BookTalk his sunlit stories of life on a Spanish mountain farm to print . Ever the optimist , Chris hoped to earn enough money to buy a second-hand tractor for his farm . He got his tractor , as the book spent a year on the Sunday Times Top 10 charts and went on to sell a million and a half copies .”
His story is a classic . A dreamer and an itinerant sheep shearer , he moves with his wife Ana to a mountain farm in Las Alpujarras , an oddball region in the south of Spain .
Misadventures gleefully unfold as Chris discovers that the owner had no intention of leaving . He meets their neighbours , an engaging mix of farmers , shepherds and New Age travellers , and their daughter Chloe is born , linking them irrevocably to their new life . The hero of the piece , however , is the farm itself - a patch of mountain studded with olive , almond and lemon groves , sited on the wrong side of a river , with no access road , water supply or electricity . Could life offer much better than that ?
Brief Cases by Henry Murphy . Dermot McNamara B . L ., the hero of Henry Murphy ’ s last collection of rib-tickling stories An Eye on the Whiplash , is back . McNamara is an ambitious barrister in the first flush of his forensic youth . For all his ambition his career has been slow to get off the ground . Indeed it has been slow to get on the runway . The briefs have been few and far between , the victories even more scarce . And then there is Arnold , principal , indeed sole , partner of Arnold J . O ’ Reilly and Co ., Solicitors , Commissioners for Oaths and Notary Public , Dermot sees Arnold as a necessary stepping stone on the ladder to greatness and his assessment is not lost on his attorney , who has a tendency to keep Dermot in his humble place .
Dermot ’ s self-esteem is not improved by the fact that Rachel , his young wife , is developing a thriving family law practice , the income from which is sustaining the family which now includes twins , who are a few months older than the family itself . Dermot badly needs a victory , and even more badly needs a practice . Will taking up golf , receiving an introduction to a posh firm of solicitors , acting on behalf of Arnold ' s delicious secretary ' s delicious sister and a trip to Tralee help to finally break the mould ? Briefcases gives a humorous and excellent insight into the inside world of what at times seems like a very mysterious profession ... The author Henry Murphy is a Barrister at Law . His previous selection of short stories . An Eye on the Whiplash , was published by Ashfield Press in 1997 .
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