A Parrot in the Pepper Tree: A Sequel to Driving over Lemons (The Lemons Trilogy)

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I loved Chris's 1st book, Driving over Lemons, ann most of this book was pretty entertaining as well. Chris Stewart’s “Driving Over Lemons” told the story of his move to a remote mountain farm in Las Alpujarras, an oddball region of Spain, south of Granada. Stewart's publisher, Sort of Books, announced plans to release yet another Stewart memoir in 2009, this one focused on sailing, entitled Three Ways to Capsize a Boat: An Optimist Afloat. And now I come to look at it I realise what a richly textured book this is… there’s heaps of stuff in it: Chloë’s continuing journey from infancy to childhood, school at the local bear-pit, a chapter on the literary life… or my version of it… and then to ring the changes a little, and to buffer myself against the accusation of churning out the same old stuff yet again, there’s an episode in the cold cold north, shearing sheep in Sweden; also the famous Genesis connection and a brief acount of my time with Sir Robert Fossett’s Circus… and it’s all true.

I read the first book in this trilogy years ago (Driving over lemons) and enjoyed it, so I am not really sure why it took me so long to read this second one. All three are also available as audiobooks (Lemons ISBN 0-14-180143-3; Parrot ISBN 0-14-180402-5), and Almond ISBN 0-7528-8597-9, narrated by Stewart. As an Hispanophile and ex resident of Spain, I really enjoyed his descriptions, often very self deprecating and tongue in cheek, of the joys and tribulations of Spanish rural life.

Interešu literatūra, kas, manuprāt, var palīdzēt izprast cilvēkus virzošos spēkus, un, varbūt, pietuvināties šo spēku pirmavotam pašā lasītājā. Capítulos inconexos, el loro, el chaparrón, la bronca, el rebaño, el invierno sueco, la presa, se suceden sin acabar de convencer ni de hebrar un relato ordenado. Buvo gera pabuvoti ispaniškame karštyje, matyti apelsinų ir citrinų laukus, “skanauti” alyvuoges ir jausti, kad skubėti nereikia niekur, nes gyvenimas vyksta dabar. A Parrot in the Pepper Tree also looks back on Chris Stewart's former life -- the hard times shearing in midwinter Sweden (and driving across the frozen sea to teach island farms; his first taste of Spain, learning the flamenco guitar as a 20-year-old; and his illustrious music career, drumming for his school band Genesis (sacked at 17, he never quite became Phil Collins), and then for Sir Robert Fossett's circus. Well that was it: once I’d got the sweet taste of success and had all the fun of getting a book published, I sort of got the bit between my teeth; now there was no stopping me.

Alas like so many authors a brilliant first book doe not necessarily guarantee the success of subsequent publications. Stewart appears on the band's first two singles, "The Silent Sun"/"That's Me" and "A Winter's Tale"/"One-Eyed Hound. v.) asked me to play drums for his band, so that he, who had started as the drummer, could keep his hands free to play the flute and wave about while he sang.Although she makes regular appearances throughout the book, she is never really fleshed out as a real person. This whole episode was such a singular occurrence that I could hardly resist writing about it… and because the whole experience of being adopted by and then living with a wild bird, was – and still is, ten years later – so fascinating, I wrote pages and pages on the subject. This is a used book - there is no escaping the fact it has been read by someone else and it will show signs of wear and previous use. By this time, his first book had become something of a literary sensation, so he reflects on its composition and early reception, remembering when the Mail sent a clueless reporter out to find him.