The memoir of a Spanish rescue dog
by
I’ve just finished reading Sidney Delicious by Helen Stephenson.
Helen is one of my neighbours. She passed the book on to me in exchange for a couple of mine. I’ve had it for a month or two now, but have only just got round to reading it. I enjoyed it very much.
It’s the story of Helen and her husband Joe’s time in Andalusia in Southern Spain, where they renovated a broken down farm cottage in the countryside, but told through the eyes of the dog they adopted while they were there. This is the “Sidney Delicious” of the title.
His name comes from a Michael Rosen poem, Down Behind the Dustbin:
Down behind the dustbin I met a dog called Sid. He said he didn’t know me But I’m pretty sure he did.
The surname “Delicious” was to distinguish him from Sid Vicious, the Sex Pistols’ bass player. Also because he found pretty much anything delicious to eat and was always hunting for food.
First Person
The story is told in the first person, from Sid’s point of view. We meet Sid at first as a puppy escaping from his garden in Llanos del Peral. He dug his way under the fence and then, following his nose, travelled some 40 kilometres to Uleila del Campo, where Helen and Joe finally met up with him. The journey took about three months.
You can tell from this that Sid was an adventurer by nature, always following life’s trail to where’er it might lead, nose to the ground, seeking out the next tasty morsel, or the next intriguing scent.
There’s a kind of magic in the writing. Helen has managed to conjure Sid’s presence into the pages of this book, so that he really seems to be alive. There is a vivid simplicity in the style that ensures that you care for the central character in his ongoing adventures, and that you are drawn into his story.
Bilingual
Sid is a real character. You wince when he is hurt. You ruffle his fur and tickle his ears with his human companions. You feel the call of adventure as he sniffs the wind and follows his nose over the rugged hills of Spain. You meet snakes and wild boar and a poisonous toad. And cats. He’ll tell you about the cats in his own time.
When he runs you run with him. He’s the fastest of runners and he loves to stretch his legs. When he misbehaves occasionally, you know that it is not malicious. It’s always in search of food, an obsession born from his months on the road. You sense the breath of his personality in every line and love him unreservedly. He’s funny and impetuous and occasionally smelly. He knows how to make a good fart.
Meanwhile we are taught a little Spanish on the way, as Sid is a bilingual dog, with two words for almost every aspect of the Andalusian countryside that he loves to explore.
I have no hesitation in recommending this book to any dog-loving young reader, or to the parent of a younger child as bed time reading. They will look forward to hearing from Sid every night before they go to sleep.
The ending is sad as you would expect, but sensitively handled, as Sid returns to his old haunts to narrate his interesting tale.
How to buy the book:
You can get the book from Amazon here.
Or directly from the author by writing to her at: helenstephenson0412@gmail.com
Whitstable Views: How You Can Help
- Make sure you share and like our articles on Facebook and Twitter, and whatever other social-media platforms you use.
- Follow the site to get regular updates about new articles when they appear. Press the “Follow” icon in the bottom right hand corner of your screen and that will take you to the option to sign up. (It disappears as you move the text down, then reappears as you move it back up again!)
- Leave comments on the site rather than on Facebook. Let’s get a debate going. All of our contributors are willing to engage with you if you leave a comment.
- To all writers out there, we would LOVE you to make a contribution. Read our submissions page for details on how to go about that: https://whitstableviews.com/submissions/
- Finally you can donate. As little as £1 would help. Details on the donations page here: https://whitstableviews.com/donate/
Whitstable Views 