The People's Lawyer [Paperback]

'A delightful read - sharp and humourous, [with] a great capacity for self-parody'

'A delightful read - sharp and humorous' --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

A richly funny book, Philip Ells draws wonderful pen pictures of what must have been the experience of a lifetime. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

How does a young city lawyer end up as the Peoples Lawyer of the fourth smallest country in the world, 12,000 kilometres from home? Philip Ells dreamed of turquoise seas, sandy beaches and palm trees, and he found these in the tiny Pacific island state of Tuvalu. But neither his voluntary service overseas briefing pack nor his legal training could prepare him for what happened there. He learned to deal with rapes, murders, incest, the unforgivable crime of pig theft and to look a shark in the eye. This is the moving story of a London dramatic and often hilarious lawyer colliding with a Pacific island culture.
-- A comic travelogue in the tradition of Bill Bryson
-- A young Englishman fed up with life in the fast lane travels to the tiny Pacific island of Tuvalu to be their lawyer
-- Funny culture clash between an Englishman keen to do the 'Right Thing' and a culture that works best without his laws

Everyone dreams of ditching the rat-race, jumping off the treadmill, turning their life on its head and doing something worthwhile, but Philip Ells turned that fantasy into a reality. Imagining turquoise seas, sandy beaches and lush tropical trees, Ells flies off to the Pacific island state of Tuvalu armed only with his Voluntary Service Overseas briefing and his hopes of finding paradise. Nothing, however, could quite prepare him for the reality of life on Tuvalu. In this hilarious, dramatic and insightful book, Philip Ells describes with self-deprecating wit the collision between himself and the Pacific Islanders’ sometimes extraordinary behaviour. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

How does a young city solicitor end up as the People's Lawyer of the fourth-smallest country in the world, 11,000 miles from home?
Everyone dreams of ditching the rat-race, jumping off the treadmill, turning their life on its head and doing something worthwhile, but Philip Ells turned that fantasy into a reality. Imagining turquoise seas, sandy beaches and lush tropical trees, Ells flies off to the Pacific island state of Tuvalu armed only with his Voluntary Service Overseas briefing and his hopes of finding paradise...
Nothing, however, could quite prepare him for the reality of life on Tuvalu. Housed in a filthy, humid bunker, Philip learns to deal with the heat, rain, murders, incest, recalcitrant islanders, bizarre constitution and the unforgivable crime of pig theft, along the way realising that you never look a shark the eye or ask the octogenarian Tuvaluan cheif why he sits immobilised by a massive rock permanently lodged in his groin.
In this hilarious dramatic and insightful book, Philip Ells describes with self-depracating wit the collision between himself and the Pacific Islanders' sometimes extraordinary behaviour. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Philip Ells now lives back in London and remains a lawyer and writer
--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.