'In the same way as there's a partner for every person, there's a place. All you have to do is find the one that's yours among the billions that belong to someone else, you have to be awake, you have to choose.'With this conviction in mind, acclaimed Swedish writer Bodil Malmsten abandons her native country at the age of fifty-five and settles in Brittany.At the heart of this memoir is the conviction that the happiness to be found in Finistère will not allow itself to be, c...

The bestselling, much-loved classic account of an English couple escaping to enjoy the fruits of French rural summer living - an irresistible feast of humour and heart.‘One of the most successful travel books of all time… Mayle created a new travel genre’ Guardian‘Engaging, funny and richly appreciative’ New York Times Book ReviewPeter Mayle and his wife did what most of us only imagine doing when they made their long-cherished dre...

***A MAIL ON SUNDAY '100 HOTTEST BOOKS OF SUMMER 2019'***'Had me turning the pages well into the night' Harlan Coben'Extraordinary' Sunday Times'Breathtakingly good' Daily Mail'Stylish... More please!' The TimesWELCOME TO A SCHOOL REUNION YOU WON'T FORGETFRENCH RIVIERA, WINTER 1992On a f...

Humorous travel book about moving to France from Wales by IPPY, Royal Dragonfly and Global Ebook Award Winner Jean Gill'Laugh out loud ... such a vivid picture of the fields of lavender, sunflowers and olive trees that you could almost be there with her.' - Living France MagazineThe true scents of Provence? Lavender, thyme and septic tank.There are hundreds of interesting things you can do in a bath but washi...

**Winner of the Orange Prize for Fiction**'This is a novel to lose yourself in' The Times'Essential reading' Spectator'Extraordinarily magical' New York Times'The most important book I have read for forty years' Observer_________________Athos and I stood together on deck and looked across the water at the br...

The third spellbinding volume in the series begun by A Year in Provence, ENCORE PROVENCE continues the account of an English couple's life abroad.Among other curiosities, explore a school for noses in Haute Provence, the mysterious death of an oversexed butcher, the quest for the finest bouillabaisse and an assortment of the characters who lie in wait in bars and on boules courts. And, of course, the essential importance of lunch. BON APPETIT!

Gastronomy is a wonderful starting point to study France and the French. As the retired schoolmaster from Provence says 'The religion of France is food. And wine, of course.' And they put their money where their mouth is, spending a greater proportion of their income on food and drink than any other nation in the world. Literally hundreds of gastronomic fairs and festivals take place throughout the year all over France - a frog fair, an hommage to the sausage, to the turnip, to the quiche ...

Considered by many to be the 2022 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate's defining work, The Years is a narrative of the period 1941 to 2006 told through the lens of memory, impressions past and present, cultural habits, language, photos, books, songs, radio, television, advertising and news headlines. Annie Ernaux invents a form that is subjective and impersonal, private and collective, and a new genre – the collective autobiography – in order to capture the passing of time. At the ...

Sam and Bud were ordinary first-time homebuyers in their early thirties. Their intention, in moving to France, was to create a simple life in a place where they could spend time with their children. The home they actually bought was a 17th century chateau in the Loire valley with over thirty rooms.Chateau Du Bonchamps had been the seat of noble families as far back as 1507. With only modest savings, Sam and Bud launched the exciting project of restoring this extraordinary building ...

NOW A MAJOR NEW TV SERIES: CAROL DRINKWATER'S SECRET PROVENCEThe first in Carol Drinkwater's bestselling series set on a Provencal olive farm.'She writes so well you can almost smell the sun-baked countryside' BELLA'Spellbinding' CHOICE'Vibrant, intoxicating and heart-warming' SUNDAY EXPRESS'All my life, I have dreamed of acquiring a crumbling, shabby-chic house over...

In this ingenious book Perec creates an entire microcosm in a Paris apartment block. Serge Valene wants to make an elaborate painting of the building he has made his home for the last sixty years. As he plans his picture, he contemplates the lives of all the people he has ever known there. Chapter by chapter, the narrative moves around the building revealing a marvellously diverse cast of characters in a series of every more unlikely tales, which range from an avenging murderer to an eccen...

Winner of the 2014 Duff Cooper PrizeWinner of the 2015 Welsh Book of the Year AwardShortlisted for the 2015 James Tait Black Memorial PrizeShortlisted for the 2015 PEN Ackerley prizeLonglisted for the 2014 Thwaites Wainwright PrizeLet me take you down the thin cobblestoned streets of the Belgian border town of Bouillon. Let me take you down the alleys that lead into its ...