Product Description

Chris Stewart turns another leaf on his life in southern Spain in this evocative and very funny Sort Of sequel to his best-selling biography, Driving Over Lemons. It is fact part sequel - further (mis)adventures of Chris and his family in their remote Andalusian farm - and part prequel, looking back on Chris' previous lives, drumming with the teenage Genesis and in a circus, shearing sheep in midwinter Sweden and heading off to Spain to learn flamenco guitar. Chris Stewart turns another leaf on his life in southern Spain in this evocative and very funny Sort Of sequel to his best-selling biography, Driving Over Lemons. It is fact part sequel - further (mis)adventures of Chris and his family in their remote Andalusian farm - and part prequel, looking back on Chris' previous lives, drumming with the teenage Genesis and in a circus, shearing sheep in midwinter Sweden and heading off to Spain to learn flamenco guitar.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. Funny, insightful and real, the book became an international bestseller. A PARROT IN A PEPPER TREE, the sequel to Lemons, follows the lives of Chris, Ana and their daughter, Chloë, as they get to grips with a misanthropic parrot who joins their home, Spanish school life, neighbours in love, their amazement at Chris appearing on the bestseller lists . . and their shock at discovering that their beloved valley is once more under threat of a dam. 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 reach island farms); his first taste of Spain, learning flamenco guitar as a 20-year old; and his illustrious music career, drumming for his schl band Genesis (sacked at 17, he never quite became Phil Collins), and then for a circus.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #130656 in Books
• Published on: 2002-05-30
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 240 pages

About the Author
Chris Stewart prepared for life on a mountain farm in Spain with jobs of doubtful relevance. After leaving Genesis (he drummed on the first album), he joined a circus, learnt how to shear sheep, crewed a yacht in Greece, went to China for the Rough Guides, gained a pilot’s license in Los Angeles, and completed a course in French cking. Despite the extraordinary success of his first two books, Chris, Ana and their daughter Chlöe continue to live on their farm, with their numerous dogs, cats, chickens, sheep and one misanthropic parrot.

Customer Reviews

A Donkey in the Privet Hedge
A parrot in the Pepper Tree by Chris Stewart

Despite the rather unlikely title to this book and its predecessor, 'Driving over Lemons' I found it really compulsive reading.

As it turns out both titles have some relevance which becomes apparent somewhere in the tales told by Chris Stewart. He comes across as a likeable chap who wends his way through life like the ball in a game of bagatelle. Much of the reading is captivating and it's tempting not to stop at the end of the chapter but to continue and satisfy your curiosity.

The bleakness of a farmer's existence in the Alpujarras region of Spain is highlighted still more with the arrival of Chris and Ana's daughter Chole. To read about the happy development of Chole I could not help but to ask myself some questions. Would I have brought up a child in this environment? Would I have had the guts to go there in the first place? The characters and way of life captured in this book are as far away from your two week package holiday as you could possibly get, which is probably the attraction.

Now and then (just when you are wondering how they coped without a microwave) a new acquisition drags the family into the 21st Century like a radio telephone or battery charger. However the impression the author gives is that of a lifestyle not really changed for hundreds of years.

I found 'A parrot in a Pepper Tree' a thoroughly enjoyable read and a temporary antidote to the rat race that its author has skilfully left behind.

Transported to another place
I did not read the preceding book "Driving Over Lemons", so I was coming into this authors writing blind. But I was captivated by his descriptions of his neighbours and people encountered on his hillside farm. From Domingo, the neighbour of many talents, to Trev, who deisgned and built an eco-folly for the author.

You get impression at times, that money was tight for the author and his family, but yet they enjoyed the live that Andalucia offered them. Chapters in this book will make you chuckle, especially the description of Porca the parrot and his love for Ana, the authors wife.

The only critique I have is that I felt we are somewhat abandoned at the end of the book. But I do suppose that means, there will be a third installment. In the meantime, I'm going to go and read the first.

What Do Spanish Parrots and Norwegian Sheep Have in Common?
Answer; Chris Stewart. What a delightful read this is! Following on from 'Driving Over Lemons', Chris Stewart's first book, it is so easy to picture the people, the expressions on their faces, the terrain, feel the warm sun and oh yes, see that darn parrot. Chris Stewart has a certain droll way of expressing himself. I found myself laughing out loud, both at the events that are retold and the way they are expressed. The only bad thing about this book is that it came to the end, and without another one to carry on with. Come on Chris, stop messing about with the farm, get pen to paper!