His mother is an impetuous Hungarian divorcee who outflirts Zsa-Zsa Gabor. His father is a phlegmatic Englishman who makes Geoff Boycott look vivacious. In the time it takes him to buy a pair of socks, she's met, wooed and won husband number two. Growing up in Australia's whitebread heartland, James Jeffrey ponders the inconceivable: how did these disparate souls ever fall in love? And what mysterious force could keep them bound together? Could Hungary, enigmatic land of stretched vowels, smiles and stupendous disregard for calorific intake hold the answer? Jeffrey's hilarious travels in PAPRIKA PARADISE - with Dad, then Mum, not to mention his big-hearted Australian wife and two babies - are a revelation. The largely unknown jewel at the heart of Europe will surely seduce readers just as it has enchanted generations of wanderers.

Author Biography

Conceived in Hungary, born in England and raised in Australia, James has been a staff writer at The Australian on and off since 1998. He has spent time living, loafing, occasionally writing as well as spending a brilliant year working in the improbable post of deputy business editor of The Moscow Times.