Driving Over Lemons by Chris Stewart (1999)

I read this book because I am on a trip to Andalucia.  My number two son is studying in Seville this summer, and we are spending a couple of weeks getting him acclimated to the language,the food, and having a little bit of fun ourselves.

The subtitle of this memoir about moving from England to Andalucia is "The Optimist in Spain"--the author is not so much an optimist as he is naive.  He does have the sense that everything will work out, but it is not because of his sunny disposition--rather it is that he doesn't think that someone would cheat him, or fail to disclose the fatal flaws in the plan that he has for himself.

I did not know that the author was the first drummer for the band that became Genesis--he went to high school with Peter Gabriel, but apparently he was removed from the band for his lack of drumming talent (which seems like it is saying something, but perhaps they were a band with a high drumming standard).  At the time that he was considering buying a farm in southern Spain, he was an itinerant sheep sheerer, traveling around the northern part of Europe on an as needed basis.  He bought the farm without much thought, seduced by the beauty of the setting and the extremely affordable price.  It was a place that could not be sold to locals--so the fact that he was a foreigner was in some way to his advantage.  He was tricked, his neighbors thought, rather than that he wanted to take over.

The book delineates the way of life that he found himself in, and the things that they brought with them to the region, and the way the people who lived there responded to he and his family.  There are some good stories contained, but not much in the way of history of the place.  Still, if you are traveling to this region, it is a good travel memoir.