Having moved with her family to rural Mallorca to escape the stresses of London life, PR consultant Anna Nicholas continues to commute back to her glitzy Mayfair agency to earn a crust. Meanwhile she is harbouring a bizarre dream to open a luxury cattery on the island – unbeknownst to her long suffering Scottish husband, Alan, and son, Oliver. Life in the mountains is never uneventful as the author gets to grips with phantom sheep, midnight snail hunts, Catalan lessons, ghosts, floods and flighty hens. London also has its challenges, as she juggles eccentric, rich and often neurotic clients between Mayfair and Manhattan and is hotly pursued by lucrative deals. But increasingly Anna finds herself craving the simple life of her Spanish idyll because as she discovers, you can take the girl out of Mallorca, but you can’t take Mallorca out of the girl. Wickedly irreverent, laugh out loud funny and lovingly observed, Cat on a Hot Tiled Roof celebrates the wonders of Mallorcan rural life.
Cat on a Hot Tiled Roof: Mayhem in Mayfair and Mallorca
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Review
'an equally excellent sequel to A Lizard in my Luggage... bounces with life and enthusiasm... a live-wire of a book' -- suite101.com, August 22, 2008
`Anna Nicholas has a tremendous gift for descriptive writing.' -- Nicholas Parsons, actor, broadcaster & chairman, BBC's Just a minute
`In the follow-up to her first book... Life in the mountains is never uneventful.' -- Spanish Homes, September 2008
`It's the sort of book that makes one realise what's important in life; A feel good book.' -- Sesame Magazine, August 2008
`The great pleasure of reading her account... is her use of language... picturesque and humorous... illuminating... life in Mallorca.'
-- The Anglo-Spanish Society Newsletter, Spring 2009
`This entertaining book will appeal to those trying to get the career-life balance just right - and anyone who likes cats.' -- Bingham & South Notts Advertiser, August 29, 2008
`Witty, evocative and heart-warming. Another Mallorcan pearl from Anna Nicholas.'
-- Peter Kerr, best selling Scottish travel writer
`a great read... a series of blissful, chapter long, escape windows from the daily rat race.' -- St Christopher's ezine, September 08
`extremely funny'
-- Island Life Magazine, September 2008
`highly entertaining' -- The Scientific Exploration Society, August 08
`Anna Nicholas has a tremendous gift for descriptive writing.' -- Nicholas Parsons, actor, broadcaster & chairman, BBC's Just a minute
`In the follow-up to her first book... Life in the mountains is never uneventful.' -- Spanish Homes, September 2008
`It's the sort of book that makes one realise what's important in life; A feel good book.' -- Sesame Magazine, August 2008
`The great pleasure of reading her account... is her use of language... picturesque and humorous... illuminating... life in Mallorca.'
-- The Anglo-Spanish Society Newsletter, Spring 2009
`This entertaining book will appeal to those trying to get the career-life balance just right - and anyone who likes cats.' -- Bingham & South Notts Advertiser, August 29, 2008
`Witty, evocative and heart-warming. Another Mallorcan pearl from Anna Nicholas.'
-- Peter Kerr, best selling Scottish travel writer
`a great read... a series of blissful, chapter long, escape windows from the daily rat race.' -- St Christopher's ezine, September 08
`extremely funny'
-- Island Life Magazine, September 2008
`highly entertaining' -- The Scientific Exploration Society, August 08
Review
`In the follow-up to her first book... Life in the mountains is never uneventful.'
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
By RuralBliss
Format:Paperback
I read Anna Nicholas's last book and made a total fool of myself by laughing out loud in public, so i had high hopes for this one too. I'm delighted to say I wasn't disappointed. I've stayed in the little corner of paradise where the book is set, and it was totally bizarre because everywhere you go there are copies of the book for sale - i think she's become a local celebrity. If you are looking for a good laugh with some truly poignant moments thrown in - then this is the book for you.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I was so delighted, one evening whilst browsing on Amazon, to happen acrosss this new instalment of Anna's life both in the Soller valley and way beyond it, including, this time, Manhattan. First and foremost it's a wonderful, and very pacy read - full of quirky, sometimes crazy, stories, but also with more tender moments. I was struck in particular by her perilous encounter with the "problem feline" Zack the Cat during her cattery training session deep in rural England; and by her vivid, breathtaking reportage of the New York Marathon, which she tackled and completed, in blazing heat, despite coping with a significant leg injury - and she even manages to find an attic humour in that story too!
Yet, these are not just delightful individual stories: they are subtly sewn together to paint a thoroughly convincing picture of a woman clearly at a crossroads in her life, increasingly being seduced by the simplicity, the pared down beauty, and the sheer charm and eccentricity of the Mallorcean way of life.
