love and the fiery passionate outlet of expression that is flamenco.
Olé!
July 1, 2018
*unfinished*
As someone who has danced flamenco for four years and has studied it in Spain, like the author, I had high expectations for this book. I did love the descriptions of Sevilla, and it made me nostalgic for el barrio de Triana, gazpacho on a hot summer day, and the scent of flor de azahar (orange blossom). Unfortunately, much of the book was filled with cliches about flamenco and Spanish people that made me cringe. There were also a few specific things that got on my nerves... 1) the author didn’t seem to make any effort to learn Spanish before her arrival, like at all, 2) the author is a vegan, and clearly didn’t research Spanish cuisine (which relies heavily on meat and seafood) and then got upset when she couldn’t find any vegan restaurants or health food stores. If you have strict diet restrictions it makes sense to go to a country where they can be accommodated, or at least find some meal alternatives??, 3) my impression was that the author had only been learning flamenco for a few months before she went to Sevilla (although she was in the intermediate level in Australia). Upon arriving in Spain and discovering the beginner class is full of tourists (umm) she begs to be let into the advanced class, where she can barely keep up. I will say that I admire her dedication and willingness to learn. But you have to be able to recognize when something is beyond your ability, and be humble enough to accept that. In dance (and in most things) you can’t just skip to the fun part without putting in the work, no matter how boring or tedious it may be. But I digress...
As someone who has danced flamenco for four years and has studied it in Spain, like the author, I had high expectations for this book. I did love the descriptions of Sevilla, and it made me nostalgic for el barrio de Triana, gazpacho on a hot summer day, and the scent of flor de azahar (orange blossom). Unfortunately, much of the book was filled with cliches about flamenco and Spanish people that made me cringe. There were also a few specific things that got on my nerves... 1) the author didn’t seem to make any effort to learn Spanish before her arrival, like at all, 2) the author is a vegan, and clearly didn’t research Spanish cuisine (which relies heavily on meat and seafood) and then got upset when she couldn’t find any vegan restaurants or health food stores. If you have strict diet restrictions it makes sense to go to a country where they can be accommodated, or at least find some meal alternatives??, 3) my impression was that the author had only been learning flamenco for a few months before she went to Sevilla (although she was in the intermediate level in Australia). Upon arriving in Spain and discovering the beginner class is full of tourists (umm) she begs to be let into the advanced class, where she can barely keep up. I will say that I admire her dedication and willingness to learn. But you have to be able to recognize when something is beyond your ability, and be humble enough to accept that. In dance (and in most things) you can’t just skip to the fun part without putting in the work, no matter how boring or tedious it may be. But I digress...
May 1, 2020
It takes a lot for me to dislike a book but wow- I'm not sure I've ever been so glad to finish one. The main character has an irritating, immature attitude with regards to everything she does in her life, from buying a train ticket to making a major life decision to move to the other side of the world. The fact that it's a memoir and this woman actually did some of the things she describes in the book is just wholly unbelievable. I think she tried so hard to write with a "devil may care" sort of attitude that she comes off as flippant and having no common sense whatsoever. Not sure how it got such rave reviews, but save yourself the trouble and skip this one.
January 4, 2025
Easy, fun, fluffy read that takes you along with Nellie (your Australian protagonist) through the streets and dance clubs of Sevilla and Madrid on a lovely journey of language barriers, cafes con leche, cheap apartments, love, and, of course, lots of flamenco dancing (and singing and clapping). Interesting for me because I am an expat living in Spain; I don't know that I would have enjoyed it as much otherwise.
October 17, 2019
This book fascinates me about the spanish way of living. It makes me ask myself, what am i doing in North America living like a zombie/robot?!
Warning: the book will make you book a one way trip to Espana
Warning: the book will make you book a one way trip to Espana
March 22, 2023
So great to read this a second time. It absolutely transports you to a life of dancing and wine and summer city life. If you need to escape and live vicariously through a young red headed Australian this is how you should do it.
September 27, 2018
Started off a little slow but once I got into it I was VERY invested in the main character. Be careful, this book may awaken the wanderlust, travel, adventure gene!
