Overview

Paul Richardson's mission - 'to sieve out the ancient, perverse and eccentric from the new, nice and normal' - took him from coastal plain to mountainous peak. It also took him, often, by surprise. From ritual pig killings to wood-chopping competitions, from an alchemist who eats stone, to pilgrimages in the name of obscure Virgins, his journey into deep Spain is captivating, often hilarious, sometimes surprising - and always highly illuminating. 'Richardson writes vividly about some of the wilder characters he meets ... read OUR LADY OF THE SEWERS if you want a glimpse of the surviving truth behind tour-operator cliches, and for a view of Spain that is becoming ever harder to find' SUNDAY TIMES 'Puckish, witty, casually erudite . delivers acute and sharply observed portraits of both people and places' TLS

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Reviews

'Richardson writes vividly ... read OUR LADY OF THE SEWERS for a view of a Spain that is becoming ever harder to find' SUNDAY TIMES 'Witty and knowledgeable ... fascinating' THE TIMES 'Fascinating ... The really amazing thing about Spain is that it continues to stimulate people into writing books as interesting as this' INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY 'He knows stuff about Spain we fly-by-nights can only guess at' GUARDIAN 'Richardson writes very well and his style is pleasingly fluid and conversational, with some good imagery.' LITERARY REVIEW 'Puckish, witty, casually erudite ... delivers acute and sharply observed portraits of both people and places' TLS

Richardson maintains that Spain is the one country in Europe to defy the trend towards, 'the shrink-wrapped sameness of modern European life'. Travelling around the peninsula, he proves his case several times over. He starts and ends with a farm kitchen pig slaughtering and butchering, one in Murcia and one on Ibiza. In spite of mass tourism and increasing conformity another, more intriguing, Spain is alive and kicking. (Kirkus UK)

Author Information

Paul Richardson has written on Spanish cultural themes for publications as diverse as HARPERS, the SUNDAY TIMES, the EUROPEAN, the OBSERVER and ATTITUDE.

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