Moving Memoir

“As a creature of American fiction, the successful business executive is often not a pleasant person. Sacrificing friends, family, love, and principles in his lust for success, he is depicted as outwardly brutal, inwardly empty, having killed off even his capacity for joy. Rich, powerful, alone at the top."

THE CONTENTED EXPAT is Alan Laycock’s long-awaited follow-up to The Reluctant Expat. Although essentially a sequel, a detailed recap renders it not altogether essential to have read those books in order to enjoy the tale of his action-packed sabbatical in the Asturian seaside town of Lastres. Here Alan’s wife Inma attempts to contain his insatiable curiosity and burning desire to integrate, no matter how much of a fool he makes of himself. Initially he wishes to sail off into the Bay of Biscay with the local fishermen, but as usual things don’t quite work out as he anticipated… Part...

When the Saulnier sisters suffer one disappointment too many in their native France, they decide to pack up and try their luck in America. As journalists, they have the run of the country, following stories that take them to places where most Americans have never been - from the back roads of Appalachia to an underground village of homeless people in the New York City subway system. And along the way, they dine on: Nathan's Famous hot dogs at the annual hot dog-eating contest in Coney Island.

In A CASTILIAN ADVENTURE former teacher Jane Holden relates the story of her move to northern Spain. At fifty-seven she feels that life may be passing her by, so she decides to put her Spanish studies into practice and sets off on an open-ended trip in order to immerse herself in another culture. Starting in Madrid and intending to tour Castile and León, she soon decides to go with the flow and allow new friendships to influence her eventual destination. This amusing and informative account is a must-read for all those interested in the possibilities Spain offers away from the crowded coast.

In her early forties, Tricia Pimental has everything she ever wanted: beautiful children, a lovely home, and in her new marriage, the romance of a lifetime. She soon realizes, however, that she and her husband are at odds over one critical issue. She is a homebody. He is a nomad. So begins the never-ending journey. The author crisscrosses North America, relocating on an alarmingly regular basis. Along the way she meets an imposing cast of characters, from a gun-slinging landlord to cowboy weathermen to television super star Regis Philbin. She lives in a bat-infested New Hampshire log cabin...

An Impossible Decision is the true story of Faye, a wonderful young woman who may never be able to parent her unborn child. Faye is 24 and pregnant and has learning difficulties as a result of her mother's alcoholism. Faye is gentle, childlike and vulnerable and normally lives with her grandparents, both of whom have mobility problems. Cathy and her children welcome Faye into their home and hearts.

Christine Benvenuto had been married for more than twenty years - with three young children - when her husband turned to her one night in bed and said, "I'm thinking constantly about my gender." Unhappy in his body, he wanted to become a woman. Part memoir, part voyeur's look into a marriage, Sex Changes is a journey through the end of a marriage and out the other side.

Travel writer Steve Malins spent time as a young man challenging himself and learning about the world around him. He qualified as a military parachutist by the age of 19, sailed across the Atlantic and worked in the heart of Luxembourg. After a sabbatical “Down Under” in Australia learning to fly, farm and dive the Great Southern Land, he and his fiancée sold up in London and moved to Melbourne to start a family, embracing the climate, opportunities and offer of new life on an acre of land. There was lots to do—train as a firefighter, farm; fish the bay, camp and ski the Alpine, and ...

PHILANDERER – A ROGUE’S LIFE IN SPAIN is an entertaining account of the half of Gilbert Wolfe’s life which he has spent in Spain. In FINDING MY FEET our hero arrives in Alicante with money in his pocket and a taste for adventure after two years of flat-sharing and commuting in London. Weary of the daily grind, he plans to pursue his ongoing studies of the fairer sex and encounter that elusive happy medium between work and idleness. Keen to learn the language as quickly as possible in order to exercise his charms to good effect, the clever but inherently indolent Englishman is quick ...

Author C. Orville McLeish hails from humble beginnings, yet his family’s spirit was unbroken. Despite financial constraints that limited educational pursuits and the acquisition of certain earthly possessions and comfort, he discovered a "faith" that inevitably guided him through many life challenges and transformed him into a voice echoing God’s ability to elevate a soul from obscurity to prominence. His was a journey of faith, overcoming hurdles, and challenging conventional perspectives. His transparency reveals personal battles with fear and anxiety before embracing an identity ...