August 15, 2019
A very fun read for someone who has experienced living abroad and all the torrential emotions that come with it. Quite enjoyable.
January 27, 2020
What a fun book! It was a quick read that literally begs the question “why not...?” This book is going to make you want to pack up and move to Spain ASAP to follow your wildest desires (or to wherever you’ve been dreaming about). It was captivating, entertaining, had some great life advice sprinkled in, and got me pouring a glass of wine to enjoy in the sunlight ‘just because.’
September 3, 2015
Thanks to the publisher for an advance reading copy.
I've been really enjoying books about women who make drastic changes in order to make the most of their lives, and this memoir has a lot of great, inspiring moments. I loved her journey of falling in love with a place and how it becomes an essential part of her. Her descriptions of Spain made me want to put it at the top of my travel list! I loved that she talks about what she had to sacrifice in order to live her dream. Her points about how the pursuit of objects can keep us from what we really want was well presented without being obnoxious. Unfortunately, I thought she left a lot of threads hanging. She spends many pages describing how much she struggled to give her veganism up in Spain, but she later goes back to it and then abandons it again, but these later episodes are just mentioned in passing. Same thing goes for some of her romantic relationships. And with her dreams to become a professional flamenco dancer. She talks about being too poor to take classes, but the book suddenly only becomes about her relationships and I was confused that she didn't seem to be working toward this goal any more. I don't think it's a big deal if she decided it wasn't right for her, but it was weirdly dropped as a major element of the story. And based on how the book ends, I kind of wondered if this was a theme in her life. Without giving anything away, I don't think it's my place to criticize her personal decisions, but the end was jarring and abrupt and left me a little sad.
I've been really enjoying books about women who make drastic changes in order to make the most of their lives, and this memoir has a lot of great, inspiring moments. I loved her journey of falling in love with a place and how it becomes an essential part of her. Her descriptions of Spain made me want to put it at the top of my travel list! I loved that she talks about what she had to sacrifice in order to live her dream. Her points about how the pursuit of objects can keep us from what we really want was well presented without being obnoxious. Unfortunately, I thought she left a lot of threads hanging. She spends many pages describing how much she struggled to give her veganism up in Spain, but she later goes back to it and then abandons it again, but these later episodes are just mentioned in passing. Same thing goes for some of her romantic relationships. And with her dreams to become a professional flamenco dancer. She talks about being too poor to take classes, but the book suddenly only becomes about her relationships and I was confused that she didn't seem to be working toward this goal any more. I don't think it's a big deal if she decided it wasn't right for her, but it was weirdly dropped as a major element of the story. And based on how the book ends, I kind of wondered if this was a theme in her life. Without giving anything away, I don't think it's my place to criticize her personal decisions, but the end was jarring and abrupt and left me a little sad.
March 1, 2013
The premise is really interesting and engaging - an Australian woman looking for something different in her life forgoes the cult of Zumba and discovers flamenco - so she buys a ticket to Spain and goes there to study more, fall in love, eat, pray... sorry. Different book.
Maybe don't give it to a friend who's already a flamenco dancer. A lot of it just grated on me - because my own experience was so completely different to Bennett's. While I did find discovering the actual flamenco dancing amazing and wonderful and life changing, my experience with those in the actual flamenco world was a lot more, well, three dimensional.
I guess what annoyed me was yes, I get it, you're a beginner and yes, what you're doing is complicated and scary, but Bennett's self-deprication and asides about her awkwardness were never-ending. Her entire story is filled with being exhausted, overwhelmed, unable to do anything, the one in class getting everything wrong and yet cue someone to tell her how marvellous she is...
I know I sound like a complete snob, but the writing itself just let this story down - perhaps with editing (and even a ghost writer) it could have been as engaging as it wanted to be.
Maybe don't give it to a friend who's already a flamenco dancer. A lot of it just grated on me - because my own experience was so completely different to Bennett's. While I did find discovering the actual flamenco dancing amazing and wonderful and life changing, my experience with those in the actual flamenco world was a lot more, well, three dimensional.
