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Driving Over Lemons Trilogy #4
Last Days of the Bus Club
It's two decades since Chris Stewart moved to his farm on the wrong side of a river in the mountains of southern Spain and his daughter Chlöe is preparing to fly the nest for university. In this latest, typically hilarious dispatch from El Valero we find Chris, now a local literary celebrity, using his fame to help his old sheep-shearing partner find work on a raucous road trip; cooking a TV lunch for visiting British chef, Rick Stein; discovering the pitfalls of Spanish public speaking; and, most movingly, visiting famine-stricken Niger for Oxfam. Yet it's at El Valero, his beloved sheep farm, that Chris remains in his element as he, his wife Ana and their assorted dogs, cats and sheep weather a near calamitous flood and emerge as newly certified organic farmers. His cash crop? The lemons and oranges he once so blithely drove over, of course.
270 pages, Paperback
First published June 4, 2014
74 people are currently reading
693 people want to read
About the author
Chris Stewart
12 books217 followersChristopher 'Chris' Stewart (born 1951), was the original drummer and a founding member of Genesis. He is now a farmer and an author. A classmate of Tony Banks and Peter Gabriel at Charterhouse School, Stewart joined them in a school band called The Garden Wall, and they later formed another band with schoolmates Mike Rutherford and Anthony Phillips, called Anon. This band eventually became Genesis in January 1967. Stewart appears on the band's first two singles, "The Silent Sun"/"That's Me" and "A Winter's Tale"/"One-Eyed Hound." Although several demos from Stewart's time with Genesis appear on the Genesis Archive 1967-75 box set, he is not credited with playing on any of them. (Peter Gabriel seems to have played drums on a couple, and the rest do not feature drums.)
At the recommendation of Jonathan King, Stewart was asked to leave the band in the summer of 1968 due to poor technique. He was replaced by John Silver. After travelling and working throughout Europe, Stewart settled and bought a farm named "El Valero" in the Alpujarras region of Andalucia, Spain where he lives and works with his wife Ana Exton and daughter Chloë. He came in last place for the position of local councillor in the 27 May 2007 local elections in Órgiva representing the Green Party, where he received 201 votes (roughly 8%).
He is now better known for his autobiographical books, Driving Over Lemons: An Optimist in Andalucia (1999, ISBN 0-9535227-0-9) and the sequels, A Parrot In The Pepper Tree (ISBN 0-9535227-5-X) and The Almond Blossom Appreciation Society (2006, ISBN 0-9548995-0-4), about his work farming in Spain. All three are also available as audiobooks (Lemons ISBN 0-14-180143-3; Parrot ISBN 0-14-180402-5), and Almond ISBN 0-7528-8597-9, narrated by Stewart.
Stewart's publisher, Sort of Books, announced plans to release yet another Stewart memoir in 2009, this one focused on sailing, entitled Three Ways to Capsize a Boat: An Optimist Afloat.
Stewart has also contributed to two books in the Rough Guides series: the Rough Guide to Andalucia and the Rough Guide to China.
At the recommendation of Jonathan King, Stewart was asked to leave the band in the summer of 1968 due to poor technique. He was replaced by John Silver. After travelling and working throughout Europe, Stewart settled and bought a farm named "El Valero" in the Alpujarras region of Andalucia, Spain where he lives and works with his wife Ana Exton and daughter Chloë. He came in last place for the position of local councillor in the 27 May 2007 local elections in Órgiva representing the Green Party, where he received 201 votes (roughly 8%).
He is now better known for his autobiographical books, Driving Over Lemons: An Optimist in Andalucia (1999, ISBN 0-9535227-0-9) and the sequels, A Parrot In The Pepper Tree (ISBN 0-9535227-5-X) and The Almond Blossom Appreciation Society (2006, ISBN 0-9548995-0-4), about his work farming in Spain. All three are also available as audiobooks (Lemons ISBN 0-14-180143-3; Parrot ISBN 0-14-180402-5), and Almond ISBN 0-7528-8597-9, narrated by Stewart.
Stewart's publisher, Sort of Books, announced plans to release yet another Stewart memoir in 2009, this one focused on sailing, entitled Three Ways to Capsize a Boat: An Optimist Afloat.
Stewart has also contributed to two books in the Rough Guides series: the Rough Guide to Andalucia and the Rough Guide to China.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 114 reviews
September 17, 2020
The highlight of the book is the Great Flood, where it rains too much and just about everything and everyone gets swept away. But mostly they dry off, fix things up and it's just something to talk about. At the bus club.
