In January 1997 Miranda Innes’s life did an unexpected somersault. Tired of London, becalmed in her career, disenchanted with her long-standing partner, she decided that she wanted to start afresh. She took her younger son to Andalucia, found a romantic ruin and fell in love with it. She made an offer - all that remained to do was sell her London home, rearrange her work and slip away to the sun. But she had not anticipated either the appearance of a new man in her life, or the struggle involved in rebuilding a house and creating a garden in the hostile terrain of southern Spain - even with the kindly guidance of Juan, their builder, and an array of local eccentrics.