If you love dogs like I do or if you’re stuck in a soul-destroying job like I was and dreaming of down-sizing to a warmer climate then this book may be for you. I write of how I quit my stressful social work job in Glasgow and went to Spain where I ended up working with dogs. It isn’t a, ‘how to,’ book about how to escape the rat-race. I made many mistakes and if I had to do it over I’d have … have planned it better but despite this I can say I have no regrets.
Dogs are always happy to see you, wagging their tails and licking you. All I ever got from the people I tried to help in social work was drug and alcohol fueled abuse. I even had food and shoes thrown at me.
After more than two miserable decades I’d almost reached breaking point. I finally snapped when a false accusation was made against me at work. Feeling let down by unsupportive management I told the Social Work autocrats what they could do with their rotten job.
I sold my flat and found myself homeless and unemployed for the first time in my life. It was scary and some people thought me mad. With the menopause snapping at my heels I took off blindly and, with no forward planning, I headed to Spain in a battered old caravan. I’d no idea what I’d do when I got there but whatever lay ahead had to be better than my former existence as a social worker.
After many mis-adventures I ended up marrying a Swedish man called Olof and together we ran boarding kennels.
I write, humorously I hope, of the many dogs I encountered, first in the rain drenched streets of Glasgow and then in the stunning sunshine of the Andalusian mountains.
I first introduce you to Pluto, a starving mutt which I saved from a gang of stone throwing thugs in my home city. He was very grateful to be rescued but nearly scuppered my travel plans.
In Spain you’ll also meet meet Harry Hound-ini (Houdini), named after the famous escape artist of that name. He was our first boarder at the kennels and we needed eyes in the back of our heads to out-smart him as he masterminded one escape plan after another.
The humans were just as interesting as the dogs. My traveling companion was Max, a multilingual, dope smoking musician with big ‘Bambi,’ eyes who had a mysterious past. His eccentricities ensured that our journey was never dull.
In Spain Max became embroiled with Miguel Mafia a shrewd misogynistic con man with ripe banana legs. Together they conspired to trick me out of my dream Spanish home.
I invite you to laugh and cry with me as I recount my struggles to survive in a foreign land.
I’d like to thank Chris, my long suffering husband for all his support and encouragement.
I will donate ten per cent of the money I make from selling this book to a dog rescue charity.
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Mary Markstrom was a social service worker in the United Kingdom, and she had been on that job for a reasonable time. It was never an easy job for her. Day by day she found that it is intolerable to deal with her clients, and also with the rat race of the society. The lonely life that she was experiencing after her only child being married away, and the difficulties associated with pre-menopausal symptoms only made it worse. All her hardships came to a peak when she was falsely accused of child abuse, merely because of a complaint by one of her clients which was done in order to get back on her. Finally, she decides to get rid from all her connections to her home country and go to Spain, to start her life anew. But will she find the serenity that she expected for her old age? Will everything go smoothly as planned as well as expected? Will she be able to survive in a land where the language, neighbours and whereabouts are totally foreign to her?
Out Of The Madhouse And Into The Doghouse by Mary Markstrom is a non-fiction book. It is comprised of 87 chapters. It is the story of the author’s life from the last days of her career as a social service worker until the establishment of her new life in Spain, as a caretaker for dogs. And it is NOT A FICTION. Did I repeat something? Yes, and I intended to do so. Why? Her life has been full of drama to the extent that I had to keep myself reminding that this is not a fiction, and it will be the same for you as well. It is my take home message for you.
There were many things that I liked about this book. It was an easy read, written in common slang, yet in a very interesting manner. I read it in a single sitting, and I could not put it down even for a while due to its gripping nature. Though it is non-fiction, the author has used every opportunity to make the reader laugh.
“I should’ve thrown the shoes back at her,” I moaned.
Max’s trainers had been lying in front of the sofa and he pushed them under it with his stockinged feet.
“Just in case you decide to lob them at me.”
“He showed his approval by lifting his leg and christening each of the tyres, slowly and deliberately.”
“If we keep going round in circles like this, we’ll soon disappear up our own exhaust pipe.”
The background reading about the book made me expect lectures regarding various types of dogs. But I was glad that there were none. Instead, there were vivid descriptions regarding adorable behaviours of the dogs. They have the potential to turn anyone into a dog-lover. Not only that, but also the travel details were picturesquely described, and the reader can get the virtual feeling of travelling along with the author.
Since the main setting of this story was Spain, the author has used many Spanish terms in the dialogues. But she has been kind enough to put the meanings of them in English, within brackets immediately after. I found this as a great help compared to a usually used glossary of terms, because there was no need to turn the pages back and forth.
“You is keen, Rubia,” (Blondie).
Though being non-fiction as well as a memoir, it contained several unexpected twists. It was hard to believe a single woman getting such drama in a short span of her life, yet they enhanced the interesting nature of the book. At last but not least, there were many beautiful quotes that I came across while reading, and I will mention only one of those to prevent this review getting unnecessarily lengthy.
“Living in Spain’s not funny with no money but at least it’s sunny.”
There was nothing that I disliked about this book. It contained no sexual content, and nothing that would offend any religion. There was marginal profanity, but only where it was necessary. It was professionally edited. Only a handful of minor errors were noted.
Considering all above, I heartily rate this book with 4 out of 4 stars. This book will be appealing to dog-lovers as well as to travel-lovers. I would like to recommend this to those who generally not prefer non-fiction, since I almost felt this as fiction.
(This is a copy of my review which is published on onlinebookclub.org)
A how not to book. A remarkable adventure where the writer makes many wrong choices bringing her to the brink of disaster but fortune smiles on her in a way she can never have imagined.
A great read.