The bus club is the local version of a boys' club. The fathers have been driving their children down from their farms to catch the school bus in the mornings. They have a little natter and say how much they will miss their kids when they go away to college in the near future. Then they set the world to rights in the way that men do, or think they do, because men don't gossip, right? And then it's home to the farms and Spanish beaurocracy, foxes killing chickens, shearing sheep, charity stuff brightened with a couple of citrus crops.
That doesn't sound as though it would make a thrilling story does it, despite the enticing title (which is why I picked it up) and it didn't. It was the fourth book of the author's memoirs of his farm in Spain and maybe the author had run out of steam or was rewriting stories the publishers had left out of the other three books (which I didn't read).
3 star. I felt generous.
___________________
seem to have a thing about sheep at the moment. I recently finished A Year in the Life of the Yorkshire Shepherdess (and have Adventures Of The Yorkshire Shepherdess to read) and then there was Vanishing Fleece: Adventures in American Wool and I've been watching repeats of Welsh Sheep Dog Trials on Youtube. This is sheep farming in Spain. At least it's warmer there.
The bus club is the local version of a boys' club. The fathers have been driving their children down from their farms to catch the school bus in the mornings. They have a little natter and say how much they will miss their kids when they go away to college in the near future. Then they set the world to rights in the way that men do, or think they do, because men don't gossip, right? And then it's home to the farms and Spanish beaurocracy, foxes killing chickens, shearing sheep, charity stuff brightened with a couple of citrus crops.
That doesn't sound as though it would make a thrilling story does it, despite the enticing title (which is why I picked it up) and it didn't. It was the fourth book of the author's memoirs of his farm in Spain and maybe the author had run out of steam or was rewriting stories the publishers had left out of the other three books (which I didn't read).
3 star. I felt generous.
___________________
seem to have a thing about sheep at the moment. I recently finished A Year in the Life of the Yorkshire Shepherdess (and have Adventures Of The Yorkshire Shepherdess to read) and then there was Vanishing Fleece: Adventures in American Wool and I've been watching repeats of Welsh Sheep Dog Trials on Youtube. This is sheep farming in Spain. At least it's warmer there.
November 1, 2020
I've read three of the books in this quartet, and this one was my favourite. Given the unsettling times we live in, it was absolute bliss to curl up in bed of a night and get lost in the world of Stewart's farm in the Alpujarras region of Andalucia, Spain, where he lives with his wife Ana. The last days of the bus club refer to the last days of his trips to the school bus, as we see his daughter Chloë start her life at university.
He talks about the grass 'rooves' on his buildings, and how he and Ana work to convert their farm to produce organic fruit, and their passion for their sheep and dogs. Although he is very modest about himself, little slivers of information show that he is much respected by friends and neighbours, and the many people in Spain who have read his books. During the course of the book he has several adventures - for instance he goes on a road trip with a friend to judge the best tuna dish cooked by a collection of Spanish restaurants (the way he writes about food is guaranteed to have all readers drooling...) Another time he has to cope with a truly alarming storm, which destroys great chunks of the farm. Much of the book is both understated and funny. The humour just seeps through everything he writes about. He also writes with great poignancy. Another great aspect of his writing is that you learn all sorts of odds and sods along the way.
"Bitter oranges, or Seville oranges as they're known in Britain, are the wild form of the orange, and their rootstocks are used to take grafts of the less hardy, more delicate, eating oranges.
The thorns on a bitter orange tree are fierce, and the flesh and juice of the fruit is more sour than the sourest lemon. This, along with their hardiness, is why it is the bitter oranges that are the tree of choice for urban planting. Bitter orange trees gladden the streets and squares of Spanish cities with their beauty and their scent, and of course, because they are more or less inedible, urban man feels no need to nick the fruit.
I say they are more or less inedible, but they are wonderful for cooking....the zest, as well as tasting of orange, has that delicious quality of making your mouth tingle and water at the same time. This accounts for why they are the perfect fruit for making marmalade."
I can't remember when I last had a book where I mourned the way I was working my way through it. I honestly hated the thought of it ending. Highly recommended.
He talks about the grass 'rooves' on his buildings, and how he and Ana work to convert their farm to produce organic fruit, and their passion for their sheep and dogs. Although he is very modest about himself, little slivers of information show that he is much respected by friends and neighbours, and the many people in Spain who have read his books. During the course of the book he has several adventures - for instance he goes on a road trip with a friend to judge the best tuna dish cooked by a collection of Spanish restaurants (the way he writes about food is guaranteed to have all readers drooling...) Another time he has to cope with a truly alarming storm, which destroys great chunks of the farm. Much of the book is both understated and funny. The humour just seeps through everything he writes about. He also writes with great poignancy. Another great aspect of his writing is that you learn all sorts of odds and sods along the way.
