Mad dogs and an English girl - Caroline Waterman

An army lorry skids to a halt outside the home of a Spanish family, the terrified occupants in fear that they're just about to be arrested. The solidiers thunder on the door, confirming their fears...but when the door is opened, they find that the Regional Governor has ordered the soldiers to deliver a Christmas tree to the English girl who's staying there.For those familiar with today's Spain, it is hard to imagine it as an impoverished, backward-looking country where ragged, barefoot children ran through the streets begging for money; or when a rail journey from Madrid to Granada meant hours and hours of freezing discomfort. In the 1950s, the author arrived in a cathedral town buried in a remote corner of Castile to teach English. Here she found a forgotten world, a relic of yesteryear, where women were suppressed, monks ploughed with oxen, and servants were beaten by their employers. She encountered chauvinistic men, passionate love, stunning scenery and overwhelming hospitality. Coming into contact with people from such a different background and sharing their lives, she realised this was a nation seething with political tension, licking its wounds still after the Civil War. This amusing, moving book paints a picture of yesterday's Spain, sometimes tragic but always surprising...but gone now for ever.