Our Lady Of The Sewers

*A fascinating and personal portrait of a culture in danger of dying out: rural Spain.

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Paul Richardson's mission - 'to sieve out the ancient, perverse and eccentric from the new, nice and normal' - took him from coastal plain to mountainous peak. It also took him, often, by surprise. From ritual pig killings to wood-chopping competitions, from an alchemist who eats stone, to pilgrimages in the name of obscure Virgins, his journey into deep Spain is captivating, often hilarious, sometimes surprising - and always highly illuminating.

'Richardson writes vividly about some of the wilder characters he meets ... read OUR LADY OF THE SEWERS if you want a glimpse of the surviving truth behind tour-operator cliches, and for a view of Spain that is becoming ever harder to find' SUNDAY TIMES

'Puckish, witty, casually erudite . delivers acute and sharply observed portraits of both people and places' TLS