"Bitter oranges, or Seville oranges as they're known in Britain, are the wild form of the orange, and their rootstocks are used to take grafts of the less hardy, more delicate, eating oranges.
The thorns on a bitter orange tree are fierce, and the flesh and juice of the fruit is more sour than the sourest lemon. This, along with their hardiness, is why it is the bitter oranges that are the tree of choice for urban planting. Bitter orange trees gladden the streets and squares of Spanish cities with their beauty and their scent, and of course, because they are more or less inedible, urban man feels no need to nick the fruit.
I say they are more or less inedible, but they are wonderful for cooking....the zest, as well as tasting of orange, has that delicious quality of making your mouth tingle and water at the same time. This accounts for why they are the perfect fruit for making marmalade."
I can't remember when I last had a book where I mourned the way I was working my way through it. I honestly hated the thought of it ending. Highly recommended.
July 21, 2014
In his latest instalment from El Valero, Chris Stewart brings us a series of anecdotes of his life in this part of Spain since the last book.
From his hilarious attempts at public speaking when he implies that he is bisexual to his daughters school, the combined sheep and author tour that he undertakes with his good friend José, the judging at a tuna competition and the dealings that he has with the overbearing Spanish bureaucracy you know that he is squeezing the most out of living there.
But when he writes about El Valero is when you most feel his passion for this beautiful part of the world. Hemanages to gain organic status for the farm, and you hear when the valley suffers flooding after a deluge that blocks them off one winter and after a fox has had the last lot, chooses the right sort of chicken. The title of the book is taken from the unofficial title for him and two others that drop children at the stop for the school bus, that as their education comes to an end they know that they miss that early morning gathering.
It is a delight to read, witty and funny, but also written with this deep rooted love that his has for his chosen home, his family and friends.
From his hilarious attempts at public speaking when he implies that he is bisexual to his daughters school, the combined sheep and author tour that he undertakes with his good friend José, the judging at a tuna competition and the dealings that he has with the overbearing Spanish bureaucracy you know that he is squeezing the most out of living there.
But when he writes about El Valero is when you most feel his passion for this beautiful part of the world. Hemanages to gain organic status for the farm, and you hear when the valley suffers flooding after a deluge that blocks them off one winter and after a fox has had the last lot, chooses the right sort of chicken. The title of the book is taken from the unofficial title for him and two others that drop children at the stop for the school bus, that as their education comes to an end they know that they miss that early morning gathering.
It is a delight to read, witty and funny, but also written with this deep rooted love that his has for his chosen home, his family and friends.
January 10, 2015
If you've read any of the other "Lemons" books, you'll know what to expect. Chris Stewart is genial company, as he regales us with anecdotes of his life in Spain. Gently entertaining for the armchair traveller.
December 21, 2023
For me, what James Herriott is to England and Vets, Chris Stewart is for Spain and Gentleman Farming. My thoughts aren't yet fully formed on this, as I stepped into this author's work - an established series! - at Book 4. So - I've a lot still to decide. But I was captured, no doubt about it.
He started out in the band which eventually became Genesis, but was out-drummed by another and so took his sticks and left the country. He landed in Andalucia, bought a farm, named it El Valero, and badaBOOM, an author he became. Books 1 - 3 are still on my list - I'm lusting after audiobooks, but they are in Spanish, which I'm still considering having taken it for years - but chances are it's in the lispy kind they don't teach in the states. I know. That's a 'Merican prob. ANYWAY.
This was a great read, and left me with a great need for fresh lemons that showed up in our comestibles for the next couple of weeks. Not at all a bad thing.
He started out in the band which eventually became Genesis, but was out-drummed by another and so took his sticks and left the country. He landed in Andalucia, bought a farm, named it El Valero, and badaBOOM, an author he became. Books 1 - 3 are still on my list - I'm lusting after audiobooks, but they are in Spanish, which I'm still considering having taken it for years - but chances are it's in the lispy kind they don't teach in the states. I know. That's a 'Merican prob. ANYWAY.
This was a great read, and left me with a great need for fresh lemons that showed up in our comestibles for the next couple of weeks. Not at all a bad thing.
