Book review: Last Days of the Bus Club by Chris Stewart

After enjoying a spell as the original drummer in Genesis, he joined a circus and learnt how to shear sheep, before going to China to write for the Rough Guides. He then gained a pilot’s license in Los Angeles and completed a course in French cooking.

And then he made the biggest decision of his life and bought a peasant farm in Andalucia, Spain. And that is when life got even more interesting for him and for us. Because tales of life in this wonderfully idyllic location haven been re-lived by Chris in five books, including his first and international best seller, Driving Over Lemons.

His latest tome, Last Days of The Bus Club, published by Sort of Books, who happily publish few, but wonderful books, is a Chris Stewart classic .

The book tells of how Chris joins the other fathers in the valley as they wave off their offspring on the school bus, how he cooks a lunch for acclaimed author Rick Stein and how he uses his fame to help his old sheep-shearing partner find work on a raucous road trip.

But it’s the tales of his life down on farm with his wife Ana and daughter Chloe that entertain the most. Chris has a lovely way of telling a tale which keeps you reading and wanting to be there with him at the same time.

The family have grasped their chance of a special life with both hands and their enjoyment clearly shines through in this wonderfully simple, but impressive book.

Last Days of the Bus Club by Chris Stewart, £8.99, published by Sort of Books, www.sortof.co.uk