⭐️⭐️⭐️ 1/2

[responsivevoice_button buttontext=”Listen”]

Anna and her husband Alan, expats from London and Scotland, respectively, escape to the beautiful isle of Mallorca, where Anna writes for a local newspaper and provides this fictionalized travelogue (#7 in the series), a narrative of her ongoing encounters with the local populace, wild life, arts and crafts, wine and foodstuffs, tied to Mallorca’s ecosystem, culture and economy.

Anna’s life – a whirlwind of activity, stretches to include conversations with Johnny, a toad friend who lives seasonally in her yard, along with time to care for and visit with a menagerie of kittens, hens, ducks, peacocks and other critters, all of whom have names, and lead a charmed existence under her care.

Destined to make you long to visit Mallorca, Anna’s world is punctuated continually with new creatures to be rescued, friends to be visited, and local wine, beer, and distilled spirits to be sampled. Anna, with remarkable (and somewhat shame-inducing) energy hikes, runs, walks and climbs local mountain ranges with one of her equally fit friends. She also takes part in a number of community and ecology oriented activities – including beach cleans; visiting a schools owned by a “foundation making a difference to young local with mental disabilities; supporting rescue operations for loggerhead turtles entangled in fishing nets and plastic bags; and a 48K walk to raise funds for a children’s charity.

Along the way, Anna and Alan visit local craft fairs and small artisanal enterprises, learning themselves as they teach us about the many products distilled from Mallorca’s abundant almond trees and other natural resources including: gin and other spirits infused with local herbs and citrus fruits, juniper, and almond blossom; rich and earthy olive oil; artisans soap made with essential oils containing local lavender, rosemary, and pine.

Dream-inducing reading for a sunny afternoon, this book reads as if we were peeking between the pages of Anna’s Mallorcan diary. The pages of visits, excursions and day-trips, together form a picture of a simple life tied to the land, filled with friends and a genuine desire to support and enhance the local culture, ecosystem and wildlife.

A big thank you to the author and the publisher for an ARC of this book. All thoughts presented are my own.

My stop today on the @RandomTTours #blogtour for #peacocksinparadise by @ANicholasAuthor @BurroBooks