Emilie Carles was born in 1900 in south eastern France. Against the odds, she trained as a teacher and pursued this career alongside farming and bringing up a family. An ardent pacifist all her life, in later years she became a fierce environmental campaigner and successfully protected her home, the idyllic Claree valley, from the hands of developers. Emilie Carles' enchanting autobiography tells of a world that has largely disappeared. She captures the comedy and ferocious pride of rural life with an ebullience and wit which are quite irresistible.

Prizes

A huge word-of-mouth bestseller all over Europe Over 40,000 copies of the Indigo paperback edition already sold 'Wonderful...it would be a strange person who did not love and admire her spirit' Daily Mail 'A story of spirit and courage, told simply, vividly and with true originality of vision. It is an exceptional and haunting book' Sunday Telegraph 'Oral history...told in a touching and simple style of great integrity' Observer

About the Author

Emilie Carles was born in 1900 into a poor peasant family in the High Alps of southeastern France. She died in 1979.