FANS of Brian Viner's weekly column in The Independent will probably know that his first novel, Tales of the Country, was published this week.

Brian and Jane decided to take the plunge and move their family from London's fashionable Crouch End to sleepy Docklow and the book chronicles the transition.

"The children were very sad to leave their friends behind, but they adapted very quickly," he says and the arrival of a golden retreiver puppy in week one helped things along.

Since when the Viner household has burgeoned - a Shetland pony, cats, chickens and veg patch all adding to the sense of good life.

The couple fell in love with the house, even though Herefordshire was a bit of an unknown quantity to them.

It came with three holiday cottages which, due to Brian's formative desires to work in the hotel business, they decided they could manage. And, having redecorated the place in their own style, the cottages offer an additional source of income.

A frustrating one at times, when the Herefordshire countryside is bathed in sunshine, and the cottages remain empty.

"There's nothing I love more than taking a telephone booking and in some small way to be responsible for people having a nice weekend in the country."

If anything, Brian views the book as the mundane chronicles of family life - which we all experience - although the insights into human nature, via the holiday guests, are a little more fulsome.

From the Australian family who just find the place too cold (however many heaters the Viner's find) to the elderly couple who leave a hint of their weekend's activity in the form of a sex dice (ask a friend if you don't know what this is).

"I now have robust opinions on both foxhunting and strawberry farming, which I didn't have before I left London," says Brian.

"I've tried to say in the book that the country isn't just rolling hills and fresh eggs but I'd like the chance to get a bit more serious.

"If this book is successful, I hope there may be a second."

His book, Tales of the Country, is out in hardback this week, published by Simon & Schuster at £12.99 and on sale at Border Books and Foxwoods in Leominster and Waterstones in Hereford, where he will signing books on Monday.