‘Making Friends – A Spanish Memoir’ is a book of reminiscences based on real people and events, commencing in the late summer of the year 2000. A humorous, informative and sometimes poignant account of a young Englishman’s discovery of a whole new world beyond the boundaries of the expat teaching community, his friendships with Antonio, Dominic, Pedrín and others at first complicate then enrich his life in the Spanish city of Murcia. In an account that takes us from seedy bars, through rock group rehearsals, to valiant attempts to help the eccentric and rather unstable Antonio sell...

In A Coat of Yellow Paint, Naomi shares new stories, time-stamped as intimate and vulnerable essays, exploring her faith, personal heartaches, challenges balancing a home life with career, motherhood, and her struggles with infertility. Along the way, Naomi illustrates the urgency of celebrating life’s most important things - family, faith, friendship, and an upright piano painted bright yellow - ignoring the critics.

Solar-Powered Dreams is the second part of The Contented Expat, Alan Laycock’s sequel to his successful series, The Reluctant Expat. Back home again, Alan begins a new career which he hopes will make his fortune, and the search for a new home begins in earnest.

A true story about a mother and her two sons from a town in Idaho who find themselves transplanted to a 200-square-mile sheep ranch in Alaska's remote Aleutian Islands. There they discover the changes and challenges of total isolation. But with a new wise husband and father, they learn to depend on each other.

This novel tells the story of a young soldier who accompanies his great-grandfather, Doug Mackinack, on an Honor Flight – a sponsored trip to the World War II Memorial in Washington D.C. During the flight, the old man shares stories from his platoon's tour in Europe, many ending in dramatic (or occasionally, humorous) twists. The stories share not only suspenseful situations, but also the emotional impact of the platoon's journey through a broad range of humanity: Fear. Courage. Compassion. Anger. Love. Death. Loyalty. Mercy. Retribution. In a final defining moment near the end of his ...

This is a two-volume ebook edition of Doreen and Ken Tonks’ amusing, down-to-earth books about their life in southern Spain. Please see individual titles for descriptions and reviews.

(THE TONKS IN SPAIN containing SETTLING IN SPAIN and PROSPERING IN SPAIN is now also on sale at a reduced price.) Ken E. Tonks, husband of the celebrated travel writer Doreen B. Tonks, has finally put pen to paper to give his version of their first months in Spain, before recording the exciting events of the following spring and summer. Ken, usually a man of few words, bares his soul in this eventful narrative set on and around the Costa del Sol. His budding friendship with Fede the artist proves to be his passport into a life far removed from the insular expat community, and the singular ...

A new American cuisine is forming. Animals never before considered or long since forgotten are emerging as delicacies. Parts that used to be for scrap are centerpieces. Ash and hay are fashionable ingredients, and you pay handsomely to breathe flavored air. Going out to a nice dinner now often precipitates a confrontation with a fundamental question: Is that food?

- 'This diary, written by my late husband Ernest Postlethwaite, has been published expressly against his wishes, but with the full and hearty endorsement of my family and friends.' - From the introduction to Part One by Pamela Postlethwaite, Javea, Spain, December 2012 This second instalment of Ernest Postlethwaite's ground-breaking journal charters the continuing progress of a man on a mission to achieve cultural and linguistic integration in a small village in southern Spain. As summer approaches, our hero finds himself confronted by undesirable interruptions to the smooth running of his ...

A CURIOUS AFFAIR is the funny, heart-warming account of an unlikely liaison between a restless Englishwoman and an enigmatic Andalusian man. Thoroughly fed up of commuting to her high-flying job in London, 44-year-old Claire Hadland decides to ditch both her unfaithful husband and her marketing career and spend some time abroad. On her arrival in Guardo, a small northern town, she sets about brushing up her Spanish and making friends, but during a visit to a tiny mountain hamlet she meets Daniel, a rather peculiar man from the south who has as little reason to be in rural Palencia as ...