A truly charming novel that transports the reader to the Almeria/Andalusia region of Spain.To the urbanisation of Lomaverde, to be precise, where a mix of expats has bought property with beautiful views across the landscape. But the beauty stops there. This is a development where the building works have stopped, the developer has ceased trading, where roads fade into rocky tracks and where swimming pools, once the pivotal feature of the ex pat lifestyle, are leaking water. Cats prowl about, cracks in the infrastructure appear, and shadowy figures flit among some of the ruined housing. This book really is full of gentle explorations, beautifully rendered relationships, set in a stunningly captured landscape. It is a mesmerizing portrait of a Father/Son relationship, the irritations, the shorthand of communication, the ease of co-existing, the frustration of personality quirks. And their shared loss of Kathleen, wife and mother.
So, if you like gentle novels that explore relationships, then this might be for you.
