Follow the hilarious lives of the naïve Turner family as they emigrate from Liverpool to sunny South Africa. Laugh out loud as they encounter ‘crocodiles’ on the wall, strange African customs and unintelligible Afrikaans accents. Cringe with them as their visiting in-laws embarrass them in front of their new SA friends.
Follow the hilarious lives of the naïve Turner family as they emigrate from Liverpool to sunny South Africa. Laugh out loud as they encounter ‘crocodiles’ on the wall, strange African customs and unintelligible Afrikaans accents. Cringe with them as their visiting in-laws embarrass them in front of their new SA friends. If you enjoyed Educating Rita and Shirley Valentine you will recognise Mavis Turner.
Set in the 1970s, But Can You Drink The Water? uses subtle observational humour with an underlying pathos to portray the upsets, hurt and changing family dynamics that emigration brings. (The story is based on a 13-part sitcom)
Review
With a droll, witty, utterly British voice, this manuscript tackles playfully and sincerely the age-old fish out of water tale. What sustains this book, however, is the narrative voice, the dry and self-deprecating humor, and the ability of this author to tell a story simply and well. Publisher’s Weekly reviewer for the ABNA semi-finals.
Excerpt
South Africa 1970s
As the 747 hiccupped through a pocket of turbulence, Frank Turner's white-knuckled fingers tightened round the armrests in the same vice-like grip he used on the dentist's chair. The cigarette clamped between his teeth was the latest in the chain he'd begun eighteen hours earlier on Liverpool's Lime Street station.
The cloudless blue sky abruptly turned to brown earth as the plane banked sharply for its final landing approach. Frank risked movement to turn round and peer impatiently down the aisle. The toilet door remained firmly closed. As his head swung back his cigarette narrowly escaped contact with the crotch of the brisk airhostess who was hurrying the passengers into their safety belts. "Please extinguish your cigarette and fasten your safety belt, sir," she said, nimbly avoiding the glowing cigarette tip, her bright smile now of a lower wattage after fourteen hours in the air.
Frank smiled submissively, but sneaked a few last drags while she strapped in the florid-faced woman in front whose frequent trips to the toilet equated with her having walked the six thousand miles from England to South Africa.
He stubbed out his cigarette and fastened his safety belt. The landing was the part he didn't care for. Fraught with tension, anxiety clenched his buttocks, jaw and fists.
Professional Reviews
Excellent and Recommended.
Personally I ended up living abroad by accident. I went travelling, and I guess I'm not ready to go home to England yet. This is the story of a Liverpudlian family who made a conscious decision to emigrate to South Africa in 1988. Albeit for a 5 year contract. At least, the father made the decision. His wife, Mavis, comes from a closely knit family, and a typical Council estate community. This book had me laughing out loud (which I seldom do) from the first few pages. It is wonderfully observant in the style of Bill Brysons' Tales From A Small Island. If you are an Ex-Pat, or have spent lengthy periods abroad you will recognise the emotions and episodes that beset the family. Gerrys' cry of "Dad there's a crocodile on my wall" had me in stitches.
When the family return to Liverpool, and life as they knew it, Mavis has insights that are so true. The author surely has 'been there, done that' to capture it so well.
The book isn't the longest and I would love to have had another 100 pages to giggle over. That's a good sign isn't it? At the price(under a pound),this is a real bargain buy, and great entertainment.
It is a book outside my normal reading preference, however it is one of the most enjoyable I have read for a long while. Thus I highly recommend this book to you.
The water turned out to be perfect.
I have just finished reading But Can You Drink The Water? and I loved it. I found myself thinking about the characters even when I wasn't reading the book, didn't want the story to end, and was really rooting for them to make a massive success of the move. Rarely have I cared so much about characters in a book so much that I have gone on to imagine what happens after the final chapter.
I grew up in Liverpool in the 70s and 80s, and the characters in this book felt so familiar, maybe that's part of why I became so involved.
10/10 from me!
A BRILLIANT BOOK FOR LAUGHTER AND MEMORIES
One word describes this book BRILLIANT. Obvious that the Author Emigrated from UK to RSA. I and my family left Liverpool same as the Author for RSA also in the 70s.Every situation, Every Page related to EXACTLY what happened to ourselves as the Author experienced, even down to when we returned to the UK on Holiday. Both the Wife and I shed tears of Laughter. It brought back many memories. We also had the Wife's Parents out on Holiday and once again we relived the humour and wIt. Even down to the MELBA TOAST. EXCELLENT and once again BRILLIANT. A MUST FOR EVERY Ex Pat to South Africa to read.
Farctured Frazzled Folk Fables and Fairy Farces, Part II satirizes popular children's stories into adult-oriented renditions. FFFF &FF, Part II is also available in Amazon Kindle and Barnes and Noble e-book formats.
