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Driving Over Lemons: An Optimist in Andalucía
(Driving Over Lemons Trilogy #1)
by
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. ...more
Lush with olive, lemon, and almond groves, the farm lacks a few essentials—running water, electricity, an access road. ...more
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Paperback, 256 pages
Published
June 1st 1999
by Sort of Books
(first published 1999)
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Start your review of Driving Over Lemons: An Optimist in Andalucía
This really is my favourite kind of light reading; what I like to think of as the expat sub-genre of travel writing. You know the drill. Someone decides to opt out of their normal life (bonus points if it's a bit humdrum), goes to foreign country (more bonus points if non- English speaking) and encounters a whole range of amusing misunderstandings and challenges as they establish a new life (even MORE bonus points if they buy a dilapidated house to renovate). Generally they accumulate a small ha
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Buying a Lemon
What a delightfully fun read. Chris and his wife Anna buy a farm in Spain, moving from England. But Anna is not with him when he purchases it. Why not? He doesn’t say, so I won’t judge. Maybe he did say, but I wasn’t listening.
The Realtor takes him around to look at the various farms, driving down a road next to a lemon orchard where he had to drive over the lemons that had been blown onto the road, so the title of this book. Once at the entrance to the farm, he learns that he had ...more
What a delightfully fun read. Chris and his wife Anna buy a farm in Spain, moving from England. But Anna is not with him when he purchases it. Why not? He doesn’t say, so I won’t judge. Maybe he did say, but I wasn’t listening.
The Realtor takes him around to look at the various farms, driving down a road next to a lemon orchard where he had to drive over the lemons that had been blown onto the road, so the title of this book. Once at the entrance to the farm, he learns that he had ...more
A nice, harmless memoir of a couple's relocation from England to the mountains of Spain. Not a patch on a number of similar works (the Corfu Trilogy by Gerald Durrell was infinitely better), but sure to be enjoyed enough by fans of travel memoir.
...more
I have admit I came to this book with low expectations. The story of an Englishman’s escape into rural Spain seemed to promise only the same endlessly repeated tropes: the hapless foreigner making their way in a strange land, the contrast of dreary modern life with the pure traditions of the unlettered, the isolation of cities compared with the communality of the country—you’ve heard it all before.
But I was pleasantly surprised by the book; indeed, by the end I was thoroughly charmed. Stewart ...more
But I was pleasantly surprised by the book; indeed, by the end I was thoroughly charmed. Stewart ...more
Makes you want to quit your crappy job, sell your pricey house and move to a pile of rocks in Spain. Reminds you of the importance and joy to be found in relationships with neighbors, and the lack of importance in sticking to a tight schedule. I gave this to my Mom soon after I read it, and she loved it as well.
The writing style is natural, conversational. Great book.
The writing style is natural, conversational. Great book.
My ability to relate to the author got off to a poor start, wore thinner under his gendering of food, and finally broke down over his willingness to associate with and admiration for a taciturn domestic abuser. I might have got further if the writing seemed really fantastic, but it seemed just like other civilised-man-on-the-wild-passionate-continent books with the usual wife-ignoring, romanticising tropes.
What a wonderfully witty, charming and heart-warming story!
I knew nothing of Chris Stewart before I read this, and only after did I realise that he was the lead drummer in Genesis which is rather impressive!
At the beginning of the book, Chris embarks on a scary but overall fulfilling journey to El Valero, a peasant region in Andalucia where he buys a farm on a whim with no running water, no obvious access to a road, no electricity and no sheep to boot. His wife Ana begrudgingly joins him, and th ...more
I knew nothing of Chris Stewart before I read this, and only after did I realise that he was the lead drummer in Genesis which is rather impressive!
At the beginning of the book, Chris embarks on a scary but overall fulfilling journey to El Valero, a peasant region in Andalucia where he buys a farm on a whim with no running water, no obvious access to a road, no electricity and no sheep to boot. His wife Ana begrudgingly joins him, and th ...more
Man. I should have loved this book. When I pulled the off the shelf at Half Price Books I knew I had to have it. It was perfect for me. Not only was it a travel memoir, one of my great weaknesses, but it was a travel memoir about Spain. Add onto that a quirky story and I'm sold.
So what happened? Why am I not head over heels for this story? The writing was quite good, the descriptions were also nicely done. There is nothing glaringly obvious throughout the entire length.
The problem is that I just ...more
So what happened? Why am I not head over heels for this story? The writing was quite good, the descriptions were also nicely done. There is nothing glaringly obvious throughout the entire length.
