Urban Dreams, Rural Realities: In Pursuit of the Good Life - Hardcover

Butler, Daniel; Crewe, Bel

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0684819805 ISBN 13: 9780684819808

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Ltd, 1998

Synopsis

Bel Crewe enjoyed a comfortable life in Notting Hill, safe in her world of parties, restaurants and delicatessens. Daniel Butler, her boyfriend, was a freelance journalist disillusioned with city existence. Against her better judgement, and six months pregnant, Crewe agreed to go with him in pursuit of a rural idyll in the wilds of Wales. Told in contrasting voices by each of the pair in turn, this is a humorous account of their first year in the back of beyond. Juxtaposing the fantasy and the reality of an attempt to live "The Good Life", it recalls Crewe's despair at being an hour from the nearest supermarket, and Butler's evangelistic delight at their spartan living conditions and ever-growing menagerie.

About this title

From the Author

Author's Comment
Bel and I wrote this in a humorous attempt to counter some of the rosy-tinted guff about the endless joys of ‘downshifting’. In fact swapping urban comforts for rural isolation proves a major culture shock, with Bel particularly depressed by the lack of exotic food and central heating. Meanwhile I am in seventh heaven, living out Quixotic dreams of self-sufficiency. All this leads to understandable arguments and by the time our first child arrives, we are in danger of having little in common. The summer comes to our rescue. Helped by a range of eccentric friends (such as Olek the Polish ad-director, ‘the Major’ and Evan the Poacher), we begin first to survive and later to thrive in this strange new environment. The book is written in diary format and has two ‘voices’ – with Bel’s pessimism/realism countered by my ludicrous optimism. As the story unfolds, our development is charted by the recipes which end each chapter.

Edition details

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Ltd
• Publication date: 1998
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0684819805
• ISBN 13: 9780684819808
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 320