A refreshing new book gives you the inside track on what life is really like here.

How many books do you read about life in Spain that somehow seem to take the fun out of it.

Or else, they seem to have been written by someone who has been here too long, and their curiosity has gone.

Or worse still, they have fallen into that trap of thinking they have somehow morphed into Spaniards themselves and have lost that essential 'outsider's eye'.

These people - and more's to the point, their tomes - are to be avoided if you are living here or want to live here; they would put you off immediately.

So, what a refreshing surprise to read In The Garlic.

This little gem has everything the others lack.

Despite the fact the writers have been here for eternity, they haven't lost the perspective of two extranjeros looking into the goldfish bowl.

They do not think, just because the place is sunny and looks pretty, it is a paradise on earth. But there is an unsentimental fondness for Spain.

And more importantly, they have researched the book thoroughly, so there is little of the sloppy journalism which is so typical of far too much you read about the country.

And finally, and perhaps best of all, they can write and are funny.

Valerie Collins and Theresa O'Shea had the startlingly simple idea to give the reader an A-Z inside track of the country, by going through the dictionary.

The result is a little font of knowledge which can be painful to read at times if you have lived here for more than two minutes.

For instance, when reading the entry P for paletas or handymen, this brought a wry smile: "A paleta is the workman who treads plaster into your carpet, puts a pickaxe through a water pipe and floods the downstairs neighbours, throws cigarette butts in your loo."

Spot on.

Or it unearths little-known facts which you might have mused on for ages but have been too lazy to investigate.

One example is Corte Inglés, the department store.

These places are everywhere, but why are they called Corte Inglés?,

Collins and O'Shea explain it comes from a child's tailor who set up in Madrid when Saville Row tailors in London were the best in the world.

The name, El Corte Inglés has nothing to do with The English Court, but rather means 'The English Cut'.

Most of the book is well-informed and a genuinely good read.

At no point does it start to patronise readers as do so many of the rather pompous writers who seem to think they are self-appointed authorities on Spain.

What a relief.

Instead, Collins and O'Shea simply want to ensure the reader estar en el ajo or 'is in the garlic', which means to be clued up about Spain.

O'Shea, a British freelance writer, based near Malaga, in Andalucia, said: "We were tired of seeing website after website, book after book, treating Spain almost as chore to be got through.

"While there is plenty of need and demand for books that tell you how to buy a house, understand the law, get to grips with the education system etc, we wanted to write something well-informed by both hard research and personal experience that celebrates the tremendous diversity and uniqueness of Spain, warts and all."

amazon.co.uk

http://www.inthegarlic.com/