Reseña

“You’ve bought what?’
‘A plantation in Colombia.’
‘Whatever for, darling? You’re not going to go off and live there, are you?’
‘No. Well, not now, anyway.’
‘And what are you going to grow? Cocaine?”

And so, what begins as a romance in London, becomes the adventure of a life-time, taking our protagonists far from the leafy streets of Chelsea to Colombia's coffee-growing country.

Barry Max Wills is not a fish-out-of-water but instead revels in the challenges of his new home and role on an ever-expanding coffee plantation. More than this, he becomes a fixture in the local town of Anserma, dispelling myths of cocaine and bandits in a country all too often flagged for violence.

In Colombia, Barry learns that things are seldom just black or white and one can never take anything for granted, except for the unexpected.

Think of the writing of Peter Mayle, but in Colombia, with the conversational style of Alexander McCall-Smith, exploring and interpreting the curiosities and unknowns of Colombia. This is an in-depth observation of the experiences and times of a larger than life character set against the backdrop of rolling hills, lush gardens and coffee plantations.

Many people dream of moving overseas and some do, but how many can tell tales of run-ins with leftist guerrillas, small town licentiousness and the volatility of coffee prices, all in the “land of open doors?”