Manana Manana: One Mallorcan Summer

Snowball Oranges #2

by Peter Kerr

Having battled and succumbed to the manana pace of rural Mallorca, spring sees Peter Kerr and his family relaxing into a supposedly simpler way of life, growing oranges on their little farm, Ca's Mayoral. However, even after the trials, tribulations, and triumphs of their initiation, Spain has not yet finished with them. Embarrassing subtleties of the language, brushes with the local police, the unfortunate outcome of a drinking session; surprises are aplenty to test the resolve, stamina, and, perhaps more importantly, the sense of humor of this venturesome emigre family. Their eccentric and colorful new friends are always on hand to help out—for better or worse—and add spice to this account of tranquilo life.

Genres: Nonfiction, Travel, Spain, Memoir, Biography, Humor

320 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Peter Kerr, the award-winning Scottish author of the 'Snowball Oranges' pentad of humorous Mallorcan travelogues, is a former jazz musician, record producer and farmer. He has also written a range of fiction titles, including the 'Bob Burns Investigates' trilogy of humour-spiked mysteries and 'Song of the Eight Winds', a historical novel set in 13th century Spain. 'Thistle Soup' is a set-in-Scotland prequel to 'Snowball Oranges', while 'Don't Call Me Clyde!' is a memoir of his life as a young jazz musician in early-60s London. A comedy-laced caper called 'The Other Monarch of the Glen' is set in the Scottish Highlands and was published in December 2017, while 'Goblin Hall', a humour-peppered fantasy adventure for a family readership, was published in April 2020. July 2021 saw the release of 'Jen - A Border Collie's Tale', the heart-warming life story of an old farm dog, narrated by Jen herself. 'Author - Don't Make Me Laugh', an amusing though frank and revealing account of the long road to becoming a published author at sixty, was published in November 2024. Peter, an accomplished artist, also illustrates his own books. His reputation as an entertaining and amusing speaker has resulted in regular appearances at book festivals and similar literary events throughout the UK and abroad.

Reviews

[Gill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well-written amusing account of Scottish family's adventures in Mallorcan fruit farming.

[Allan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as good as Chris Stewart. Author irritated me by trying to be outside the action (ie always seemed to be above everything) when it was supposed to be about integrated.

[Louise Armstrong · Rating 1 out of 5]

I see lots of people enjoyed this, but I couldn't get past the manner - someone who's not used to writing, perhaps.

[BillReader · Rating 3 out of 5]

not as good as the first book but readable

[Debby · Rating 2 out of 5]

I struggled reading this book ,maybe because I have read so many of this kind .

[Debbie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I hadn’t read the first book in this series (Snowball Oranges) when the Kerr family moved from a farm in Scotland to an Orange Grove in rural Mallorca. This, the 2nd instalment covers their first summer as they settle into their new life, the heat, language gaffes etc. It was an enjoyable enough read, not great. I found the 3rd book ‘Viva Mallorca’ in the charity shop, and plan to quickly read it whilst the characters are fresh in my mind.

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't laugh quite as much as Peter Kerr's Mallorcan winter book but it is still a very enjoyable read, made me smile and brought back happy memories of my own Mallorcan holidays. Left me wondering what happened next.

[Olivia · Rating 2 out of 5]

I knew this would be lighthearted fluff, but I wasn’t expecting it to be so full of grammar and punctuation errors. Also, the writer speaks to and refers to his wife as if she were a child. I found both faults infuriating, but I finished the book because I like Mallorca.

[Gillian Philp · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gentle humour, nice to read on holiday.

[多余人-Lishnye Lyudi · Rating 3 out of 5]

向往的生活

[Lee Belbin · Rating 3 out of 5]

A cute book about the day-to-day life of a Scottish family fruit farm on Majorca. I enjoyed the insights into this Spanish island culture. It ended on a note suggesting more to come.

[Calamarsa · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very funny, well-written history! It is not the best literature ever, but if you read just looking for fun, you find it is very amusing, even cute!


I just wanted to say it has a huge mistake: it seemed to me that he considered "mallorquín" as a dead Spanish dialect only spoken by the old people in Mallorca, when it is actually a dialect of catalan (a different language with more than 6 millions of speakers) widely used in all the Balearic Islands.

[Michael Kerr · Rating 3 out of 5]

Leaving the chill of Scotland behind, Peter Kerr and his family move to an orange grove in Mallorca. There are the local rustics with their devious ways, the annoying tourists, the amusing linguistic accidents of living in a foreign language. If you enjoyed A Year in Provence, by Peter Mayle, you'll chew through this one, rapidamente.

[Cyndi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't normally actually like auto-biographies, or biographies, either, but this one was cute and funny. It's a collection of stories about a Scottish family that relocates to Spain to raise fruit. Comedy ensues.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

An easy armchair-travelling book that is a perfect escape in difficult times (or otherwise) owing to its gentle humour and good-natured observations of life and relationships on the farms and in the small towns of Mallorca.

[Wendy Baxter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Now I'd like to read the rest of the series of the Kerr family's time in Mallorca, but I can't any of the books. I'd also, of course, like to go to Mallorca, but I can't find any money...

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

Light fluff, but entertaining, funny, and very well written fluff :).

[Barbara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this book!

[Melissa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Eh, I've read better expat books. but I would like to go to Mallorca now.

[Norma · Rating 2 out of 5]

Couldn't be bothered. Probably just my mood so maybe I'll give it a try another time. Not now tho

[Wendee]

Might have to try this in "readable" format. The audio format was too hard for me to follow, as the narrator had an accent.

[Neil Denham · Rating 3 out of 5]

Makes me pine for a Majorcan summer!

[Ruth · Rating 4 out of 5]

An easy read. Funny. I want to read the rest of the series

[Jean · Rating 3 out of 5]

Liked the foreign setting. Interesting story.