Mother, was it worth it? by Tottie Limejuice

Real life in France.

About the book: Tottie and her eccentric family moved to France in search of a better life for her nearly nonogenarian mother who suffered from dementia. As her full-time carer, Tottie listened to daily recitations of her favourite saying: 'Mother, mother, it's a bugger, sell the pig and buy me out.”
Catch up now with Tottie in the AM years – After Mother – as she starts her new life in the rural Livradois-Forez region of the Auvergne, living in Tottie's Grottage. Meet the local inhabitants, from exotic birds to colourful characters like the Bin Pickers, Library Lady and the Bowing Farmer. All are described with Tottie's familiar gently ironic humour. Discover the procedure behind the Frogification of Tottie, and if her bid for French nationality is successful.
'Mother Was It Worth It?' is the concluding part of the Sell the Pig series, which began with 'Sell the Pig' and 'Is That Billinge Lump?'

About the author: Tottie Limejuice is the pen-name of freelance copywriter and copy editor Lesley Tither, who lives in the Auvergne region of central France."Sell the Pig" is the first in a planned series of books describing how Lesley, a former journalist living in the UK, decided to make the move to France to start a new life, taking with her an 89-year-old mother suffering from vascular dementia.Lesley's interests centre around nature and wildlife and encompass dogs, wild camping and organic gardening.

Having read, ‘Sell the Pig,’ and ‘Is that Billinge Lump?’ I couldn’t wait to read Tottie’s further adventures, and as soon as I started this new, and sadly, last book, in the series, I knew I wasn’t going to be disappointed.

It is not your normal, we bought a house in France and renovated it, story. Indeed, Tottie’s move was based on totally different reasons, which you will know if you have read the preceding two books, however, if not, then, this book can happily be read as a standalone. 

If you want to really know what it is like living in France, making your home in a small rural community, hiring workmen and dealing with French bureaucracy, then there is no better example. The ever resourceful Tottie seems to have the ability to handle any situation with true British fortitude and determination.

However, there is a real underlying ‘heartstrings’ element to this book, and indeed to the series, as, throughout all three books we are invited, very much into her life. The reader finds themselves laughing, and crying with her as she copes with all the events life throws at her, with the support of some very good friends, both English and French.

When not renovating ‘The Grottage,’ accompanied by her Border collies Ci and Fleur, she enjoys camping and breaks away, exploring her chosen area of France. These adventures are chronicled as part of this story, and through her marvellously descriptive writing, she gives, for those of us who have never visited this beautiful region, a wonderful insight into its wildlife, and people.

I just could not put this book down, I love the down to earth, totally unbiased, and no nonsense way the story is written.

Available in Kindle format: http://www.amazon.com/Tottie-Limejuice/e/B00ADQX5KS/ref=ntt_athr_dp...