July 4, 2014
From BBC radio 4 - Book of the Week:
By Chris Stewart. Tales from the Alpujarras region of Andalucia in Spain
By Chris Stewart. Tales from the Alpujarras region of Andalucia in Spain
July 2, 2014
It's somewhere between a three and a four - Chris Stewart's latest set of anecdotes about the good life he's living in rural Spain is less engaging than driving over lemons and its sequels - but it is still enjoyable and easily diverting - he remains an author easy to like, genuinely self depreciating and able to get the balance in writing right so he can honestly tell the reader how great his life is, but how hard he had to work for it for many years and talk about how as an expat he is often baffled by the locals without sounding massively smug and/or patronising - a skill indeed.
This includes a mix of stories of life on his farm (the sole focus of the earlier books), nice things that happen to the author and some reminiscenses of his youth and first job in construction (no, I'm not really sure why this was in either), usually gently upbeat and largely entertaining.
I ended up reading a chunk of this as a chapter each day towards the end of my commute as it does put you in a nice frame of mind (I was also immersed in Matterhorn for this - less of a skip off to work book). And while the stories may not be quite as good as some of the earlier ones, that I genuinely looked forward to spending ten to fifteen minutes in his company each time. If you haven't read any others, start at the beginning. If you have, well you know what you're going to get.
This includes a mix of stories of life on his farm (the sole focus of the earlier books), nice things that happen to the author and some reminiscenses of his youth and first job in construction (no, I'm not really sure why this was in either), usually gently upbeat and largely entertaining.
I ended up reading a chunk of this as a chapter each day towards the end of my commute as it does put you in a nice frame of mind (I was also immersed in Matterhorn for this - less of a skip off to work book). And while the stories may not be quite as good as some of the earlier ones, that I genuinely looked forward to spending ten to fifteen minutes in his company each time. If you haven't read any others, start at the beginning. If you have, well you know what you're going to get.
December 31, 2015
I should have read Driving Over Lemons and the other books about living in Alpujarras, South of Granada, before reading this latest edition. However, I did enjoy imagining life on a rural hill farm in the heat of the Southern Spanish sun. I enjoying hearing about some of the things Chris Stewart has got up to, and I now have a secret desire to take a sabbatical, fill a trailer (or kindle type device!!!!) with a library of books and escape to somewhere off the beaten track..........
August 1, 2014
Enjoyed this book immensely , a nice tale of family life in Spain. Reminded me of the books written by Gerard Durrell when he was living in Greece. It's not a mover and shaker book but a pleasant feel good type of read.
April 29, 2024
I wonder if I would have enjoyed this more if I had stuck to the order in which Stewart writes his books about living in Spain. Although since it acts like a mini story, each chapter with no real flow, I suspect it wouldn't have mattered.
I did enjoy this, but not to the extent of his first book. So I'd likely give it 3.5. I wish there had been a more continuous line of story/timeline but this was an agreeable audio book, read by the author himself, with which to listen while crafting. At times, I even laughed out loud from the shock of what happened in a story, which is my mind is always a good sign.
Typical expat stories of life in Spain, with some other far distant memories of growing up fill this book. The last chapter in which Stewart recounts a speech he gave at the local fair was a highlight as his passion for living and working in Spain was shining through. For someone who will likely never travel as much as she would like to, these sort of books give me a rare glimpse into what small towns in rural Spain would be like. And that is why I'll most definitely be reading his other books.
I did enjoy this, but not to the extent of his first book. So I'd likely give it 3.5. I wish there had been a more continuous line of story/timeline but this was an agreeable audio book, read by the author himself, with which to listen while crafting. At times, I even laughed out loud from the shock of what happened in a story, which is my mind is always a good sign.
Typical expat stories of life in Spain, with some other far distant memories of growing up fill this book. The last chapter in which Stewart recounts a speech he gave at the local fair was a highlight as his passion for living and working in Spain was shining through. For someone who will likely never travel as much as she would like to, these sort of books give me a rare glimpse into what small towns in rural Spain would be like. And that is why I'll most definitely be reading his other books.
May 24, 2020
Although Last Days of the Bus Club felt very much like a continuation of The Almond Blossom Appreciation Society, it also seemed to be somewhat lacking. The narrative still offers an interesting escapism, whereas the photographs at the beginning of each chapter are also a nice addition. Yet, I suppose it was Stewart recalling his experience with venereal diseases that highlighted his shortage of new and interesting stories.
Rating: 3.8/5
Rating: 3.8/5
January 30, 2022
Me ha parecido un poquito más de lo mismo, en comparación a los anteriores libros.
