For a country as interesting and beautiful as Slovenia, surprisingly little has been written about it – at least in English. British author – Sam Baldwin – has set out to change that with his new travel-memoir which takes readers deep under the surface of Slovenia.
An Englishman’s Love for a Slovenian Mountain Cabin
Dormice & Moonshine: Falling for Slovenia, is a true account of how a mountain-loving, snow-seeking Englishman fell in love with a 300-year-old former sausage-curing cabin on the side of a Slovenian mountain (that came with 300 problems).
As he slowly restores and renovates the house over the following decade, he falls in love with the country more and more, and when the planets align following a relationship breakup, he moves to Slovenia, living in the cabin as a heartbroken hermit.
A deep journey into Slovenian culture
The book takes readers on a journey deep into Slovenian culture as he starts his new life, and explores the characters, the customs, and the cuisine. Struggling with Slovene, a language with grammar so complex ‘it can cause brain damage’, and battling bureaucracy, he is awed by Slovenia’s wild beauty and its wild animals.
He shares experiences of the bucolic side to Slovenia which initially seduced him – the beekeepers, dormouse hunters, moonshine makers – and the modern side which he unexpectedly became part of; the tech startups, the bitcoin miners, and the businesses.
Dormice & Moonshine is also a deeper story of where life can lead when you chase a dream, jump into the unknown, and submit to serendipity. 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.
Baldwin’s second book
Dormice & Moonshine: Falling for Slovenia, is Baldwin’s second book. His first – For Fukui’s Sake: Two years in rural Japan, (published 2011) which undercovers the mysterious lifestyle of the Japanese in a small town in backcountry Japan where he once lived – has now sold over 10,000 copies worldwide.
Dormice & Moonshine: Falling for Slovenia, by Sam Baldwin, is out now, available in paperback, hardback or eBook from Amazon, or from Sanje and Beletrina bookshops in Ljubljana.
