Bonjour, Bedlam: How Not to Run a B&B in Rural France

For a decade, they've just about made it work: Ian commuting weekly to the UK comedy circuit, Natalie holding the fort in France with their three boys and a rotating cast of delinquent animals. But the cracks are starting to show. France is definitely home now, but if Ian can't keep travelling for his stand-up career, something has to give. The solution, naturally, is obvious: he's going to open a B&B.

Thirty years as a professional stage grump is no preparation for the diplomacy demanded by the hospitality industry - or the labyrinth of paperwork needed just to get permission to open. It would help, he's told, if he became a French citizen like the rest of his family.

Always up for a challenge, Ian finds his health, sanity and finances stretched by bureaucrats, builders, bungling accountants, bossy medics, goats, horses, dogs and some very angry women in a swimming pool yoga session. His instinct is to revolt against the lot of them, but only real Frenchmen are allowed to do that...

Bonjour, Bedlam is funny, moving, outspoken and even practical in its own way - but surely nobody has fought the French this hard since Wellington?