The problem is that I just ...more
I live surrounded by lemon trees, none of them mine. In fact, everywhere I have lived, there has been at least one collection of lemons, be they Meyer, Eureka, Lisbon, or Sweet Italian. So this book title grabbed me quickly, as I may not drive over lemons but I certainly do walk over them.
Chris Stewart, early drummer of the rock band Genesis and an itinerant sheep shearer, decides impulsively to purchase a run down farm in Spain. El Valero is owned by a savvy farmer who really wants to move to t ...more
Chris Stewart, early drummer of the rock band Genesis and an itinerant sheep shearer, decides impulsively to purchase a run down farm in Spain. El Valero is owned by a savvy farmer who really wants to move to t ...more
Chris Stewart, formerly of Genesis, relocates his family to Andalucia. They embrace a very peasant lifestyle, and seem to love it.
I loved reading about the farm - the seasons, the beauty, the locals, and the little customs of the locals like planting on saints days. I would have liked a lot more about Andalucia in general, beyond the farm.
If you've ever wished for a simpler, pastoral life, you would probably enjoy this a bit more than I did. ...more
I loved reading about the farm - the seasons, the beauty, the locals, and the little customs of the locals like planting on saints days. I would have liked a lot more about Andalucia in general, beyond the farm.
If you've ever wished for a simpler, pastoral life, you would probably enjoy this a bit more than I did. ...more
It's unavoidable making the comparison between this book and Peter Mayle's A Year in Provence. Both are memoirs by ex-Pat Brits of their relocation to bucolic parts of Southern Europe, both to be found in my neighborhood book store almost side-by-side under Travel Essays. A blurb from the Daily Telegraph even says Stewart is being talked up as "the new Peter Mayle." Fortunately Stewart compared well--in fact I liked his book quite a bit more than Mayle's.
A lot of that is that I just plain liked ...more
A lot of that is that I just plain liked ...more
My wife bought this book about ten years ago having heard a review on Radio 2. She enjoyed reading it and so did I. More than that, it inspired us to move to Spain. I must admit, though, that we didn´t entirely follow in Chris Stewart's footsteps - working a farm in the
Alpujarras sounded like much too much hard work so we relocated to the coast instead.
However, intrigued by Chris Stewart's book we began to explore the Alpujarras and during the last eight years have spent many enjoyable days in ...more
Alpujarras sounded like much too much hard work so we relocated to the coast instead.
However, intrigued by Chris Stewart's book we began to explore the Alpujarras and during the last eight years have spent many enjoyable days in ...more
I love to travel and see new places and therefore I love reading travelogues and descriptions of new places ,cultures ,customs and people around the world. Stewart decides to buy an old sheep farm in a remote location in the Alpajurra Mountains in Southern Spain. He convinced his wife Ana to join him and the novel is a delightful description of how they start from scratch even without water and electricity to build a farm and a family 😁 simultaneously with a multitude of obstacles in the form of
...more
great english humor even in hard times when trying to settle down in Spain. fun read
Stop me, if you've heard this one before. Couple tired of the rat-race, dreams of a more simpler lifestyle and seeks dream in another country. Andalucian Spain to be exact. Chris is seeking something in the mountains but compromises somewhat to obtain a run down farm at a great price. Ana isn't as enthralled but "whither thou goest….", I suppose. Thus starts their journey to adapt to the lifestyle and carve out a life in this remote area. Lots of hard work , a peach of a local who befriends them
...more
For me, Chris Stewart’s Driving Over Lemons sets the standard by which all travel memoirs are judged. His passion for his adopted country and its people oozes from every page. Over a decade on from it first publication, it’s as crisp and fresh today as it’s ever been.
I read this book to satisfy a biography and Earth day/month challenge. I became interested in this book because my pre-Modern Iberian ancestors very probably came from this area. And they were likely to have been farmers and farm workers.
Chris Stewart and his wife Ana leave England to go to Andalucia to live their dreams as farmers in the mountains of Spain.
At first I had a challenging go of the book. About 60 pages in, I tossed it to the floor. My Problem: Chris had gone to Spain without us w ...more
Chris Stewart and his wife Ana leave England to go to Andalucia to live their dreams as farmers in the mountains of Spain.
At first I had a challenging go of the book. About 60 pages in, I tossed it to the floor. My Problem: Chris had gone to Spain without us w ...more
I spent an evening at a farm in Spain and as I picked the grapes overhanding the patio I dreamed about buying it and pickling all those orchards of olives. No electricity. So I kind of identify with author Chris Stewart, who bought just such a farm, except way more remote and without running water or a road.
