Urban Dreams, Rural Realities

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.