This book investigates how British migrants on the Costa del Sol construct and maintain transnational identities while navigating the complexities of local integration. Karen O'Reilly, a sociologist specializing in migration and identity, utilizes extensive ethnographic fieldwork and qualitative interviews to examine the social lives of expatriates in Spain. She argues that the migrant experience is defined by a constant negotiation between home-country cultural markers and the realities of living within a foreign host community. The text provides a framework for understanding how these individuals balance their sense of belonging across national borders.

Experts in the field of migration studies recognize this work as a foundational text for understanding the nuances of lifestyle migration within Europe. Readers frequently note the academic rigor of the prose, which provides a comprehensive look at the social structures of expatriate life.