December 5
2017
TTOK is happy to host a book launch for Ronald Mackay’s new memoir “Fortunate Isle: A Tenerife Memoir.”
This touching memoir tells the adventures of the author as, in 1960 at the age of 18, he set out alone with £40 pounds sterling in his pocket — and ended up living and working for a year in the Canary Islands. Fortunate Isle is a warm account of self-reliance, delight in the new, discovery of self, and coming of age. The book is deftly written with delightful portraits of the larger-than-life characters like Doña Lutgarda, Pepe Mendibles, El Maestro, Franciso-el-Diablo, and Juan-the Foreman, who guided the young adventurer through the intricacies of life in their village. It captures Mackay’s many exploits, of learning how to grow and export bananas and how to fish with dynamite — and avoid getting caught!
Life was harsh in Franco’s Spain and, alongside telling about his welcome by the local people, Mackay describes his relationship with the more sinister authorities. Though these seem sometimes intimidating, underlying the whole memoir is the tale of how a simple, conservative society embraced “El Extranjero” — the “Foreigner” as he was called — and helped him towards self-awareness and appreciation.
