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Grace Underfire

Great book, terrible version

Reviewed in the United States on July 4, 2019

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We love love love this book - my spouse and I have both read and listened to the book multiple times, and since we are taking our kids to Provence this year we thought it would be fun to listen as a family. The serious bummer is that the full version is only available for 1990s technology. The downloadable version is a badly edited truncated version that makes for a totally disjointed narrative. Not worth it.

An Insider's View of Provence

Reviewed in the United States on April 20, 2015

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I enjoyed reading "A Year in Provence" years ago when it was first published, and since it was on the recommended reading list for our upcoming 3 week tour of France, I decided to re-read it. We will be spending some time in Provence, though not mingling with the locals to the extent that Mayle did when he and his wife moved from England and bought an old farm house to remodel and live year around. Mayle's adventures in hiring contractors and getting any work done on a reliable timetable are told humorously, thought with no disrespect to the French workers. They learn that in France, time is marked by seasons rather than days. They finally devise an ingenious method to get all the contractors to come back and complete the various unfinished projects around the house before Christmas - they send out invitations to a champagne reception to which the spouses are also invited. They know that none of the contractors will want their partners to be embarrassed by incomplete work !

Mayle also writes of their journeys to visit fabulous restaurants and the French love of food and wine. He cultivates vines on his own property, and also learns to appreciate a perfect olive oil.

The tales of the endless string of visitors, some mere casual acquaintances, and some of whom invite themselves to stay, are also told with humour and restraint, though you definitely get the impression that they felt put upon from time to time. I also discovered that it can be brutally hot during the summer months in Provence, so I'm glad we're going in early spring !

"A Year in Provence" is not at all a travelogue, or even a guide book, but is a terrifically entertaining series of essays about living among the French in every season, being accepted (at least to a certain extent) into their culture, and enjoying all that this beautiful country has to offer.

Nanyamka Boyer, Author

A very delightful book about Provence!

Reviewed in the United States on August 18, 2021

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I enjoyed reading this book about Provence, as the author gives great details about the people, food and the area of Provence.

I got to learn so many new things about wines, cheeses, vineyards, snakes, vipers, how to get rid of ants and many other things. Although the book is outdated from 1989, you do get to learn about the area and be entertained by the author, as he had a good sense of humor.

But as a Christian, I didn't like nor agree with the curse words or foul language in the book, as three times in the book it is given and books should be clean and pure to their readers. But besides this, the book is great and very informative!

I look forward to reading his other books about the beautiful South of France: Provence!

Andrew Updegrove

A Classic

Reviewed in the United States on October 20, 2020

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Warm, human, wise and wonderful, A Year in Provence will never fail to live up to its considerable and well deserved reputation. A stylistic delight, it also provides an insight into a rare individual gift: the ability to embrace and revel in a culture other than one’s own to immense personal reward.

Whether or not the reader ever decides, like the author, to emigrate to Provence, we can all learn from his example to rejoice in what is best about the diverse richness of humanity. The timeless message is that we can gain enormously from opening ourselves to other cultures - a message that perhaps has never been more timely than today.

Fredstench

Less French s'il vous plait!

Reviewed in the United States on January 5, 2017

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Too many French language descriptions. I have a problem with English speaking authors using French language to describe people or things, especially when English will do just fine. I have a cursory knowledge of French but I had to keep my dictionary nearby when I read this. Other than that, this was an enjoyable read, especially since my wife and I visited the area a month before I read the book.

Grandma

Delightful!

Reviewed in the United States on July 10, 2020

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From the first chapter, January, to the last chapter, December, this book was a delight to read! Mr and Mrs Mayle, an English couple, buy and then renovate a house in Province France. They meet their neighbors, the men who work on their house, and try to learn the language and customs of their adopted country. From one disaster to the next, Mr Mayle informs and delights his readers.

Nana G

A wonderful book for insight into the area of Provence

Reviewed in the United States on May 29, 2015

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We are traveling in Provence this summer, and a friend recommended that I find and read this book to get a feel for the area. Although it is an older book and times surely have changed somewhat in the almost twenty-five years since it was written, I found it to be highly entertaining as I read about his experiences living in the area. His style is conversational, as if he were sitting in your living room for a chat. His descriptions of the local people, and semi-quoting their conversations is, at times, hilarious. Mayle also does a credible job depicting the countryside, food, travel, and slower lifestyle of the natives of the area. I found this book so entertaining that I also read two others: Toujours Provence, and Encore Provence:New Adventures in the South of France. If you're looking for an insight into the area of Provence France from someone other than a factual travel guide, I highly recommend Peter Mayle's books.

