It's the stuff of dreams: a Scottish family giving up relative sanity and security to go and grow oranges for a living in a secluded valley in the mountains of the Mediterranean island of Majorca. But dreams, as everyone knows, have a nasty habit of not turning out quite as intended. Being greeted by a freak snowstorm is only the first of many surprises and "experiences," and it isn't long before they realize that they have been sold a bit of a lemon of an orange farm by the wily previous owners. However, laughter is the best medicine when confronted with consuming a local dish of rats, the live-chicken-down-a-chimney technique of household maintenance, and attending a shotgun wedding. The colorful set of Majorcan neighbors (including an eccentric old goatherd who eats worm-ridden oranges to improve his sex life) restores the family's faith in human nature and helps them adapt to a new and unexpectedly testing life in this deceptively simple idyll of rural Spain. Snowball Oranges is hilarious and revealing, full of life and color, set against a backdrop of the breathtaking beauty of Majorca. (6 1/4 x 9 1/4, 240 pages)
Peter Kerr, the best-selling Scottish author, was born in Lossiemouth, Morayshire, in 1940. His award-winning 'Snowball Oranges' series of five Mallorcan-based books have sold in large numbers worldwide and have been translated into eleven languages. They recount the often hilarious adventures experienced by Peter and his family while running a small orange farm on the Spanish Mediterranean island during the 1980s.
'Thistle Soup' is a prequel to these books and is a humorous though sometimes poignant account of his boyhood in the county of East Lothian, 'The Garden of Scotland', where he eventually followed in his farming grandfather's footsteps.
Peter now concentrates on writing fiction. His first novel, 'The Mallorca Connection', was a rare mix of suspense and comedy and has been followed to date by four other equally quirky yarns, with Scottish and international settings.
In the 1960s, Peter was a professional jazz musician - the clarinettist-leader of Scotland's premier jazzband, 'The Clyde Valley Stompers', with whom he recorded the hit version of 'Peter and the Wolf' for Beatles producer George Martin.
From 1970 onwards, Peter combined farming beef and barley in East Lothian with freelance record production, hitting the jackpot with the biggest-selling instrumental single of all time, The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards 'Amazing Grace'.
Peter, now a full-time author, is married with two sons and lives in East Lothian. He is currently writing a historical novel set in 13th century Mallorca.
Website: www.peter-kerr.co.uk
