The Crinkle Crankle Wall by Sabina Ostrowska
The Crinkle Crankle Wall by Sabina Ostrowska
Synopsis
The Crinkle Crankle Wall is an extremely entertaining account of a youngish couple's attempt to live the good life in rural Spain. Enchanted by an old cottage in an olive grove, they devote all of their money and time to reforming it into a guest house. Soon after they move in, the bucolic lifestyle that they had envisaged falls apart, as they are confronted with problems that are unfamiliar to most city dwellers. With the help of their neighbours, they learn about life in the Andalusian countryside and start to settle into their new adventure. But will they be able to make this new place into a home ? Without steady jobs to finance their new venture, will they have to abandon it altogether.
My review
This was such an easy to read book from start to finish that I read it in two sittings and thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. For all you die hard Grand Design fans out there this is the perfect read and you can just imagine what Kevin McCloud will be saying at various intervals through the start of their renovations.
There are many moments throughout the start of their living the good life in Andalusia that you will find yourself trying to send telepathic messages to them telling them not to do that e.g don't take your roof tiles off before the winter as the torrential rain will come in !!!!
However this is a story of love, perseverance and friendship from a couple who have been accepted into the rural Spanish community in which they now live. You will smile though and question their judgements, as we all do when we watch the many renovating programmes when the owners advertise, and accept bookings for, guest accomodation well before it is even started yet alone anywhere near habitable. Consequently they are then working solidly until the day their first guests arrive to make it somewhere near habitable.
This is an incredibly entertaining read and, if like me, you are a fan of Driving Over Lemons by Chris Stewart you will absolutely love this book. I for one am now going to go and look for the second book in the series to find out what happens next in the lives of Sabina and Robert and their lives in Andalusia.
A wonderful 5 πππππ read and a bonus π as I now know what a Crinkle Crankle Wall is .
About the Author
Sabina is a textbook writer and an EFL teacher. She has taught English in Poland, Sweden, the Netherlands, the UAE, and Spain and currently runs a language school in the friendly town of AlcalΓ‘ la Real. She lives in the middle of the olive groves outside the picturesque village of Montefrio.
Sabina’s debut book, The Crinkle Crankle Wall: Our First Year in Andalusia, has been very well-received by readers worldwide. Since its publication in 2020, it has remained a bestseller in the Travel in Spain and Andalusia categories on Amazon. Following this success, she released A Hoopoe on the Nispero Tree, Book 2 in New Life in Andalusia series, in July 2022. Book 3 in the series, Olive Leaf Tea, will be released in the summer 2023.
To read free chapters from this series and extracts from her upcoming books, you can visit her blog: www.sabinaostrowska.com, or follow her on Facebook www.facebook.com/sabinawriter or Instagram @cortijob.
Thanks for the blog tour support x
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