Back in 2004 Jerry Smith and his wife Sally decided to stake their future on running a guest house in Sri Lanka, where Sally had been born and raised. It was a country and culture they knew little; Sally had let the island aged thirteen when it was still Ceylon.
Investing every penny they had in their project, owning no property in England, it was an act of astounding stupidity, naivety or courage depending on your point of view. It took another eleven years, dogged by communication failures, financial setbacks and natural disasters before they finally came to live in Sri Lanka at the end of 2015. Broke’n’English is an often hilarious account of how a couple in their later years, short on money and big dreams, learned to live in a land whose values, traditions, politics and laws – and especially language – are a strange mix of east and west. This is a book for dreamers, armchair adventures, or those who just want a good laugh.
Supplied by the Barefoot Bookshop, Galle Road, Colombo.
