A Year in Provence
Peter Mayle (Ill., Judith Clancey), 1989
Knopf Doubleday
224 pp.
ISBN-13: 9781400095698
In Brief
1989 British Book Award, Best Travel Book
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. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—June 14, 1939
• Where—Brighton, England, UK
• Awards—British Book Award (Best Travel Book)
• Currently—lives in Luberon, Provence, France
Peter Mayle spent fifteen years in the advertising business, first as a copywriter and then as a reluctant executive, before escaping Madison Avenue in 1975 to write books. His work has been translated into seventeen languages, and he has contributed to the London Sunday Times, the Financial Times, and the Independent, as well as Gentlemen's Quarterly and Esquire. A Year in Provence won the British Book Awards "Best Travel Book of the Year." Peter Mayle and his wife live in Provence (From Barnes & Noble.)
Book Reviews
[Mayle] and his wife, Jenny, had vacationed often in the South of France, and finally decided to move there. "It's one of those areas that you can become addicted to quite quickly," he says. "Particularly the physical aspects: the light, the space, the beauty, the lack of crowds.... Mr. Mayle tells of his and his wife's encounters with the Provencal people, the countryside, the culture and the bureaucracy. There are the workers who tear apart and begin to renovate the house, arriving suddenly early one morning and departing just as unexpectedly, their return date unknown. There is the adventure of trying to move their new 1,200-pound stone table into the backyard. There is the truffle hunt, with dogs and even a pig; the smell of lavender and the solitude of the forests; the wine tasting, and tasting, and tasting; the chorus of toads; the pipes bursting in the freezing house in winter and the British tourists bursting into the now-famous writer's house in summer. And most of all, there is the food. Feast after Provencal feast, in restaurants small and large, fancy and cheap, and in the homes of neighbors and friends.
Mervyn Rothstein - New York Times
Stylish, witty, delightfully readable.
Sunday Times (London)
An account of the author's first frustrating but enlightening year in Provence opens with a memorable New Year's lunch and closes with an impromptu Christmas dinner. In nimble prose, Mayle...captures the humorous aspects of visits to markets, vineyards and goat races, and hunting for mushrooms.
Publishers Weekly
An amusing account of an English couple's first year as residents of rural Provence, from the unpleasantness of the winter mistral to the transgressions of summer tourists. Since the old farmhouse they purchased needed repairs, they were immediately beset with problems in dealing with the foibles of local craftspeople and officialdom, not to mention the neighbors—human and animal. Nowhere in France is the consumption of food and drink taken more seriously, and food preparation, dining, and wining anecdotes are prominent in virtually every chapter. A Francophile's delight, this is a highly entertaining book which also teaches a lesson in social life and customs. Recommended for most collections. Mayle is the author of such popular books for children as Where Did I Come From and What's Happening to Me. —Sondra Brunhumer, Western Michigan Univ. Libs., Kalamazoo
Library Journal
Discussion Questions
1. How well did Mayle's frequent trips to Provence as a tourist prepare him for the reality of residing there? What were some of the initial surprises he and his wife encountered?
2. How does the form of the book--a month-by-month journal--enhance the immediacy of Mayle's observations and draw the reader into his experiences? How do the changing seasons mirror Mayle's own adjustment to his new environment?
3. Mayle writes that neighbors take on an importance in the country that they don't have in the city [p. 6]. How do his relationships with Faustin, Massot, Menicucci, and the other local workmen reflect this? Does the fact that Mayle is a foreigner influence the way he is treated? How do the men working on his house endear themselves to Mayle, despite his continuing frustrations with their casual attitude about completing the job?
4. Mayle notes there are "two areas of endeavor in which France leads the world-- bureaucracy and gastronomy" [p. 23]. What particular characteristics of the French does Mayle bring to light in stories about the bureaucracy involved in buying the house, a car, insurance, and other necessities?
5. The influx of tourists begins in May and reaches a high point in August. How does his status as a resident affect Mayle's attitudes about friends and acquaintances who, as he himself once did, try to take in everything Provence has to offer during a short holiday? Does he learn things about himself and the life he has chosen by looking through the eyes of visitors? To what extent are his own perceptions influenced by his English upbringing?
6. How does the Mayles' party for the workmen and their wives, as well as their own Christmas dinner at a local restaurant, put the events of the year into context and serve as a coda to the book as a whole?
(Questions issued by publisher.)
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