I guess what annoyed me was yes, I get it, you're a beginner and yes, what you're doing is complicated and scary, but Bennett's self-deprication and asides about her awkwardness were never-ending. Her entire story is filled with being exhausted, overwhelmed, unable to do anything, the one in class getting everything wrong and yet cue someone to tell her how marvellous she is...
I know I sound like a complete snob, but the writing itself just let this story down - perhaps with editing (and even a ghost writer) it could have been as engaging as it wanted to be.
April 9, 2015
Absolutely dreadful. I wanted to like this book, but I abandoned it halfway. It is clichéd- attractive male flamenco teacher, anyone?- and, having been to Seville myself, I have a strong suspicion many of the "events" are fictitious (Flamenco dancing at the airport? Seriously?).
To make matters worse, the author comes across as simultaneously naive and arrogant. She goes to Spain without bothering to learn a word of the language, and then doesn't want to be in the beginners dance class because it's "full of tourists" (conveniently forgetting that, umm, she's also a tourist). And let's not even go into her dietary preoccupations, and horror that people in Spain might choose to eat different foods to Australian vegans.
These flaws may have been able to be overlooked if Bennett was a good writer, but she isn't. The prose has all the verve of a primary school "what I did in my holidays" essay. Poorly expressed, unimaginative, and repetitive.
If you want to know what Spain is really like, I suggest you go, and don't bother reading this book.
To make matters worse, the author comes across as simultaneously naive and arrogant. She goes to Spain without bothering to learn a word of the language, and then doesn't want to be in the beginners dance class because it's "full of tourists" (conveniently forgetting that, umm, she's also a tourist). And let's not even go into her dietary preoccupations, and horror that people in Spain might choose to eat different foods to Australian vegans.
These flaws may have been able to be overlooked if Bennett was a good writer, but she isn't. The prose has all the verve of a primary school "what I did in my holidays" essay. Poorly expressed, unimaginative, and repetitive.
If you want to know what Spain is really like, I suggest you go, and don't bother reading this book.
November 18, 2014
Very disappointing book. Loved the beginning & all she dared to do- moving to Spain, learning Flamenco, but she reveals herself to be egotistical, uncaring, treating others only for what they have to give her. Her dumping of a wonderful guy, described by her as someone who is so.like her, when she has a chance at love & stability and the possibility to create a happy caring lifee with someone, she dumps it to follow a path just to,please herself.
Would never recommend this book.
Would never recommend this book.
January 20, 2015
This was a memoir about an Australian shop girl of Irish descent, red hair, pale skin, who wants nothing more than to learn to dance Flamenco. She ends up living in Spain, taking dance classes and having various adventures. She is a vegan, who ends up eating meat "only in Spain" because she can find no vegan restaurants and dating a Basque chef. Food descriptions are delectable. Very enjoyable read for an armchair traveler like me!
January 6, 2015
This book was a kind of annoying memoir about a white person obsessed with some romanticized idea of "gypsy life" who moves to Spain to study flamenco and has an eating disorder she calls "veganism". I'm mad that the subtitle claims it is a memoir about food because it isn't. The only time she talks about food is when she is feeling guilty about eating. Skip it.
January 20, 2016
Boring!
Thought it would be a book about the very colourful Spanish life, but it turned out to be a diary-style confession of a stupid girl whose interest & obsession was to become a flamenco dancer. I regret spending the money to buy this totally mediocre book. If you want to enjoy a book about Spain, look elsewhere. Very poorly written! Sorry excuse for literature!
Thought it would be a book about the very colourful Spanish life, but it turned out to be a diary-style confession of a stupid girl whose interest & obsession was to become a flamenco dancer. I regret spending the money to buy this totally mediocre book. If you want to enjoy a book about Spain, look elsewhere. Very poorly written! Sorry excuse for literature!
August 31, 2014
Lucky girl. Truthfully I sm jealous. When you fall in love with Sevilla, you love her forever.
April 4, 2018
Couldn’t finish it thanks to the mediocre writing and pacing. Ugh.
August 1, 2018
A surprisingly diverting memoir written by a miserable, shallow woman who I hated from start to finish.
