Staff Pick
British author Peter Mayle and his wife make real their dream of living in the French countryside when they purchase a 200-year-old stone farmhouse. When Mayle's publisher complains about the lateness of his expected manuscripts, Mayle writes back a detailed account of the trials and indignities he faces with the upkeep of said farmhouse. That letter to his publisher eventually becomes A Year in Provence, and the book is hilarious, charming, and nightmarish in equal measure. Mayle, at the center of this chaos, is the quintessential befuddled man-of-the-country, and he has the writing chops to tell you all about it. Hysterical! Recommended By Dianah H., Powells.com
Synopses & Reviews
A boxed set containing the first two bestselling volumes of Peter Mayles hilarious and heartwarming adventures living in the Provence region of France.
A Year in Provence
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.
Toujours Provence
Taking up where his beloved A Year in Provence leaves off, Peter Mayle offers us another funny, beautifully (and deliciously) evocative book about life in Provence. With tales only one who lives there could knowof finding gold coins while digging in the garden, of indulging in sumptuous feasts at truck stopsand with characters introduced with great affection and witthe gendarme fallen from grace, the summer visitors ever trying the patience of even the most genial Provençaux, the straightforward dog "Boy"Toujours Provence is a heart-warming portrait of a place where, if you can't quite "get away from it all," you can surely have a very good time trying.
Synopsis
The boxed set of Peter Mayle's two bestsellers.