Editions

Spanish Lessons

Spanish Lessons

  • How one family found their place in the sun

Tired of his life as a globe-trotting journalist, and desperate to finish his latest novel, writer Derek Lambert decides to settle with his new wife and young son in a mouldering casita nestled among citrus groves inland of the Costa Blanca.

As he sets about restoring his house and learning to live the ordinary life of a Spanish villager, Lambert introduces us to a Spain far removed from the tourist traps and thumping discos of the Costas, and soon discovers that adapting to this new life is not as easy as he imagined. He employs a roofer who's afraid of heights, a plumber confounded by a blocked pipe and bumbles through Spanish lessons with a mocking classmate who challenges him to a public arm-wresting contest. Then just when it seems that nothing more could go wrong, the Lamberts face Spain's first snowstorm in many years.

Written in the jaunty, anecdotal style of Peter Mayle and Bill Bryson, this is a warm, affectionate and often hilarious portrait of life as a foreigner in rural Spain.

Reviews

  • An entertaining read in the vein of Mayle or Bryson... truly gripping

    The Times

  • A great insight into his first year on the Costa Blanca and the traumas that crop up

    The Mirror

  • The comic, anecdotal style of Peter Mayle with the shrewd observation of Bill Bryson...just the thing to take on holiday

    The Lady

  • Delightful

    Mail on Sunday

  • At last a cracking good book by a foreigner who went native in Spain! There are a million homes owned by foreigners in Spain and Spanish Lessons should be in every one

    Lookout

About the Author

Derek Lambert

The late Derek Lambert was the author of several successful novels. His career as a journalist took him on many adventures around the world. From being shot at in Israel to journeying up the Himalayas in a jeep, he eventually settled in Alicante, Spain, with his wife and son.

Derek Lambert

Our Use of Cookies

We use cookies on this site to enable certain parts of the site to function and to collect information about your use of the site so that we can improve our visitors’ experience.

For more on our cookies and changing your settings click here

Strictly Necessary

Strictly Necessary cookies enable core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility. You may disable these by changing your browser settings, but this may affect how the website functions. See More.

Analytics

Analytics cookies help us to improve our website by collecting and reporting information on how you use it. These cookies may be set by us or by third-party providers whose services we have added to our pages. See More.

Preferences & Features

Preference and Feature cookies allow our website to remember choices you make, such as your language preferences and any customisations you make to pages on our website during your visit. See More.

Targeting / Advertising

Targeting cookies are used to make advertising messages more relevant to you and your interests. They perform functions like preventing the same content from reappearing, ensuring ads are displayed and, in some cases, selecting content based on your interests. See More.