Being a great fan of Michael Wright's column in The Telegraph, I was expecting much of "C'est la folie". How completely undisappointed I was!
It probably won't appeal to the type of person who can cheerfully kill an ox with their bare hands, or happily strangle a chicken without a moment's thought, but animal lovers will relate to the author's gentleness and his love of animals, and share his pain at some of the inevitable small tragedies that he faces.
The wit with which this previously timid townie describes his intrepid battle build a life for himself, his cat and his aeroplane in rural France had me sobbing with laughter. He faces all the challenges hurled at him by man, woman and beast, from chasing a runaway cockerel over hill and dale dressed in wellies and pyjamas with no elastic, to breaking up a cat-fight between two hair-pulling harridans in the local supermarket. He throws himself unhesitatingly into local sports, regardless of whether of not he knows anything about them, and occasionally takes to the skies in his vintage aircraft.
If you have a soul, a love of animals, your fellow human beings, and rural France, and appreciate deliciously lyrical writing and subtle humour, you will simply love this book, and you will be praying that the author will find the soulmate he seeks to share his highs and heartaches.
