What do a Scottish dairy farmer and a Mallorcan fruit farmer have in common? (Manana Manana - Peter Kerr)

Member Name: moo2moo

Product:	Manana Manana - Peter Kerr
Date:	07/11/09 (9 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Lots of detail that you won't find in the pages of a travel guide

Disadvantages: You really need to read "Snowball Oranges" first

By the end of chapter one I had a feeling I was missing something, by the end of chapter two I was convinced I most definitely was. I'd lost the plot quite literally. Manana Manana launches into life as with a Scottish Dairy farming family and their teenage sons who have moved to Mallorca to become fruit farmers. Could be a fascinating read although when the book in question starts they've already been ensconced in their rural Mallorcan idyll for a year. The cover implies that the author has previously written books about Mallorcan life but no where does it say " the sequel to" or any other implication that theres a big chunk of life missing from this book which could be found within the covers of another.

For the first half of the book I was left playing catch up. Introductions to the family are brief. The reader is left making a lot of assumptions in order to follow the tale. Once you've concluded that the author is fluent in both Spanish and Catalan whilst the rest of the family are not (I should point out I don't have a clue if this is actually the case) the stories within begin to make more sense.

Its not so much a flowing diary of day to day life as a collection of glimpses into random days and events throughout a single summer. Having said that its very detailed and written in a tongue in cheek manner. Mostly its anecdotal tales are sufficiently funny to bring a smile to your face, albeit a small one.

No doubt it would be a far better read had I read "Snowball Oranges" the first in a series of five books charting the Kerr families move and integration into Mallorcan Life. Following on from "Manana Manana" the other titles in the series are "Viva Mallorca!", "A Basket Full of Snowflakes" and "From Paella to Porridge".

Manana Manana makes a very pleasant change from your normal run of the mill travel books and was sufficiently engaging that I'll be keeping my eyes out for the first book in the series.

Summary: A well written book which needs to be read in conjunction with others in the series