You are here

Back to top

Driving Over Lemons: An Optimist in Spain (Vintage Departures) (Paperback)

Driving Over Lemons: An Optimist in Spain (Vintage Departures) Cover Image
$15.95
Special Order

Description


A funny, generous, wonderfully written account of a family making a life and home in remote but enchanting southern Spain—from the first drummer of the rock band Genesis. 

No sooner had Chris Stewart set eyes on El Valero than he handed over a check.  Now all he had to do was explain to Ana, his wife, that they were the proud owners of an isolated sheep farm in the Alpujarra Mountains in Southern Spain. That was the easy part.

Lush with olive, lemon, and almond groves, the farm lacks a few essentials—running water, electricity, an access road.  And then there's the problem of rapacious Pedro Romero, the previous owner who refuses to leave.  A perpetual optimist, whose skill as a sheepshearer provides an ideal entrée into his new community, Stewart also possesses an unflappable spirit that, we soon learn, nothing can diminish.  Wholly enchanted by the rugged terrain of the hillside and the people they meet along the way—among them farmers, including the ever-resourceful Domingo, other expatriates and artists—Chris and Ana Stewart build an enviable life, complete with a child and dogs, in a country far from home.

About the Author


CHRIS STEWART lives in Spain with his wife, Ana, and daughter, Chloë.

Praise For…


  "Take half a cup of Bill Bryson, mix with three tablespoons of Peter Mayle, then add just a pinch of Monty Python, and what you get is Driving Over Lemons."- Chicago Tribune 

“A wonderful antidote to…modern electronic life. I love this book.”–Peter Mayle, author of A Year in Provence

"This funny book is required reading for anyone who has ever dreamed of taking up the pastoral life in a foreign country."- Travel & Leisure

"The ability to write hilarious travelogues... may well be a national characteristic [of the English].  It's certainly possessed by Chris Stewart."- The New York Times Book Review


Product Details
ISBN: 9780375709159
ISBN-10: 0375709150
Publisher: Vintage
Publication Date: May 8th, 2001
Pages: 272
Language: English
Series: Vintage Departures