If you love well-written stories of moving abroad, I can recommend Liza Grantham’s series Mad Cow in Galicia series. It’s uncanny how many of their trials and tribulations resemble ours. Happy reading!

Liza Grantham’s Mad Cows and Englishmen: At Large in Galicia is a delightful account of a clueless couple’s pursuit of the good life. It chronicles Liza and her husband’s adventures and misadventures in the northwestern region of Spain—a region of Spain known for its rainy climate and greenery. Grantham’s witty and engaging narrative captures the essence of Galician life through the eyes of an English expatriate. Her poems, a bonus reading dispersed throughout the memoir, offer readers an intimate glimpse into the complexities and charms of adapting to a new country.

The book is rich in detail about life in Galicia. Grantham does an excellent job of weaving the setting into her storytelling. Her encounters with the local characters, experiences with Galician cuisine, and attempts to navigate the nuances of the Spanish legal system are portrayed with humour and honesty.

For anyone who has ever dreamed of uprooting their life and starting anew in a foreign country, or for those who simply enjoy tales of travel and cultural exploration, Liza Grantham’s book is a compelling read. It not only celebrates the beauty and diversity of Galicia but also highlights the enriching, sometimes challenging, process of starting a new life abroad.

And the good news is that there are already five in the series!

You can get the whole series in any Amazon store

Here are some of my favourite scenes:

When Gary came back with the shopping, I couldn’t wait to give him my news
‘We’ve had cows in the garden.’
 ‘Get away. What did they do – open the gate?’
 ‘No, a man did. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 just sauntered in.’
‘You’re winding me up.’
 ‘I’m not, actually. He opened the gate and poked them through with a stick.’
‘Well, that’s ridiculous! Don’t tell me 𝘩𝘦 owns part of our garden as well? What did you do?’
 ‘I bid him “Buenos días” and asked him in, out of the rain.’
Gary’s face was a picture and it was no wonder; the situation was so utterly bizarre.

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There was a thump and a creak as the back door opened, followed by the scuffling of paws on the tiles.
‘Hello, Anxo,’ I said, without looking up from my sewing. ‘Have you had a nice time?’
There was a dull thudding against the side of the cooker. Anxo was wagging his tail.
 ‘Bwok!’
That wasn’t one of Anxo’s noises. If there was such a thing as an auditory hallucination I hoped I was having one now.
‘Bwok!’
I wasn’t. I stared in disbelief as Anxo opened his mouth slowly, depositing a dazed-lookng hen on the floor.

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Spanish cats aren’t as lucky as their English counterparts; they only have seven lives. Scholes had already lost one when he’d fallen from our second-floor balcony at four months old. With the dangers he’d be facing out in the big, wide world, he was certainly going to need the remaining six.

From Liza Grantham’s Mad Cows and Englishmen: At Large in Galicia Book 1