Peter Kerr

I get the feeling that having read one book of northern Europeans moving South and having culture shock, you have read them all.

If you want another in this category, this one will do. Fairly well written, the episodes and characters are fairly interesting, but the main point is the stupid things the author and his family do because of not understanding the culture. (On the other hand, if you are planning to move to Mallorca yourself, this would be a good preparation for learning what not to do.)

Marked down another half star for the totally unsympathetic description of a German-speaking family. The most aggravating part of this book is the author's inability to see that his bumbling is just as ridiculous and out of place.… (meer)

enjoy reading travel books when the British weather is cold and miserable and `Snowball Oranges' seemed like the perfect read for transporting me to the Med. On the face of it, it seemed to have likeable enough characters and the writing was decent- but it just took me ages to get through- at least 3 days. I'm a fast reader and usually would have finished this in around three or four hours, but I had to keep picking it up and putting it down again when I found my attention wandering. Unfortunately I never became fully immersed in Peter and Ellie's story which was a real shame.

The book follows Scotsman Peter, his wife Ellie and their two children, Charlie and Sandy, who up-sticks and take on an orange farm in the secluded Mallorcan mountains. They quickly come to realise however, that their idyllic dream might not be quite what they had hoped and that they have a lot to learn about the Mallorcan way of life.

Filled with anecdotes and amusing stories, it was admittedly a pleasant enough way to pass the time, though I just didn't find Peter to be a wholly engaging storyteller if I'm honest. I also felt that (maybe because I read so many books like this?) the book was a bit predictable in places with the ex-pats getting ripped off by the locals and trying to ingratiate themselves with the neighbours. This grew a bit tedious after a while. I also can't help feeling that the Kerr's were just very naive in just accepting the farm at face value without doing any proper research into what they were ultimately taking on- no wonder they had so many problems with it, along with the irritating Mallorcan bureaucracy which meant that things always got rectified later, rather than sooner!

For me, one of the main sticking points with this book was the Spanish words thrown into a sentence casually, intermingled with the British ones. It just didn't feel necessary. Kerr himself explains that his Spanish is basic, though he can exchange words with his neighbours. Why bother having half a sentence in English and then random Spanish words chucked in just for the sake of it? Was it to impress the reader or something? It felt very clunky and again, irritated me.

Overall, this was an easy enough read, hence the three stars, but I just didn't enjoy it as much as other travel writers works I've read in the past- prime examples being Annie Hawes', Carol Drinkwater and Peter Mayle to name but a few. I would probably try another one of Kerr's books if I came across it in a charity shop, but I wouldn't be in any immediate hurry to hunt one out.

*This review also appears on Amazon.co.uk*… (meer)

This book seemed to drag a bit compared to the others although I did enjoy it and their family's adventures on their farm.

Back Cover Blurb:
It's the peak of orange harvesting season at the Kerrs' little farm in the entrancing Tramuntana Mountains of Mallorca, and the family are trying to relax into their new life on the sunny Spanish island.
But it's crunch time and, after an eventful first year, hard facts have to be faced. Will all the work they've invested provide them with a decent living, or will their dream turn into a nightmare? Will Peter's new-found aptitude for manananess delay their home improvement projects indefinitely, or will long-suffering Ellie get her new swimming pool? Will Sandy return to Scotland, while young Charlie is seduced by Mallorca's super-rich yachting set?
Despite encounters with wry customs officers and wily tradesmen, the Kerrs' sense of humour remains irrepressible. And amid the 'snowfall' of almond blossom as the balmy spring season progresses, they are helped by an eccentric collection of friends and neighbours - none more colourful than Jock Burns, whose Hispano-Scots fiesta proves the highlight of the Mallorcan social calendar.… (meer)