The Thumbnail Book Reviews
by John Q McDonald --- 10 April 2000
by Peter Mayle
Giving up a life of business advertising, Peter Mayle and his wife head off to the Provencal village of Ménerbes where they bought a 200 year old farm house. Living in Provence is a fantasy for the British and other northern Europeans, as they imagine it is warm and sunny all year around. Mayle discovers to his dismay, but eventual pleasure, that Provence is a much more complex and textured place. This book tells the story of one year in his life there, as he explores the country and food while restoring his charming little farm house near the Lubéron region. This book is full of the rich pleasures of long languid lunches, great food, and the characters of the villages that surround the author. Each month describes his tribulations in home construction, but is also punctuated by the description of at least one amazing meal. Mayle conveys his appreciation of the beauty of the countryside, but, more so, the intense appreciation of good food. And by the end of the year, he has discovered the pace of a life lived by seasons rather than by days, weeks, months or hours. The book is full of character, an enjoyable read which may leave the reader with a ravenous appetite. (Vegans beware!) This book became enormously popular (and is followed by at least two others) and we imagine that Provence today is crawling with readers looking for the elusive rural beauty herein described.
Also by Mayle: [Chasing Cézanne]