IRISHWOMEN ABROAD

Caro Feely was an IT consultant in Dublin when she and husband Sean decided to follow a different dream. They bought a house and a 10-hectare vineyard in Saussignac, south-west France, and planned to become winemakers, only to arrive — with toddler and newborn in tow — to find the 18th century farmhouse was utterly run down, and the vineyard looked unlikely to ever make them a living. Grape Expectations is Caro’s account of how they turned this unprepossessing start into a successful business, dealing with rodent and insect infestations, leaks and impenetrable bureaucracy along the way.

When Ciara O’Toole and her then husband bought a house on Lake Como, the plan was a new, more laid-back life; an antidote to a decade of running her own marketing company. Instead, Ciara soon found herself alone, speaking almost no Italian, and without any obvious plan. Rather than turning tail, she decided to stick it out, learned Italian, and got her license as a sea pilot. Going Solo On Lake Como is her story of how, and why.

Liz Ryan was a journalist and novelist based in Dublin, who decided to up and make the big move, to Normandy, in 2001. French Leave is her funny, honest account of pulling off the difficult transition, immersing herself in French village life and learning her way round the paradoxical French attitudes to food, dieting and sport.