I completely enjoyed the story of the couples first years in Spain, during which they learned how to keep their farm alive, built friendships and construction know-how, and had a baby. My on ...more
I completely enjoyed the story of the couples first years in Spain, during which they learned how to keep their farm alive, built friendships and construction know-how, and had a baby. My on ...more
I picked this up in the travel guide section at the library when I started planning my trip to Portugal. I was suprised to see a book like this in that section but I guess its not hefty enough for a memoir so there really isn't a proper home for it. I know understand why Cooking with Fernet Branca was made- these gringo moves to peasant territory books are so formulaic- this even has the requisite recipe for "poorman's potatoes"...... No real reason to read this, zero drama, zero suprises....
...more
Great book really easy to read and very engaging and amiable narrator. One criticism possibly that Ana doesn't really come alive in the same way as other characters. Maybe she didn't want to be a big part of the story? But Domingo seems more rounded somehow.
...more
This was a delightful account of an English couple who buys a primitive farm in rural Andalucia Spain. As Chris describes it, the setting is beautiful, but he also doesn't gloss over the difficulties of moving into a home with no electricity and no running water. The anecdotes sometimes jump back and forth in time, but that didn't bother me.
...more
Was very happy to come across this delightful little book by Chris Stewart -- one-time drummer for Genesis (in the band's very, very early days) who threw it all in to become a sheep-shearer and, eventually, the owner of a remote farm in the Alpujarras region of Andalucia. While this technically belongs in the same genre as similar works by Peter Mayle, Frances Mayes and Tony Cohan, it strikes a very different pitch as it is remarkably humble, grounded and measured in its perception of local lif
...more
This was disappointing. I've had it on the radar for years but I really thought it would be a better read. It's quite a lightweight trot through one mans experience of moving to Andalucia. I just couldn't feel anything for the characters or indeed the entire experience. He has some lovely observations, particularly about his daughter and it is quite funny in an understated (my favourite type of humour) way, but I don't believe he manages to convey anything of depth.
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I read this before I hiked in Andalusia. (Are you seeing a theme here?) So glad I did. Ever dreamed of living in the middle of olive and lemon groves? What if the house had no electricity or running water? (I love books like this!)
This book was much better than I expected. I was worried I might find his commentary about the Spanish to be condescending and insulting. Happily that was not the case. There was a perfect balance of pointing out the seemingly bizarre and the seemingly amazing of a different culture without laying anything on too thick. I'm Spanish-born, half Spanish, half American, and have lived as an expat for the last 13.5 years in two different countries. I could relate to many of their experiences and it b
...more
I thoroughly enjoyed this book about a British sheep shearer and his wife who buy a tumble down farm in rural Spain and make a home.
Really loved this book very interesting to see what his life is life on a farm in Spain 🇪🇸 I imagine he's still there ...
...more
Great story, although not as funny as advertised in my opinion.
This book came highly recommended from a couple of friends and I have been meaning to read it for quite a while now, probably ever since I moved to Spain four and a half years ago. I found a copy in Spanish at a used book sale (1Euro!) so the matter was settled. I have to say that it was slow reading and not because I had any problem with the Spanish, it is just slow reading. He doesn't have to much to say about Spanish life as he is in the middle of nowhere and interacting with few people. The
...more
The one thing that I don't like about Goodreads is that there doesn't seem to be enough bad reviews of books. I suppose most people won't bother to finish a book they don't like, or won't bother to write a review of it either. So here's one now.
Though this is not so much a bad book as it is just mediocre. The problem I have with it is that there is very little added background information on the area where Chris Stewart bought his farm. I like to read books like this to learn a bit about the are ...more
Though this is not so much a bad book as it is just mediocre. The problem I have with it is that there is very little added background information on the area where Chris Stewart bought his farm. I like to read books like this to learn a bit about the are ...more
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Book Club discussion questions | 3 | 10 | May 05, 2019 05:01PM | |
| Around the World ...: Travel Fiction | 1 | 36 | Aug 07, 2018 05:09PM | |
| The Book Vipers: Group Non-Fiction Read - Jul /Aug 2018 - Driving Over Lemons - SPOILERS ALLOWED | 5 | 13 | Jul 11, 2018 02:28AM | |
| The Book Vipers: Group Non-Fiction Read - Jul /Aug 2018 - Driving Over Lemons - NO SPOILERS | 2 | 10 | Jun 12, 2018 12:35AM |
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Christopher '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 Genesi
...more
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Driving Over Lemons Trilogy
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“Alzò per un momento lo sguardo verso di noi, poi si produsse in quel gioco di prestigio che sin dalla notte dei tempi ha fatto sì che il genere umano prendesse in simpatia la capra, emettendo contemporaneamente un rutto e una scoreggia.”
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“There was no stopping us now. We had running water, a heater, a cooker and a road. We were fast becoming slaves again to all the things we had come to this benighted spot to flee.”
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