One day in late summer, Michael Wright gave up his
comfortable South London existence and, with only his
long-suffering cat for company, set out to begin a new
life. His destination was 'La Folie', a dilapidated 15th
century farmhouse in need of love and renovation in the
heart of rural France...Inspired by the success of his
column in the ''Daily Telegraph'' about La Folie, this
book is his winningly honest account of his struggle to
fulfil a childhood dream and become a Real Man - to make
the journey from social townie to rugged, solitary
paysan. And in chronicling his enthusiastic attempts at
looking after livestock and coming to terms with the
concept of living Abroad Alone, the author discovers
what it takes to be a man at the beginning of the 21st
century, especially if one is short sighted, flat footed
and not very good at games. Life-affirming, laugh out
loud funny (and boasting more than its fair share of
larger-than-life locals, bilingual chickens, diminutive
but over-sexed sheep, invisible rodents, manly power
tools with unpronounceable names, plus the occasional
femmes fatale), this tale of a new-found life in France
with a cat, a piano and an aeroplane, is both an elegy
for a world that's fast disappearing as a hymn to the
simple pleasures of being alive. |
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