October 29, 2021
I love everything about Spain & am always eager to read anything written by people who feel the same way. Sometimes I’m left feeling disappointed. But not this time. I loved this book.
I lived in the gypsy neighbourhood of the Sacromonte in Granada as a student in the late 80’s, when tourists were advised to stay well away. And had the honour of being befriended & adopted by one of the oldest gypsy families there. I was captivated by their dancing and song. But unlike Nellie, that’s as far as my flirtation with flamenco went. We never went steady.
Because when I committed the fatal faux pas of asking the matriach of the family to teach me “un poquito de flamenco’ - a little bit of flamenco - she shot me down in flames. Flamenco is not learnt it is lived, she told me. A ‘poquito de flamenco’. How insulting. So I was traumatised, and though I love to dance and would dearly have loved to learn flamenco, never dared to release my inner gypsy.
So I was enthralled by the courage and commitment of Nellie, daring to give it her all. And not running home when things got rough. Of prizing her passion above all else. I loved both the description of her shopgirl life in Australia & the living-in-a-garret-for-your-art period in Madrid. Her love of Seville shone through. I too adore that city. I kept willing her to go back there. But greatly admired her unwavering determination and grit.
I thoroughly enjoyed it. I thought she wrote beautifully and fluently. It felt natural and light. I loved it.
SPOILER ALERT!!
And though I felt deeply for both her and Iñaki, I was so pleased to see that despite the teasing title of the chapter “ The Happily Ever After“, she did not disappoint.
I had almost been deceived into believing there was going to be a fairytale ending to her story. I would have felt short changed had that been the case, as I did in ‘Eat, Love, Pray’, if she had run off into a sunset in the hills of the Basque Country with him. Because she knew she would be short changing both herself, and him, if she had tried to ignore the deep love for life and adventure that pulsed within her. The need to let that guide you where it will. That would have inevitably caused their rupture had she tried to suppress it and stay with him. That same beat that pulses within us all when we dare to feel for it.
I loved how flamenco taught her not to allow fear to be the determining factor of her life. What a hugely valuable lesson to learn, and at such a young age. Fear runs rampant in our society, in our education system, in our conditioning. It becomes the motivating factor of our lives without our even being aware of it. Not so Nellie. And having the courage to be true to yourself, above all else. Not many can claim that. To literally journey alone fearlessly into the unknown.
Inspiring for women, & men, of all ages. If you’re feeling stuck and need a kick up the bum, give this a go. It might well ignite that same flame within you.
I lived in the gypsy neighbourhood of the Sacromonte in Granada as a student in the late 80’s, when tourists were advised to stay well away. And had the honour of being befriended & adopted by one of the oldest gypsy families there. I was captivated by their dancing and song. But unlike Nellie, that’s as far as my flirtation with flamenco went. We never went steady.
Because when I committed the fatal faux pas of asking the matriach of the family to teach me “un poquito de flamenco’ - a little bit of flamenco - she shot me down in flames. Flamenco is not learnt it is lived, she told me. A ‘poquito de flamenco’. How insulting. So I was traumatised, and though I love to dance and would dearly have loved to learn flamenco, never dared to release my inner gypsy.
So I was enthralled by the courage and commitment of Nellie, daring to give it her all. And not running home when things got rough. Of prizing her passion above all else. I loved both the description of her shopgirl life in Australia & the living-in-a-garret-for-your-art period in Madrid. Her love of Seville shone through. I too adore that city. I kept willing her to go back there. But greatly admired her unwavering determination and grit.
I thoroughly enjoyed it. I thought she wrote beautifully and fluently. It felt natural and light. I loved it.
SPOILER ALERT!!
And though I felt deeply for both her and Iñaki, I was so pleased to see that despite the teasing title of the chapter “ The Happily Ever After“, she did not disappoint.
I had almost been deceived into believing there was going to be a fairytale ending to her story. I would have felt short changed had that been the case, as I did in ‘Eat, Love, Pray’, if she had run off into a sunset in the hills of the Basque Country with him. Because she knew she would be short changing both herself, and him, if she had tried to ignore the deep love for life and adventure that pulsed within her. The need to let that guide you where it will. That would have inevitably caused their rupture had she tried to suppress it and stay with him. That same beat that pulses within us all when we dare to feel for it.
