One Place de lEglise: A Year in Provence for the 21st century

(Paperback)

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Description

A joyous and life-affirming story of one family's move from London to a rural French village One day a Londoner and his wife went a little crazy and bought a crumbling house in deepest Languedoc. It was love at first sight. Slowly the family make this house a home, they get to know the locals and these busy English discover slower joys - the scent of thyme and lavender, the warmth of sun on stone walls, nights hung with stars, silence in the hills, the importance of history and memory, the liberation of laughter and the secrets of fig jam. One Place de l'Eglise is a love letter - to a house, a village, a country - from an outsider who discovers you can never be a stranger when you're made to feel so at home. Old houses never belong to people. People belong to them.

Reviews

A timeless story of what it is that makes France irresistible -- Michael Palin
He writes with genuine emotion . . . He writes beautifully about life in a French village. The most enjoyable parts of this book are his descriptions of the French countryside * Daily Mail *
Elegant, captivating, and sprinkled with self-deprecating humour. Dolby is a writer of abundant talent. -- Peter Kerr, author of Snowball Oranges
Wonderful. Exquisitely written, it is by turns laugh-out-loud funny then suddenly, unexpectedly and profoundly moving, wistful and touching: a homage to a place, to magical moments in time. An utter joy and a treat to read from the first to last pages * James Holland, author of Brothers in Arms *
An unashamed love letter to France from someone who deeply admires the country * UK Time News *
This love affair between an English family and a very old French house is by turns turbulent, lyrical and tragic. With often embattled enthusiasm Dolby describes the process of making 1 Place de l'Eglise part of the family. Enriched by an insatiable, ever-eager curiosity, he takes us down many a side alley, adding another dimension to the timeless story of what it is that makes France irresistible. -- Michael Palin

Author Bio

Trevor Dolby spent thirty-five years riding his luck publishing and editing books. When he was promoted beyond his talents he bought a house in France. He now lives in the Languedoc and London fending off visitors.