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Review
'mightily entertaining.... Stewart makes an excellent reader of his accounts of Spain and life at his far, El Varo, the reading accentuating the self-deprecatory humour, adding considerably to the listener's pleasure. A welcome longer-length recording - five hours - and every minute enjoyed.' (Sue Baker PUBLISHING NEWS )
'a delight from the off, when he insists on relieving a dung beetle of its dung ball. Why, you ask? Listen on - it's worth it.' (Kati Nicholl DAILY EXPRESS )
'a highly amusing listen.' (Vidar Hjardeng THE BOOK MAGAZINE )
'a delight from the off, when he insists on relieving a dung beetle of its dung ball. Why, you ask? Listen on - it's worth it.' (Kati Nicholl DAILY EXPRESS )
'a highly amusing listen.' (Vidar Hjardeng THE BOOK MAGAZINE )
Review
'mightily entertaining... Stewart makes an excellent reader of his accounts of Spain and life at his far, El Varo, the reading accentuating the self-deprecatory humour, adding considerably to the listener's pleasure. A welcome longer-length recording - five hours - and every minute enjoyed.' -- Sue Baker PUBLISHING NEWS 'a delight from the off, when he insists on relieving a dung beetle of its dung ball. Why, you ask? Listen on - it's worth it.' -- Kati Nicholl DAILY EXPRESS 'a highly amusing listen.' -- Vidar Hjardeng THE BOOK MAGAZINE
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
162 of 168 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Well, I have read the book and can report it is just as funny as "Lemons" and "Parrot", and even better written. Those of us who have followed Chris's escapades in those books will be pleased to know that he is still at El Valero, his Spanish mountain farm, and still just as full of zest for life as ever. In "Almonds" we get to see Chris coping with his daughter Chlöe becoming a Spanish teenager, and laugh aloud through further farces on the farm, like when the police come to arrest his scarecrow, or when he louses up his entire olive crop.
But there is also a serious - and new - strand in this book, which is Morocco, Africa and Fortress Europe. Chris finds himself on the frontline of immigration to Europe when a group of Moroccan youths turn up, en route from a terrible, dangerous crossing of the straits to seeking work in the greenhouses around Almeria. They walk the backroads to avoid detection, and pass by El Valero. Caught up in their plight, Chris goes to work in an advice centre in Granada, and, as you would expect, he is not cut out for office work! He then retraces the immigrants' route, with writer friend Michael Jacobs, but ends up eating more jamon and drinking more wine than is strictly Muslim. It's all described as a self-deprecating farce, but beneath the humour he has a point to make about tolerance. We also get some marvellous descriptions - perhaps the best writing Chris has done in any of his books - about his own time in Morocco, a few years back, scratching a living seed collecting in the Middle Atlas.
All in all, this is another great slice of Stewart and one that remains entirely rooted in 'real life' - very far from the ex-pat ramblings of so many of his imitators. Most important, he remains an irresistibly funny writer, with a voice uniquely his own, and a style of storytelling that is never less than engaging.
But there is also a serious - and new - strand in this book, which is Morocco, Africa and Fortress Europe. Chris finds himself on the frontline of immigration to Europe when a group of Moroccan youths turn up, en route from a terrible, dangerous crossing of the straits to seeking work in the greenhouses around Almeria. They walk the backroads to avoid detection, and pass by El Valero. Caught up in their plight, Chris goes to work in an advice centre in Granada, and, as you would expect, he is not cut out for office work! He then retraces the immigrants' route, with writer friend Michael Jacobs, but ends up eating more jamon and drinking more wine than is strictly Muslim. It's all described as a self-deprecating farce, but beneath the humour he has a point to make about tolerance. We also get some marvellous descriptions - perhaps the best writing Chris has done in any of his books - about his own time in Morocco, a few years back, scratching a living seed collecting in the Middle Atlas.
All in all, this is another great slice of Stewart and one that remains entirely rooted in 'real life' - very far from the ex-pat ramblings of so many of his imitators. Most important, he remains an irresistibly funny writer, with a voice uniquely his own, and a style of storytelling that is never less than engaging.
24 of 26 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The Almond Blossom Appreciation Society contains more stories from Chris Stewart and his farm in the hills of the Sierra Nevada. This is a collection of stories rather than one story from start to finish. I don't think it is as laugh-out-loud funny as his second book (A Parrot in The Pepper Tree) but I don't think the books are sold for their comedy value. The stories are interesting, and include re-tracing the route of illegal immigrants from Morocco after a few stopped by his farm and another story follows his travels through Morocco to harvest a particular plant for one of his money raising schemes. I almost feel part of the family because the characters and scenery seem so familiar. I really hope Chris writes another instalment but I worry that he'll run out of genuine stories soon because his life these days probably revolves around meetings with publishers in London rather than living on a small farm in Spain.
20 of 22 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Readers of Chris Stewart's earlier titles can rightly expect to be rewarded in his latest volume with another charming, playfully self-deprecating account of everything he turns his hand to, and an empathetic appreciation of the people he runs into.
Once again, we are treated to a delightful but informative romp through matters that most of us know nothing about - from dung beetles, frogs, dogs, trees, sheep (and their droppings), to olives, Costa wine and the eponymous almond blossom. All this set in the now familiar landscape around El Valero, the family cortijo in the Alpujarras in Southern Spain, at the junction of the rivers Trevelez and Cadiar,
As before we can count on his wife, Ana, and daughter Chloe - now a teenager, to provide quizzical counterpoint to some of his escapades, and on a charming coterie of local characters who accompany him on them.
