Oh Mexico!: Love and Adventure in Mexico City
“...a vibrant account of life in Mexico. It is a typical tale of an adventurous twentysomething... excellent when describing the challenge of finding a place to live, being overwhelmed by the sex appeal of her handsome flat mate, responding spontaneously to new and alien experiences, finding a job teaching English to a group of women she calls the ‘First Wives’ Breakfast Club’, struggling with the complexities of speaking a foreign language, unraveling the nuances of class in Mexican society and learning the subtleties and texture of daily life in Mexico City...Neville is a talented writer whose easy, warm style and very ‘non-chick lit’ calmness in the presence of glamorous men makes for an entertaining account of two years and two loves in a city little known to many.” —Sydney Morning Herald“Part love story, part adventure, Oh Mexico! is a fun, light read, ideal for those eager to run away.” — Courier Mail“At its very best, travel writing has the capacity to illuminate not only the heart of a traveller, but of a country, too. The page-turning journey that is Oh Mexico! manages to do both things with considerable skill and frequent hilarity... Neville has the canny reserve of a born storyteller, capturing the dissonances as well as the melodies of expatriate life in a country like no other.” — Weekend West“Neville’s first book is a travel memoir written with all the panache the pizzazz, the characters and suspense of a good novel.” — Adelaide Advertiser“Mexico City is famous for decapitations and gang violence. So announcing you are moving there would worry most parents – even Lucy’s ‘unshockable’ father Richard Neville, once tried for obscenity in the infamous Oz Boys case. Lucy’s comic observation and eye for the bizarre results in a classic coming of age romantic travel memoir that mixes Almost French with Like Water for Chocolate.” — Northside“Lucy takes you along as she deals with public transport, shopping, the endless doubles entendres of the local language (almost everything has a secondary, sexual connotation) male machismo, local politics, a hilariously fraught visit by her parents and sister and much more. Anybody who has ever been a 20-something traveller should enjoy this engaging read – think Holy Cow in Mexico.” — Bookseller and Publisher“Every so often a young writer comes along who can open up a special place to us, and at the same time remind us all of the way we were. This is what Lucy Neville has done in this enchanting travel memoir.” — Carmen Callil