Igualmente me ha llevado a la Alpujarra con sus historias sobre el Valero.
Igualmente me ha llevado a la Alpujarra con sus historias sobre el Valero.
April 12, 2023
Beautifully written & very funny in places.
August 29, 2025
listened as an audiobook
Written in the style of a memoir, an English chap lives in Spain with his wife and this is the documentary of a period of his retirement/author lifestyle in Spain. Very privileged, nice to neighbours, etc, etc.
Could be described as bland, but good as background busyness.
Written in the style of a memoir, an English chap lives in Spain with his wife and this is the documentary of a period of his retirement/author lifestyle in Spain. Very privileged, nice to neighbours, etc, etc.
Could be described as bland, but good as background busyness.
January 24, 2025
Been an honour to read all 4 books I’ve enjoyed every minute of it a must read for all travel lovers
October 3, 2025
Love Chris’s narrative of his life in Spain. His observations of his friends and neighbours are brilliant. My favourite of his books so far. A nice easy read with a feel good factor thrown in.
August 10, 2014
Descubrí este libro por casualidad, intentando reponer mis reservas vacacionales en un Eroski. Y me atrajeron la portada y el título (lo confieso), lo suficiente para mirar la contraportada. Al ver que era un libro autobiográfico sobre una pareja de ingleses que lo deja todo y monta una granja en la Alpujarra, me lo llevé sin dudarlo.
El autor escribe muy bien, es una delicia leer sus descripciones. Todo el libro transpira bonhomía y ganas de vivir, además de una más que saludable dosis de inteligencia e ironía amable. Un placer de lectura.
Descubro además que éste es, en palabras de su autor, el cuarto libro de la trilogía de "Driving over lemons", por lo que ya tengo tres más en la lista de pendientes.
El autor escribe muy bien, es una delicia leer sus descripciones. Todo el libro transpira bonhomía y ganas de vivir, además de una más que saludable dosis de inteligencia e ironía amable. Un placer de lectura.
Descubro además que éste es, en palabras de su autor, el cuarto libro de la trilogía de "Driving over lemons", por lo que ya tengo tres más en la lista de pendientes.
October 18, 2017
I'd previously read the three earlier books in the El Valero trilogy and enjoyed them tremendously. If anything I enjoyed the fourth book even more. Maybe it's the fact that I share his love for things Spanish and his age (roughly, maybe), but whatever it is, I've loved this addition to the history.
Again, I think it's the ordinariness of the way he deals with the extraordinary, with whatever man or nature throws at him and his small farm precariously placed in one of the most cut off parts of remote Spain that at one drags us along, and also makes us feel what he is feeling.
His anecdotes are realist. His relationships are lasting and profound. His dreams may suffer kickbacks but never die.
Maybe we all envy him. Envy him the courage it took to move to the farm in the first place and the energy and determination to make it succeed. Envy him the love and camaraderie of the other ex pats, foreigners and indigenous populations alike.
He is a beacon of openness and inclusion in what is becoming an exclusive world. He wants there to be an us, without a them. For that if nothing else I envy him.
There is more I could say, but wouldn't want to dilute the message with detail. A lovely book!
Again, I think it's the ordinariness of the way he deals with the extraordinary, with whatever man or nature throws at him and his small farm precariously placed in one of the most cut off parts of remote Spain that at one drags us along, and also makes us feel what he is feeling.
His anecdotes are realist. His relationships are lasting and profound. His dreams may suffer kickbacks but never die.
Maybe we all envy him. Envy him the courage it took to move to the farm in the first place and the energy and determination to make it succeed. Envy him the love and camaraderie of the other ex pats, foreigners and indigenous populations alike.
He is a beacon of openness and inclusion in what is becoming an exclusive world. He wants there to be an us, without a them. For that if nothing else I envy him.
There is more I could say, but wouldn't want to dilute the message with detail. A lovely book!
October 21, 2024
When his daughter, Chloe, was in school in the nearby village, Chris Steward would need to get her out of their valley to the school bus stop. Two of their neighbors also had children who rode the bus, so the group of dads would take the opportunity to chat - sharing info and discussing local happenings. Thus, the Bus Club.
Chris and Ana eventually have to deal with Chloe leaving home to go to college. They also have to crisis when a freak rainstorm causes flooding that ruins their bridge and road - their only access to the outside world. Good humor, good neighbors and ingenuity are employed to get life back to normal. Like the others in this series, the book is funny as well as interesting. It is a good look at life in rural Spain at the start of the 21st century.
