How does a young City lawyer end up as the People's Lawyer of the fourth-smallest country in the world, 18,000 kilometres from home?

We've all thought about getting off the treadmill, turning life on its head and doing something worthwhile. Philip Ells dreamed of turquoise seas, sandy beaches and palm trees, and he found these in the tiny Pacific island state of Tuvalu. But neither his Voluntary Service Overseas briefing pack nor his legal training could prepare him for what happened there.

He learned to deal with rapes, murders, incest, the unforgivable crime of pig theft and to look a shark in the eye. But he never dared ask the octogenarian Tuvaluan chief why he sat immobilised by a massive rock permanently resting on his groin.Well, you wouldn't, would you?

This is the story of a UK lawyer colliding with a Pacific island culture. The fallout is moving, dramatic, bewildering and often hilarious.

一个年轻的城市律师是如何在离家18000公里的世界第四小国成为人民律师的？

我们都曾想过离开跑步机，改变生活，做一些有意义的事情。菲利普-埃尔斯梦想着碧海蓝天、沙滩和棕榈树，而他在太平洋小岛国图瓦卢找到了这些。但是，无论是他的海外志愿服务简报包还是他的法律培训，都无法让他对那里发生的事情做好准备。

他学会了如何处理强奸、谋杀、乱伦、不可饶恕的偷猪罪，以及如何直视鲨鱼的眼睛。但他从来不敢问这位八十多岁的图瓦卢酋长，为什么他被一块巨大的石头长期压在腹股沟上而无法动弹。

这是一个英国律师与太平洋岛屿文化碰撞的故事。其结果是感人的、戏剧性的、令人困惑的，而且常常是搞笑的。