But, and it's an important but, the author never tries to paint her rural Mallorca as a utopia...She in-fact gives an even fuller, more direct account, of the ups and downs of Soller Valley, than in her previous book, "A Lizard in my luggage". It is made very clear that this is one place where death and life intermingle, and on a small island the losses and the tragedie are in-fact felt or the more keenly.
All in all, I so enjoyed this book: for its sheer energy, its great sense of fun, its powerful contrasts, and its gentle determination not to shirk in any way life's sadnesses and losses as well as life's joys.
Yet, these are not just delightful individual stories: they are subtly sewn together to paint a thoroughly convincing picture of a woman clearly at a crossroads in her life, increasingly being seduced by the simplicity, the pared down beauty, and the sheer charm and eccentricity of the Mallorcean way of life.
But, and it's an important but, the author never tries to paint her rural Mallorca as a utopia...She in-fact gives an even fuller, more direct account, of the ups and downs of Soller Valley, than in her previous book, "A Lizard in my luggage". It is made very clear that this is one place where death and life intermingle, and on a small island the losses and the tragedie are in-fact felt or the more keenly.
All in all, I so enjoyed this book: for its sheer energy, its great sense of fun, its powerful contrasts, and its gentle determination not to shirk in any way life's sadnesses and losses as well as life's joys.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
By studiocyn
Format:Paperback
When I first picked up, Cat on a Hot Tiled Roof, I was amused by the title more than anything else, and turned it over and read the premiss, and promptly bought it. I like travel writing a lot, but most of this genre these days, is almost always about, chucking it all in and buying a ruin and all the ups and downs of doing it up, and crazy/funny situations and enormous frustrations. But, it's all worth it in the end.
This book is certainly not that! While it does share some aspects, it is something original and magical.
This book is so refreshing in that, while, it does chart the experiences, of living and fitting into a small, Spanish, community,( and very funnily so) it also balances it with, the real world, working, maintaining connections with one's previous life, all sorts of major life decisions, as well as, talking frogs, mysterious disappearing sheep, handsome postmen, crazy Americans, and Londoners, along side some genuine and hilarious characters, whom I won't say anything about, just to get you go buy your own copy! The people she meets and becomes friends with seem real, not exaggerated, and the people she works in London with,(and for) well, as I said-read the book.
Her writing is first rate, witty, and engaging.She makes you really like her, and her sense of humour, is laugh out, while, very tongue in cheek at other times, a nice balance. There are poignant stories too, and it tugs at your heart.
Anna's descriptions of Soller, and of the island of mallorca, are beautiful written, so, much, so you can almost smell the oleander and jasmin ,and feel the grandure of the shadowy Tramuntana Mountains. She also, tells you about the traditional food and festivals in such a way, you want to join in and try just about everything.... Read more ›
This book is certainly not that! While it does share some aspects, it is something original and magical.
This book is so refreshing in that, while, it does chart the experiences, of living and fitting into a small, Spanish, community,( and very funnily so) it also balances it with, the real world, working, maintaining connections with one's previous life, all sorts of major life decisions, as well as, talking frogs, mysterious disappearing sheep, handsome postmen, crazy Americans, and Londoners, along side some genuine and hilarious characters, whom I won't say anything about, just to get you go buy your own copy! The people she meets and becomes friends with seem real, not exaggerated, and the people she works in London with,(and for) well, as I said-read the book.
Her writing is first rate, witty, and engaging.She makes you really like her, and her sense of humour, is laugh out, while, very tongue in cheek at other times, a nice balance. There are poignant stories too, and it tugs at your heart.
Anna's descriptions of Soller, and of the island of mallorca, are beautiful written, so, much, so you can almost smell the oleander and jasmin ,and feel the grandure of the shadowy Tramuntana Mountains. She also, tells you about the traditional food and festivals in such a way, you want to join in and try just about everything.... Read more ›
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I have recently restored an old finca in Spain where I now live. I am always on the lookout for books on this subject and one day A Lizard in My Luggage popped up on Amazon, as they do. I thoroughly enjoyed it and wanting more, immediately ordered Cat on a Hot Tiled Roof, which I have just finished. This is the second installment of the crazy story of Anna's move to Mallorca and all the wonderful people she has met there and I loved it.
Anna writes in such a wonderful warm and familiar style that I feel that I know these characters almost as friends of my own. Of course many of the cultural differences referred to in the book are by now well documented but Anna's fresh take on them truly makes for some laugh out loud moments.
So come on Anna, is there a third installment? Personally, I can't wait.