Donna H. Murray

Delightful

Reviewed in the United States on August 3, 2019

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A YEAR IN PROVENCE was recommended by the first person we met on a very special wine-tasting/gourmet trip to that section of France, and an excellent recommendation is was. In addition to the joy of Mayle’s charming descriptions, it rounded out my new appreciation for the food and wines we experienced and the extensive passion for detail involved in their production. As a mystery buff, and author, the only books I’ve read similar to this were a Bill Bryson or two, but for me Peter Mayle’s classic is hands-down the winner.

Top reviews from other countries

Worker Bee

You can really feel you are there

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 11, 2019

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I had somehow avoided reading this book over the decades, despite many friends advising me to. I managed two episodes of the awful TV series ( totally mis-cast and presenting unfunny over- stereotyped French people) before giving up, which didn't help any stimulus to read the book

Having recently spent some time in Provence, I took the plunge and purchased. I am so glad I did, a truly enjoyable read, local people presented as real people with characteristics, rather than as stereotyped "mad French "characters" ". All the time, I actually felt I was there, such is the skill of the writing.

Clearly Mayle had an advantage in that he was obviously very well-heeled and could afford many things denied to the more ordinary of us, but it still sounded genuinely idyllic.

The only sour note was his permanent reference to Mrs Mayle as "my wife" - never, ever, by her first name. I found that sadly old-fashioned and rather absurd, if not insulting to her.

But, a minor gripe in an otherwise superb book.

J E Olearski

‘Have a pastis and relax’

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 9, 2018

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This is a delightful little book, and an easy and relaxing read. As a new Provencal resident, Mayle shares his reflections on neighbours, the language, gestures, the weather, vanishing builders, French bureaucracy, human nature in general, and much much more. There is no whining or complaining in any of this. He takes everything in his stride, and his observations are so cleverly fine-tuned that it is very difficult not to laugh out loud at the episodes he relates.

And, of course, what Mayle is especially famous for are his hunger-inducing commentaries on French food and drink. Throughout their Year in Provence, he and his wife eat ‘for England.’ So exceptional is the food that they are called upon to sample that they invariably return home, ‘pushing’ their ‘stomachs’ before them.

Added to this is his priceless feedback on what the French themselves think of the English, of their cooking, and of their strange and inexplicable customs: ‘Ils sont bizarres, les Anglais.’ Particularly odd, in fact, are Mayle’s visitors from the UK, intent on seeking him out at any cost so that they can make use of his home and pool for their winter-sun holiday.

Above all Mayle is a master of physical description: ‘His face was the colour and texture of a hastily cooked steak.’ For the enjoyment of that aspect of the book alone, I have no doubt I will read it again.

sylvia h

An absolute joy.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 29, 2018

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Reading this for the second time, and loving it from the very first page. I now realize why it wasn't such a big hit on TV; Peter Mayle's humorous descriptions of every incident & situation makes you want to be there with him, and the atmosphere he creates with words doesn't come over the same on TV. No wonder so many Brits headed to France to buy their own little piece of paradise.

david canford

Take a trip to rural Provence

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 27, 2021

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I first read this book last century. It was a joy to read again the author’s account of life in the South of France told month by month during the first year that he and his wife lived there, albeit his wife is almost invisible - I don’t think we even get to know her name. The couple lives in the Luberon, inland and totally unlike the South of France most tourists see. The area is rural, wedded to its traditions and the locals are true characters. I love their guile, such as the neighbour who puts up a sign “Beware snakes” even though there are none to dissuade German campers from using his land, and their approach to life where what matters is good food, wine and convivial company. You’ll learn of the etiquette of how many times to kiss an acquaintance on the cheek when you meet them, and the difference between the locals and the Parisians who arrive in their droves in August. It seems that having your house renovated is a slow process with the builders appearing and disappearing again without warning. However, the couple take it all in their stride and embrace their new life rather than focus on differences which some would complain about. I recommend this book to Francophiles and those wanting to read about rural France and her culture.

CBourne

Mouthwatering!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 9, 2020

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Quite an old travel book but I just discovered it. (Reading all of these travel books is feeding my wanderlust during this pandemic ) set in Provence, where I haven't been but definitely want to visit. I loved how Peter and his wife immersed themselves into the French way of life, they didn't explore extensively during this particular year but took part in as much of the local life as possible. They got to know their neighbours, tried various restaurants in the area which was the absolute highlight for me. Lunch would start at 12pm on the dot and last for 2hrs! I can now understand why the French can't comprehend it if you are a vegetarian. In some restaurants, your not given a choice on the menu, your simply offered what the chef has decided to cook! The food sounded heavenly and I would have tried everything!

His description of dealing with tradesmen just showed you how much they had adapted to the French way of life as they never got frustrated. You definitely have to be in the right frame of mine to be able to deal with the French gallic shrug! Everything is quoted as taking 2 weeks but ends up taking months!

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