After the smashing success of A Year In Provence, there was nothing left for Peter Mayle to do but follow it up with another wonderful series of stories about he and his wife’s adventures living in a quirky and beautiful little corner of France.
Toujours Provence is written in the same familiar and comfortable tone as Mayle’s previous best-seller about Provence. His uncanny knack for bringing you into his world will leave you feeling as though you have visited many of the places he describes.
While some reviewers have described Toujours Provence as somewhat of a revisit to the tales described in A Year In Provence, the stories are all new. He listened to the feedback of his readers, and further flushed out some of the more popular parts of the previous book. I see nothing wrong with giving readers more of what they love.
The idea behind these books is to lose yourself in a world that seems of another era. His descriptions of the various places he visits will leave you with the desire to explore. It’s all about living in the moment. And when it comes to food, doing everything to it’s absolute best.
His encounters with his neighbors and random acquaintances throughout the countryside will have you chuckling out loud. Of course it’s nothing earth shattering. But that’s not what this book is supposed to be about.
Mayle’s writing style allows you to completely escape your world, and for a brief time step into the world that exists in this tiny litte section of France. He challenges stereotypes about the people and culture of France with stories about their hospitality and love of all things French. And he dives into their insatiable quest for the perfect meal.
Don’t read this book with the expectation of thought provoking insights. Mayle’s purpose is to take you with him through his everyday life in his new adopted home. An he accomplishes it quite well. Enjoy the trip through Toujours Provence.
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Welcome to A Year in Provence.net. This site delivers reviews and information on Peter Mayle’s best selling book A Year in Provence. We also discuss other books he has since written, both fiction and non-fiction. We hope you will enjoy his writing as much as we do!
A Year in Provence
Every once in a great while you come across a book that allows you to forget everything else around you, and completely immerses you into the author’s world. A Year in Provence, by Peter Mayle, is one of those books.
Mayle’s writing style is simple but effective. He immediately draws you into the circumstances of he and his wife’s first year spent in the Provence region of southern France. After moving from England with the intention of writing a novel, they are both struck upside the head with the enormous cultural differences of a country that is separated from theirs by only a sliver of water. From the purchase of the farmhouse where they live, to their everyday life and interactions in the surrounding villages, Mayle provides a steady stream of stories that he relates in such a way that you feel like you are spending a year in Provence.
The contrast between the weather alone provides for many entertaining stories. Having moved from what Mayle describes as a rainy, damp and dark country, they find themselves in one with endless days of sunshine and intense heat during the summer, and with wind “strong enough to blow the ears off of a donkey” during the winter.
In A Year in Provence, Mayles descriptions of and interactions with the local people of the region force you to reconsider your preconceived notions of what the French are actually like. The stories pull you into a different universe where time slows down, and the importance of food, drink, and friends plays a bigger role than the hustle an bustle of a busy work life. He often visits local markets where the people of the region come to sell their homemade goods. With every trip there is an interesting and humorous anecdote about the peculiarities of French culture.
After reading this book, which is available here on Amazon.com, you will find yourself drawn to the region of Provence. Mayle’s descriptions of the sights, sounds, foods, and the pace of life described in A Year in Provence create a strong pull to experience this life for yourself.
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