Anna writes in such a wonderful warm and familiar style that I feel that I know these characters almost as friends of my own. Of course many of the cultural differences referred to in the book are by now well documented but Anna's fresh take on them truly makes for some laugh out loud moments.
So come on Anna, is there a third installment? Personally, I can't wait.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By P. Kerr
Format:Paperback
I know Mallorca fairly well, so I can relate easily to Anna Nicholas's graphic descriptions of the island's landscape, people and customs. And beautifully written these descriptions are, too.
But there's much more to this book than just an expat's view of her adopted home. Too often the Brit incomer adopts a patronising attitude towards the local people; a condescending deameanour that the locals pretend not to notice, but which offends them, nonetheless. And quite rightly so. The British Empire never included Spain.
In this age, when so many people are 'relocating to the sun', it's all too easy to opt for settling in a home-from-home 'ghetto' populated exclusively by people of your own nationality, all speaking English, eating Hovis and drinking Carling Black Label. Fair enough, but why not just stay at home and buy a sun bed?
Read this book and learn how vital it is to make the effort to integrate, if you want to get the most out of being a guest in another people's country. Anna Nicholas and her family have done just that, and her accounts of their adventures and misadventures add up to an informative, entertaining and witty book that should be essential reading for anyone contemplating a similar move - or just happy to sit at home and dream about it.
Another Mallorcan gem of a book by the talented Ms Nicholas. Highly recommended!
But there's much more to this book than just an expat's view of her adopted home. Too often the Brit incomer adopts a patronising attitude towards the local people; a condescending deameanour that the locals pretend not to notice, but which offends them, nonetheless. And quite rightly so. The British Empire never included Spain.
In this age, when so many people are 'relocating to the sun', it's all too easy to opt for settling in a home-from-home 'ghetto' populated exclusively by people of your own nationality, all speaking English, eating Hovis and drinking Carling Black Label. Fair enough, but why not just stay at home and buy a sun bed?
Read this book and learn how vital it is to make the effort to integrate, if you want to get the most out of being a guest in another people's country. Anna Nicholas and her family have done just that, and her accounts of their adventures and misadventures add up to an informative, entertaining and witty book that should be essential reading for anyone contemplating a similar move - or just happy to sit at home and dream about it.
Another Mallorcan gem of a book by the talented Ms Nicholas. Highly recommended!
Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Cat on a hot tiled roof
A little too much Mayfair and not enough Mallorca in this one for my taste - but then I'm a country girl who hates London and big business etc.
Published 2 months ago by Christine Laidlaw
5.0 out of 5 stars
Top Form
This is the second book in Anna's story and I'm pleased to say it continues in the same vein as the first. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Simonch
5.0 out of 5 stars
Nothing like a good pun for a title
I do enjoy this series of books. They are well constructed and well written.
As I wrote in a review of another of Anna Nicholas' books "how she manages to keep her sanity and... Read more
As I wrote in a review of another of Anna Nicholas' books "how she manages to keep her sanity and... Read more
Published 17 months ago by Woodland Worker
3.0 out of 5 stars
Very enjoyable and easy to read book.
It took a little while to get into this book as felt it seemed like a regular column in a newspaper rather than a novel. Read more
Published on 19 Aug 2010 by Migber
5.0 out of 5 stars
Easy going Read, with a great insite to the real Mallorca
I am a long term resident living and WORKING on Mallorca, as it is not all sun sea and sangria for everyone. Read more
Published on 25 Aug 2009 by wales
5.0 out of 5 stars
A must-have.
A delightful book to read and essential for anyone considering a stay in Mallorca, because this gives a real flavour of the Mallorcan countryside & lifestyle, particularly in the... Read more
Published on 27 April 2009 by Mr. P. R. Daw
4.0 out of 5 stars
amusing follow up
Had feelings of "deja vu" when I started to read this as I had not realized it was a follow on from "A LIZARD IN MY LUGGAGE"
I recommend reading "Lizard" 1st to gain... Read more
I recommend reading "Lizard" 1st to gain... Read more
Published on 16 Mar 2009 by Mrs. R. E. Spencer
5.0 out of 5 stars
The point of view of a local
I bought this book at Calabruix, my hometown bookshop in Sóller, now Anna Nicholas hometown. Years ago I had read "My Family and Other Animals" by Gerald Durrell, and had... Read more
Published on 21 Aug 2008 by Ignacio Recalde Canals
5.0 out of 5 stars
Vivid views of majorca life
I really enjoyed this sequel to Lizard in my Luggage, Anna Nicholas's first book about her juggling of life between mayfair & majorca. Read more
Published on 14 Aug 2008 by Alison Wheatley
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