Review: Retreat to the Spanish Sun

Retreat to the Spanish Sun by Jo Thomas
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

Eliza is a divorced mother of three adults, all of whom had flown the coop but have now returned to her small two bedroom flat for *reasons*. Desperate for a bit of peace and quiet to finish her dissertation which might enable Eliza to get a degree and start a career is sports therapy (or something similar) and get away from her job as receptionist for a local estate agents, Eliza accepts a short-term hob housesitting in Spain.

The house which Eliza is looking after is famed for rearing the famous Iberico pigs, whose tender meat and delicate flavour are prized the world over. But things start to go wrong almost immediately, the local Gastronomic Society refuses to admit women, or foreigners, and the man who looks after the prized pigs has disappeared, sending a rather untrustworthy guy in his place. Eliza knows these pigs are worth a small fortune, but when the owner isn't answering her calls what should she do?

With the help of the ex-pat community, who call themselves the Spanish Language Class, although there is precious little Spanish being taught, and the young Spaniard who works in a tapas bar owned by an ex-pat called Juan (real name John), Eliza cares for the pigs herself.

I liked this but I didn't love it. I thought the start was a bit rushed in Jo Thomas' eagerness to get Eliza to Spain - don't get me wrong, I didn't want to waste half the book in England but this felt like Bish, Bash, Bosh, she's in Spain. Then the ex-pats felt a bit clichéd, would you really move to rural Spain if you were scared to try authentic Spanish food? I guess if you moved to one of the Anglicised coastal resorts that have British pubs serving a Full English maybe, but surely not in a small rural village? And then the madcap caper at the end ... I honestly couldn't get my head around the logistics and gave up trying. TBH, this felt like one too many plots, I would have preferred a plot centred around Juan's attempts to win the Tapas competition, the pigs, and slowly bringing the ex-pats and the local community together.

Having said that, it was a Jo Thomas novel, so full of great scenery, wonderful descriptions of food, and a slower pace of life, but I feel they are all very similar, very middle-aged, middle-class woman finds a new lease of life abroad, with help from the local women - maybe I shouldn't have looked at a couple of my previous reviews of her books?

If you are looking for a sweet, charming, feel-good, romance set in the glorious Spanish countryside then this is the book for you.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

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