Synopses & Reviews
Tim Reinhart enters a wondrous new world the moment he buys a farmhouse in the country of France, region of Quercy, department of Lot. Or, in his marvelous words, and#147;From the moment I saw this property, I had a bead on it. I canand#8217;t completely explain why, but I had an intense feeling of belonging.and#8221; He has given up his teaching life in New York and begun working as the artist heand#8217;s always wanted to be.
Letters written to his family back home sweep the reader up in Timand#8217;s schooling in, and awakening to, the pastoral French lifestyle. From the attention to food (meals seem to Tim a semireligious rite) to the delightfully quirky neighbors who appear to spring straight out of a Balzac novel, we share Timand#8217;s ever-growing pleasures and adventures.
But his enchantment with this foreign land becomes far more complicated when his drawingsand#151;and then Tim himselfand#151;catch the eye of Mademoiselle Benoir, a beautiful, aristocratic woman twenty years his senior. Their decision to marry sets off a cluster bomb, uncovering incendiary layers of emotional and cultural complexity on both sides of the Atlantic, as his family tries to reason with him, her family declares war, and the villagers choose sides. Will tradition triumph over love?
Inspired by a true story, this is a delicious stew with something for everyone.
Christine Conrad has worked as the New York City film commissioner, as an editor in book publishing, as a screenwriter for motion pictures and television, and as an advocate for women's health. Her most recent book, Jerome Robbins, is a pictorial biography inspired by her long friendship with the choreographer.
Review
"'A Year in Provence' meets 'Le Mariage' in this epistolary first novel....Mademoiselle Benoir combines middle-aged romance with lots of day-to-day detail about life in rural France...a pleasant excursion. Catherine Deneuve would be a perfect Catherine; and for Tim, who else but Ashton Kutcher?" The New York Times Book Review
Synopsis
Christine Conrad's charming and spirited novel offers a fresh look at life's pleasures in the French countryside. Thirty-something American Tim Reinhart leaves New York and purchases a farmhouse in rural France, where he fills his days restoring the property and pursuing his artistic passion. Letters to his family and friends back home vividly illustrate Tim's blissful immersion in the divine meals, deep-rooted customs, and quirky community of his new pastoral surroundings. But his enchantment grows more complicated when he befriends another artist -- his beautiful and much older neighbor, Catherine Benoir. As their relationship escalates, tensions run high on both sides of the Atlantic. From her aristocratic family's fiery protests and his parents' pleas of caution to the astonishing response of the village locals, Tim and Catherine's love affair triggers explosive reactions.
About the Author
CHRISTINE CONRAD has worked as the New York City film commissioner, as an editor in book publishing, as a screenwriter for motion pictures and television, and as an advocate for women's health. Her most recent book, Jerome Robbins, is a pictorial biography inspired by her long friendship with the choreographer. Conrad lives in Los Angeles.