Synopses & Reviews
The coast of Southern France sparkles in this sexy, mature, and engaging debut novel.Lily has come to southern France in search of a new perspective, hoping that the sun?s soft rays and the fragrant sea breezes will provide a relaxing respite from the demands of her lively daughter and her family?s Idaho cattle ranch. Two years after her husband?s sudden death, in the house that?s been in his family for generations, she finally finds some stolen weeks to make sense of the past.
To Madame Olivetti?her cranky old manual typewriter?Lily entrusts all her secrets, pounding out the story of the men she loved, the betrayals she endured, the losses she still regrets. And with the companionship of Yves, the seductive handyman who comes by to make repairs, Lily comes closer to understanding her exhilarating past?and to discovering she has a new story to tell?one about the delights of starting over.
Review
"I thoroughly enjoyed this wise, witty, sensuous exploration of a woman looking back over her rich and complex life. Following Lily as she negotiates the intricacies of love and loss kept me engaged from the very first page."
--Lisa Tucker, national bestselling author of Once Upon a Day and The Cure for Modern Life
What a pleasure: A love story for grownups, spanning continents and generations, as enchanted with the places it depicts as the people who inhabit them. Annie Vanderbilts footing in the territory of love is so sure, her eye so keen, and her instincts so true, she brings new meaning to an old adage, making Lily Crisps journey as delicious as a French feast consumed en plein air, and impossible to resist.
--Marsha Moyer, author of the Lucy Hatch series
From an Idaho ranch to the south of France, Vanderbilts debut deftly weaves between past and present, tracing a womans journey as she unearths the ghosts of her past in an attempt to release them. Pour yourself a mug of cocoa, sink into your favorite chair, and settle into this sumptuous, richly layered story of the loss of love, and the possibility of finding it again with someone new.
--Elizabeth Joy Arnold, author of Pieces of My Sisters Life
The Secret Papers of Madame Olivetti goes down like a smooth creamy drink, delectable, satisfying. Here, through the eyes of Lily Crisp, readers experience the maturing of a womans heart. In voluptuous language Annie Vanderbilt offers readers the beauty of light and water as it plays over the lands of France, Idaho, Mexico and the Midwest. As her name suggests, Lily Crisp is a woman of beauty and clarity, both of which increase as we follow her fascinating life - inner and outer - from her twenties to her fifties. In The Secret Papers of Madame Olivetti, Annie Vanderbilt unwaveringly whips up delight in her readers.
--Tina Welling, author of Crybaby Ranch
Synopsis
The coast of southern France sparkles in this sexy, mature, and engaging debut novel in which one woman learns to understand her exhilarating past--as well as the delights of starting over.
About the Author
Annie Vanderbilt graduated from Radcliffe College and has been a Peace Corps volunteer in India, a leader of wilderness programs for high school students, co-owner of a ski touring center in Idaho, and a round the world bicyclist. Her writing has been published in several magazines.