I loved how flamenco taught her not to allow fear to be the determining factor of her life. What a hugely valuable lesson to learn, and at such a young age. Fear runs rampant in our society, in our education system, in our conditioning. It becomes the motivating factor of our lives without our even being aware of it. Not so Nellie. And having the courage to be true to yourself, above all else. Not many can claim that. To literally journey alone fearlessly into the unknown.
Inspiring for women, & men, of all ages. If you’re feeling stuck and need a kick up the bum, give this a go. It might well ignite that same flame within you.
July 6, 2019
Cute little memoir of a young woman from Australia who follows her dream to dance flamenco in Spain. Nellie is a shop girl in Sydney and just getting by but when she sees an ad for flamenco classes - she decides to try something completely out of her comfort zone. The lessons reveal she has a desire and an ability to dance flamenco so her next step is to spend a few weeks in Seville, Spain in order to follow her dream to be a part of a true flamenco culture. I liked that part best in the book as she struggles with the language but finds a friend and begins to integrate herself into the Spanish culture with her mantras being "only in Spain" and "toma que toma" (basically - go for it). After returning home she decides she needs to go back and seriously study the dance - so next she is in Madrid - taking dance lessons, teaching English, basically just getting by - but she falls hard for the culture and being immersed in dance. There is a section where she falls for a Gypsy boy but that ends badly and was one section of the book I truly didn't like. After that she does find love but also finds that she wants to continue chasing adventure as well. Good book for following dreams and adapting to new environs. I liked her so reading the book was easy even if not absolutely fantastic. Good beach read - especially on the shores of Spain.
July 3, 2017
For me, this book is somewhere between a 2 and 3 star rating. It is in the same vein and on the same bookshelf as something like "Eat, Pray, Love", except I think the 10 years of life and writing experience between the authors at the time of the events made a difference for me in how enjoyable the books were. This book felt relatively 2-dimensional (my biggest complaint about it) and lacking the grit and author's openness about her motives for doing what she was doing, but it still generally delivered as a good "frolic" in Spain.
I didn't dislike/hate the book--I was relatively happy to keep reading it and it read quickly...which I think says something about the author's ability to keep the story moving. The author was fairly open in which questionable decisions she made, but there was no major reflection on them. That didn't make this book bad, I'm just not sure she knew why she was doing what she was doing or what she wanted out of it. It just read kind of like she was running from things without coming full circle.
Anyway, I guess it's 3 stars...because I read it quickly and I love Spain, and there was enough fun and Spain in there to keep my interest throughout.
I didn't dislike/hate the book--I was relatively happy to keep reading it and it read quickly...which I think says something about the author's ability to keep the story moving. The author was fairly open in which questionable decisions she made, but there was no major reflection on them. That didn't make this book bad, I'm just not sure she knew why she was doing what she was doing or what she wanted out of it. It just read kind of like she was running from things without coming full circle.
Anyway, I guess it's 3 stars...because I read it quickly and I love Spain, and there was enough fun and Spain in there to keep my interest throughout.
September 28, 2017
Only in Spain was a great book, and I immediately felt connected to Nellie. It may be that I, too, have a connection to Spain and all things Spanish (which is why I picked up the book in the first place), but really I just felt that I could connect and empathize with Nellie, and that's what made the story so great. I was truly rooting for Nellie the whole time, and I even started to look up flamenco classes near me because I felt so inspired. The story was just so honest, and it covered both the ups and the downs, which I think made it much more relatable. I have to say that I was a little surprised by the ending, but it certainly didn't detract from the story; it just wasn't what I was expecting. The story wasn't preachy or too much of a push to others to go out on a crazy adventure, which I appreciated, though I do feel like it is inspiring me to try things outside of my comfort zone more. All in all, a wonderful story that is an easy read (it honestly almost reads like a chick-lit/beach read type of book - which I mean in a good way!) that I would recommend to anyone, even those who may not be looking for a grand or life-changing adventure
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