National Bestseller
In this witty and warm-hearted account, Peter Mayle tells what it is like to realize a long-cherished dream and actually move into a 200-year-old stone farmhouse in the remote country of the Lubéron with his wife and two large dogs. He endures January's frosty mistral as it comes howling down the Rhône Valley, discovers the secrets of goat racing through the middle of town, and delights in the glorious regional cuisine. A Year in Provence transports us into all the earthy pleasures of Provençal life and lets us live vicariously at a tempo governed by seasons, not by days.
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Who hasn't dreamed, on a mundane Monday or frowzy Friday, of chucking it all in and packing off to the south of France? Provençal cookbooks and guidebooks entice with provocatively fresh salads and azure skies, but is it really all Côtes-du-Rhône and fleur-de-lis? Author Peter Mayle answers that question with wit, warmth, and wicked candor in A Year in Provence, the chronicle of his own foray into Provençal domesticity.
Beginning, appropriately enough, on New Year's Day with a divine luncheon in a quaint restaurant, Mayle sets the scene and pits his British sensibilities against it. "We had talked about it during the long gray winters and the damp green summers," he writes, "looked with an addict's longing at photographs of village markets and vineyards, dreamed of being woken up by the sun slanting through the bedroom window." He describes in loving detail the charming, 200-year-old farmhouse at the base of the Lubéron Mountains, its thick stone walls and well-tended vines, its wine cave and wells, its shade trees and swimming pool--its lack of central heating. Indeed, not 10 pages into the book, reality comes crashing into conflict with the idyll when the Mistral, that frigid wind that ravages the Rhône valley in winter, cracks the pipes, rips tiles from the roof, and tears a window from its hinges. And that's just January.
In prose that skips along lightly, Mayle records the highlights of each month, from the aberration of snow in February and the algae-filled swimming pool of March through the tourist invasions and unpredictable renovations of the summer months to a quiet Christmas alone. Throughout the book, he paints colorful portraits of his neighbors, the Provençaux grocers and butchers and farmers who amuse, confuse, and befuddle him at every turn. A Year in Provence is part memoir, part homeowner's manual, part travelogue, and all charming fun. --L.A. Smith
From Publishers Weekly
An account of the author's first frustrating but enlightening year in Provence opens with a memorable New Year's lunch and closes with an impromptu Christmas dinner. "In nimble prose, Mayle . . . captures the humorous aspects of visits to markets, vineyards and goat races, and hunting for mushrooms," said PW. Author tour. Illustrated.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
By dadoune
Format:Paperback
I am French, and I don't mind laughing about French people, I often do.
But this book is total nonsense, the author doesn't understand anything, probably because he doesn't speak French.
Nothing is authentic in what he says, and I am really angry about the whole thing.
I usually read a book till the end, and if I don't want to keep it I give it away, but this time I am just going to throw it.
Shame on you, Mr Mayle.
But this book is total nonsense, the author doesn't understand anything, probably because he doesn't speak French.
Nothing is authentic in what he says, and I am really angry about the whole thing.
I usually read a book till the end, and if I don't want to keep it I give it away, but this time I am just going to throw it.
Shame on you, Mr Mayle.
By Peggy
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
It's and older book, but is an easy read, and very humorous and well written. It's one of those laugh out loud books!
By Real Bedard
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Funny and very well written. The way Peter Mayle describes how the French have this love affair with food is hilarious.
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4.3 out of 5 stars
Most recent customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Year in Provence
My friends who live in Provence invited me to visit and hopefully I will do just that this coming summer. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Irene Blondeau
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Light Humourously Written Read
I have read this book once already in soft cover. I decided after a lot of years that I wanted to read it again but found it easier to read on my IPad so I purchased the online... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Debbie M Stroud
4.0 out of 5 stars
Enjoyable
This book relates the "memoires" of an English couple for the first year following their acquisition of a villa in Provence. Read more
Published on Feb 17 2011 by S. Lavigne
3.0 out of 5 stars
very good service from the seller
I received the book a few days later. A little problem was quickly resolved by the seller at my entire satisfaction.
Published on Oct 9 2009 by Julie Des Rosiers
5.0 out of 5 stars
A nice escape
I thought that this book was like a beautiful and humorous journey with Mayle and his wife as they begin to settle in their new home and country. Read more
Published on Mar 9 2009 by Caley Tse
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Year of Surprises
This book provides a very intimate view of the author's experiences during his first year of living in Provence in the southeastern part of France. Read more
Published on Nov 4 2008 by Douglas P. Murphy
5.0 out of 5 stars
FUN!
Fun AND FUNNY! It was like going on vacation... with someone else's money! :-)
Published on May 17 2004 by snowblaze
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fabulous!!
I read this book after I had travelled to Paris and experienced a small part of French culture. After I read it I wish I would have gone to Provence. Read more
Published on May 9 2004 by V. Marshall
5.0 out of 5 stars
funny and delightful
In A Year in Provence, Peter Mayle descibes his and his wife's first year living in Provence as British expatriats. Read more
Published on April 30 2004 by Brenda Jo Mengeling
4.0 out of 5 stars
Worth a read
An account of one man's move to Provence and his first year there. The book deals with mundane issues - building a house, meeting neighbors, and eating - but it is well written... Read more
Published on April 11 2004 by J. Jacobs
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