About the Author

Peter Mayle is the author of fifteen books, nine of them novels, including the beloved bestseller A Year in Provence. A recipient of the Légion d’Honneur from the French government for his cultural contributions, he lived in Provence with his wife, Jennie, for more than twenty-five years. Mayle died in 2018.

Reviews

“Delightful, amusing and appealing, a merry celebration of sensual pleasures.” —The New York Times Book Review

“Once again . . . Mayle makes Provence sound like the most enticing place this side of paradise.” —People

“A deft comic novel. . . . Mayle’s gently satiric glance invites us happily into a world whose annoyances are cause for laughter.” —San Francisco Chronicle

“Mayle is a writer of grace and good humor.” —The New Yorker

“A charming tale of love and labor in Provence.” —USA Today

As fans of A Year in Provence and Toujours Provence may have suspected, Mayle's skills as a writer translate well into fiction. His first novel is as adroit, funny and charming as his previous works, and again it is set in his favorite region of France. Newly divorced, disenchanted and bored with his job as a director of a prestigious British ad agency, Simon Shaw is delighted when beautiful Frenchwoman Nicole Bouvier suggests that he rescue from bankruptcy a half-finished hotel in the drolly named town of Brassiere-les-Deux-Eglises. Taking a huge risk, Simon resigns from his agency and becomes patron of the new establishment in the picturesque Luberon region. In counterpoint, Mayle crosscuts to the escapades of a lovable band of criminals who are conspiring to break into the vault of a bank in the neighboring village of Isle-sur-Sorges. As the threads of the plot begin to converge, Mayle displays his satiric eye for social foibles by skewering advertising execs in England and the U.S.; he is equally adept at evoking typical Provencal villagers. Wickedly sharp and sympathetic at the same time, his characterizations are accurate down to nuances of class differences, voice, accent and vocabulary. The novel is as smooth as a sip of pastis, and one hopes that Mayle will find his segue into fiction equally addictive. 100,000 first printing. (Oct.)

"Delightful, amusing and appealing, a merry celebration of sensual pleasures." -The New York Times Book Review

"Once again . . . Mayle makes Provence sound like the most enticing place this side of paradise." -People

"A deft comic novel. . . . Mayle's gently satiric glance invites us happily into a world whose annoyances are cause for laughter." -San Francisco Chronicle

"Mayle is a writer of grace and good humor." -The New Yorker

"A charming tale of love and labor in Provence." -USA Today