Chief Editor

New year; new book about life in Slovenia


It’s been a quiet year for the Slovenia blog. But that’s because I’ve been working on something bigger – Dormice & Moonshine; Falling for Slovenia – a travel-memoir book about my adventures and life in Slovenia.

Dormice & Moonshine covers my experiences of being seduced by the country and an idyllic ex-sausage-curing hut in the Slovene mountains; travelling extensively around Slovenia and meeting many interesting Slovenes – from dormice hunters to moonshine makers to Bitcoin miners – then later, after a breakup, escaping to Slovenia as a temporary pitstop, which became a life-changing move when I decided to stay and build a new life in the country.

Dormice & Moonshine will be the second book I have written; building on the success of my previous work For Fukui’s Sake: Two Years in Rural Japan, (10,000 copies sold, 4.3/5 star rating from >800 reviews on Amazon,) my new Slovenia book will appeal to those interested in:

  • life in Slovenia as a foreigner
  • the lives of everyday Slovenes
  • learning Slovenian (or trying to…)
  • what it’s like to live in rural Slovenia
  • what it’s like to live in Ljubljana
  • how life abroad unfolds when you take a risk, jump into the unknown, and find new beginnings

Here is the official back-of-book blurb:

When two British brothers discover a 300-year-old sausage-curing cabin on the side of a Slovenian mountain, it’s love at first sight. But 300-year-old cabins come with 300 problems.

Dormice & Moonshine is the story of an Englishman seduced by Slovenia. In the wake of a breakup, he seeks temporary refuge in this hinterland house but ends up putting down roots. Along the way, he meets a colourful cross-section of Slovene society: from dormouse hunters, moonshine makers, beekeepers, and bitcoin miners, to a man that swam the Amazon, and a hilltop matriarch who teaches him the meaning of being ‘priden’.

Struggling with Slovene, a language with grammar so complex it can cause brain damage, and battling bureaucracy, he explores the culture and characters of this underappreciated ex-Yugoslav republic, its wild beauty, and its wild animals. A love letter to Slovenia, this rare, adventurous account follows a foreigner trying to build a new life — and rebuild an old house — in a young country still finding its own place in the world.

Dormice & Moonshine will be released in spring 2024. If you’d like to be notified when it’s published, join the mailing list here.

8 comments

  2. Wow, glad to see you are still alive! 🙂
    This book news is such a pleasant surprise. I read your previous one about Japan and I loved it. I’m sure this new one will be interesting to read as a Slovene too, even though we are not on your book’s appeal list 😉

  3. Should be simultaneously interesting and torture; the former no doubt ringing true to my experiences and the latter salting my struggles finding an employment pole on which to securely vault myself out of the shitshow that is now the UK. Although even the vibe here in Lj is changing a bit compared to a few years ago. I hope your place survived the floods intact. I rode near Črna and Luče in October and seeing the devastation first hand was more shocking than I expected.

  4. Thanks for the comment; yes my place survived the flooding – but I was there when it all happened and it was very dramatic. There’s acutally a chapter in the book about that experience. Hope you find that pole vault in the end.

  5. Why thank you! And you make a very good point actually; many Slovenes have been interested to hear foreigners’ perspectives of their country – I will add ‘Slovenes’ to the ‘appeal list’.

  7. Looking forward to it. However… how about switching the phrasing “underappreciated ex-Yugoslav republic” into something more neutral, “politically correct”? Maybe “Alpine (or Central European) republic half way between Vienna and Venice” (if it really has to be formulated this way)?
    Yugoslavia was just one of previous countries/regimes (between losing independence in the 6th century and regaining it in 1991), not the longest lasting of the previous ones (longer than the French Empire and Kingdom of Italy, though), and it’s no use rubbing it around anymore when it really isn’t necessary. The longest was Holy Roman Empire, and within this the Habsburg empire (under various combinations), if you must…

  8. Thanks for your comment about referring to Slovenia as an ‘ex-Yugoslav’ republic. It’s certinaly given me food for thought. In the book I tackle the misconceptions that many people had (and likely still have) regarding Yugoslavia and therefore – present day Slovenia. Whilst you’re correct about Yugoslavia not being the only entity Slovenia ever belonged to, it was the most recent and therefore has had significant influence on how Slovenia is today as a country. And for those who know little about Slovenia it perhaps provides a geographical reference point that is familiar. For those reasons – I don’t see it as politically incorrect to refer to Slovenia in this way – but just historic fact. I do like your idea about calling it an Alpine republic – though perhaps the people of coastal Slovenia, south Slovenia and eastern Slovenia might disagree!

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