Chris and Ana eventually have to deal with Chloe leaving home to go to college. They also have to crisis when a freak rainstorm causes flooding that ruins their bridge and road - their only access to the outside world. Good humor, good neighbors and ingenuity are employed to get life back to normal. Like the others in this series, the book is funny as well as interesting. It is a good look at life in rural Spain at the start of the 21st century.
August 2, 2018
I knew nothing about this book going into it. I definitely didn’t know this was the last book in a series! But it all worked out. I am sure knowing some of the characters and stories from before would have enriched my reading, but I enjoyed it as a stand-alone.
The stories about his farm and his family were amazing. I loved his optimism, but mostly I loved how game he was about new adventures. Be it judging a tuna contest or trying to build a bridge, he was so willingly open to new things. It seems like such a freeing life.
The stories about his farm and his family were amazing. I loved his optimism, but mostly I loved how game he was about new adventures. Be it judging a tuna contest or trying to build a bridge, he was so willingly open to new things. It seems like such a freeing life.
May 20, 2019
I live on the edge of the Alpujarra, although not in a remote location like Chris, and I can relate to so many of the things & places he talks about in this book. I love his previous books and although I don't think this is quite as good as the other 3 I still really enjoyed it. Chris Stewart has a lovely way of writing that draws you into his stories and you feel like you know the area and his characters after you finish reading. Great if you're looking for a light read with plenty of character.
August 28, 2020
The author’s style of writing appealed to me a lot. He seems to have such a way with words that even an episode about looking for a pencil was a joy to read. It was a fascinating glimpse into life in a beautiful part of the world, from the point of view of a foreigner, and I loved all the adventures and the characters I met along the way. Like the ladies from the book club, I really warmed to Ana and envied her calm serenity. Although this is the last book in a series, it is the only one I have read, so perhaps I should give the others a try now.
October 5, 2021
The best written book of the four part ‘trilogy‘ - laugh out loud funny and interesting.
A wager on starting the tractor and descriptions of the children’s visit to El Valero - my favourite chapter
The talc and unusual treatment from the woman up the mountain - most cringeworthy the chapter!
Seville orange drizzle cake - A wholefood food version looks definitely worth a go
I wonder if there’s going to be another? It’s been so many years since this was published in 2014 and the last chapter seems to tie all up so nicely, I doubt it. Boo!
A wager on starting the tractor and descriptions of the children’s visit to El Valero - my favourite chapter
The talc and unusual treatment from the woman up the mountain - most cringeworthy the chapter!
Seville orange drizzle cake - A wholefood food version looks definitely worth a go
I wonder if there’s going to be another? It’s been so many years since this was published in 2014 and the last chapter seems to tie all up so nicely, I doubt it. Boo!
October 27, 2020
Always reliable, Chris Stewart is a skilful writer who never fails to transport me to another place. That’s almost always a warm and happy place. His cup is never less than half full.
There’s a paragraph where he doses off beneath a tree that was so evocative I had to read it again and then again.
Sadly, I have now read almost everything by this author and I have relied on his books to help me escape from the awful pandemic that is churning up the world outside.
There’s a paragraph where he doses off beneath a tree that was so evocative I had to read it again and then again.
Sadly, I have now read almost everything by this author and I have relied on his books to help me escape from the awful pandemic that is churning up the world outside.
March 18, 2025
Inevitably this pales against Lemons and Parrot in the Pepper Tree and doesn't have the earlier joie de vivre or humour. Perhaps more a contractual commitment than a creative outpouring, but I'm happy to chip in a little more to fund El Valero. The chapters are of very different lengths and largely unrelated to each other. While there are a few high points, I'm afraid some of it is rather dull and I almost gave up in the middle.
May 22, 2019
This is the 4th book from Chris of his time in Spain - I have loved them all as it is an area that I have lived in too so it feels like reading about home - there are some very funny parts that I can relate to . Its an easy read that you can dip in and out of and has me now wanting to sit under an Orange tree with a cerveza and some tapas !
October 8, 2019
Oh dear, definitely law of diminishing returns. Chris mentions he's not got a pension plan... This is clearly it. Send a nice man , and I loved his daughters school sandwiches... However really very little happens. Picked it up to relieve the misery of the End of days, but in the end at least that had something....
November 2, 2021
Excellent book - I've read all the others Chris Stewart has written. This is as good as the rest, and they are all excellent. Definitely a one off - excellent stories; all ring true - written with warmth and humour. A good read, and not to be missed - it will at the very least give you a new appreciation of sheep!!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 114 reviews