Two Middle Aged Ladies in Andalusia

I chose this book because I was looking specifically for something I could finish before I had to head away for a few days for work - typically I will start a new book when away to ensure I don't run out!
This is a slim book or 150 pages, but for me it didn't read quickly at all. In fact it could have been 250 or 280 pages the way I slogged through it, and didn't finish it until after I returned from being away! But I have gotten ahead of myself.

The two middle-aged ladies of the title, are the author Penelope Chetwode, and The Marquesa, a twelve year old mare borrowed for their journey, as alluded to, in Andalusia, Spain in 1961. Although I have never been to Andalusia (or even Spain) it has always appealed to me; in fact upon leaving New Zealand for the first time some decades ago, Spain and Morocco were the two places I had intended to visit - and never have I visited either! And, I have sidetracked myself from this review again... and the reason is probably because I struggle to pinpoint exactly why I didn't enjoy this book as much as I had hoped.

It is perhaps a charming read. Ms Chetwode is an amusing and interesting traveller, albeit far more religiously focussed that my normal travel companions (real or literary!). She does spend a lot of her narrative finding out the starting time of mass in each village she stays, then attends, explaining to her readers the topic of the service. Ms Chetwode would often attend the same mass twice, as this was one of her primary ways of familiarising herself with the Spanish language, although I am not sure quite what use some of the topics were to her in everyday communication. She did also have a dictionary!

She also focussed quite heavily on the stabling conditions for The Marquesa and indeed her own stabling conditions and what she ate in each meal. This held far greater focus in the writing than I was interested in, and while the scenery was described, and the conditions of travel were covered, they often played second or perhaps third fiddle to this more practical diary-type information. Second fiddle, then, was taken up by the people she met on the road or in the villages and people she stayed with. There were also various high society people she met from time to time - governors and the like.

For me anyway, this lacked interest, and I had to work harder than I like at staying interest. I see from other reviews, that other readers felt otherwise.

For me this was not more than 3 stars.