Peter Mayle’s A Year in Provence created a whole genre of non-fiction tales about couples heading off to the Mediterranean to renew their zest for lifethis absurd literary comedy turns that tradition on its head This glorious comic homage presentsthe ridiculous yet heroic figure of Jesús Sánchez Ventura, anAndalusian peasant whose wife Begoña tires of the heat, the lemons, and the tranquility of Spain, and who persuades the family to relocate to Belfast. So begins a literary rompcombining the verbal playfulness of Flann O’Brien with the poignant and misguided optimism of Don Quixote . Our hero Jesús quickly establishes himself in Belfast, mysteriously finding a position at the local university and eagerly making friends with his new Northern Irish neighbors. Completely unaware of the history of the region, he stumbles from one confusing conversation to another, doing his best to protect his delightful yet mischievous daughters Concepción and Dilatación, but becoming increasingly concerned as Begoña develops a talent as an entrepreneur and spends more and more time away from the house.