But times change, and global issues reach even Alpujarreñan backwaters. Semi-starved illegal immigrants from Morocco ghost past his door, and Stewart feeds them, tries to simulate their furtive trek up from the coast. He works as a volunteer in an Immigrant Help centre in Granada. A seed-gathering expedition to Morocco years before is lovingly related, but hopes of helping his Berber helpers to escape their poverty trap ultimately came to nothing.
Climate change arrives with a vengeance. Life in the Alpujarras - always precarious and ever subject to extreme highs and lows, both physical and emotional - suffers unprecedented cold and severe drought. Crops are ruined, trees freeze and sheep risk starvation. A smallholding couple invests a huge amount of money to build a 600,000 litre concrete water tank to protect their irrigation water supply and with it their chosen lifestyle - albeit one of "ferocious" hard work. It makes no economic sense.
But Stewart explains "we need to go on taking some active part in our landscape, ploughing its soil, planting its orchards, tending its trees. That is how we keep a sense of who we are."
A sense that may be doomed. The Alpujarreñan life-style is irremediably uneconomic and as vulnerable as canaries in a coal mine before the onslaught of climate change. Between the lines there is the distinct possibility that the almond blossom will not be there to appreciate much longer, and that Chris will have to redefine his sense of "who we are".
Does that make his books also an endangered species? Given Stewart's irrepressible enthusiasm and willingness to `have a go' -almost certainly not. But don't be surprised to find him doing his bit to save the planet and, with customary bonhomie, giving his take on the issues that concern us all. Swan song for the Alpujarras, maybe, but if this canary falls off its perch we all really are down the shaft.
Once again, we are treated to a delightful but informative romp through matters that most of us know nothing about - from dung beetles, frogs, dogs, trees, sheep (and their droppings), to olives, Costa wine and the eponymous almond blossom. All this set in the now familiar landscape around El Valero, the family cortijo in the Alpujarras in Southern Spain, at the junction of the rivers Trevelez and Cadiar,
As before we can count on his wife, Ana, and daughter Chloe - now a teenager, to provide quizzical counterpoint to some of his escapades, and on a charming coterie of local characters who accompany him on them.
But times change, and global issues reach even Alpujarreñan backwaters. Semi-starved illegal immigrants from Morocco ghost past his door, and Stewart feeds them, tries to simulate their furtive trek up from the coast. He works as a volunteer in an Immigrant Help centre in Granada. A seed-gathering expedition to Morocco years before is lovingly related, but hopes of helping his Berber helpers to escape their poverty trap ultimately came to nothing.
Climate change arrives with a vengeance. Life in the Alpujarras - always precarious and ever subject to extreme highs and lows, both physical and emotional - suffers unprecedented cold and severe drought. Crops are ruined, trees freeze and sheep risk starvation. A smallholding couple invests a huge amount of money to build a 600,000 litre concrete water tank to protect their irrigation water supply and with it their chosen lifestyle - albeit one of "ferocious" hard work. It makes no economic sense.
But Stewart explains "we need to go on taking some active part in our landscape, ploughing its soil, planting its orchards, tending its trees. That is how we keep a sense of who we are."
A sense that may be doomed. The Alpujarreñan life-style is irremediably uneconomic and as vulnerable as canaries in a coal mine before the onslaught of climate change. Between the lines there is the distinct possibility that the almond blossom will not be there to appreciate much longer, and that Chris will have to redefine his sense of "who we are".
Does that make his books also an endangered species? Given Stewart's irrepressible enthusiasm and willingness to `have a go' -almost certainly not. But don't be surprised to find him doing his bit to save the planet and, with customary bonhomie, giving his take on the issues that concern us all. Swan song for the Alpujarras, maybe, but if this canary falls off its perch we all really are down the shaft.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
easy reading
Bought this book as a follow on from Chris's previous books. It was a good read easy to read and light on the brain at bedtime
Published 1 month ago by Mrs. H. Corrie
To live the dream
Chris Stewart has now lived in the Alpujurras region of Spain for seventeen years, has a 14 year old daughter and is an accepted member of the local society, deemed worthy of... Read more
Published 5 months ago by Clive A. H. Still
almind blossom appreciation society
already read this book but the binding was faulty so I requested another copy from Amazon: great service and no quibble - easy to return the first book and quick replacement. Read more
Published 6 months ago by bongo13
TRILOGY
TRILOGY". I've just finished reading this trilogy by Chris Stewart and found it to be nice light reading - great for holidays especially in Spain! Read more
Published 7 months ago by Cathy
TH01
A Good read, Entertaining and informative as it continues the saga of life in the South of Spain. Buy all three books - you will not regret it. Read more
Published 8 months ago by M. A. Harris
Good book!
I've absolutely loved this trilogy by Chris Stuart the first one 'Driving over Lemons' being recommended to me as an enjoyable holiday read! Read more
Published 10 months ago by Marg T
The Almond Blossom Appreciation Society
This trilogy of books (the Lemons Trilogy) is a must.
A great read about a mad couple doing a crazy thing (buying a derelict farm in Spain)and making a go of it. Read more
A great read about a mad couple doing a crazy thing (buying a derelict farm in Spain)and making a go of it. Read more
Published 14 months ago by Pamela Mclellan
The pages fell out.
I bought this book specifically for my holiday. I started to read it on the plane and the pages came loose from the spine. Read more
Published 19 months ago by S. J. BELL
a world away
Lemon trees bursting into bud, bougainvillea draped across stone walls, the delicate scent of almond blossom, and the lazy hum of carpenter bees. Read more
Published on 23 April 2010 by V. A. Gill
The Almond Blossom Appreciation Society.
Bought as a gift but the feedback has been very positive - an excellent read.
Published on 19 Mar 2010 by Ms. Dee Loeve
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