Peter Mayle. Englishman by birth and Provencal by choice. I read a book by Peter Mayle every winter. It started by pure coincidence. One day 5 years ago I was going through a small cache of my late grandmother's books with my mom. Three or four James Mitchner books and a book called A Year in Provence. The cover included an angry looking butcher, a yound man sipping on wine and a fox in a basket. I initiall thought the title said A Year in Providence and thought that the book took place in Rhode Island. I had never read a book that took place in Rhode Island so I decided that I would keep it and read it at a later date.
Well it turns out that Providence was really Provence and that Peter Mayle was an English advertising professional who decided to move to the south fo France with his wife, Jennie. I thuroughly enjoyed this book while reading it and would spend several minutes looking at the drawing that preceeded each chapter. My orginial review on goodreads said: "This was a nice book about an Englishman's time adjusting to the slower paced life that is found in Provence. This book just makes me want to head to France, grab a baguette, grab some goat cheese, olive oil, wine and relax. My favorite character is Massot the hunter who is hilarious in his own right. One thing I'll never do is get my house renovated by men from Provence." Not much thought went into that review. It was a fun little book to read while dredging through a long northwest winter. Throughout 2019 I would find myself thinking about A Year in Provence. I would look online about planning a trip to Europe and decided that every winter I would read a Peter Mayle book. So when the 2019 winter arrived I picked up a copy of Toujors Provence with glee and got to reading.
Toujors Provence while it did not quiet capture the charm of the south of France like A Year in Provence was able to do was still a fantastic book and firmly cemented Peter Mayle into my winter traditions. My review on Goodreads is as follows: "I enjoyed this book. It was not as good as A Year in Provonce, but it was still a very enjoyable read. Mayle writes about Provonce and his time trying new wine, finding new resteaurants, meeting new people, and getting into new adventures, all with the relaxing scenery of Provonce as the setting." What Mayle does so well is write about the everyday parts of life that are so often overlooked. Home renovations, digging in the garden, strategically placing lavendar stocks in your home to get the fresh smell year round, and having a litany of characters for neighbors. It was a very charming read.
Winter 2020 found me back home in my home city without a job, dealing with the corona viris and generally in a bleak mood. Encore Provence: New Adventures in the South of France was another splendid read with a fun cover to boot. My Goodreads review was: "Another cold December, another Peter Mayle book to warm me up. For the past three years I have read a Peter Mayle book in December. They are lovely. I want to move to Provence, or at least explore there for a few weeks. His freshman book was the best, followed by his sophmore book, and now his "junior" book is the third best. Third best is still a fantastic book filled with delicious food, chilling wine, funny banter, and humorous obervations. Bravo Mr. Mayle and merci." Who knew that the quest for finding the perfect corkscrew and chatting with the local butcher would be such great topics for a book. Peter Mayle did and bravo to him for doing so.
Hotel Pastis was the first book by Mayle that I read that was fiction. See my Goodreads review to read my thoughts: "Great book. Going into it I was a little worried about the fact that this would be my first Peter Mayle book that I have read that was fiction. It did not dissapoint. A fun story about a British advertisement executive that moves to Provence (sound familiar?). Fun story that did not bore the reader. My only complaint is that the eneding felt a little rushed and I would have liked to get a little more information about what happens to the other set of characters.A great line from this book that I sent to some of my friends goes as follows: "There was no point in trying to guess about the future of their relationship, no sense in trying to push it. Things were good at the moment, and that would have to do."-Simon Shaw" This book was very fun. I now feel like a know a little about the speed in which life in Provence flows and the types of characters that you see in souther France so imagining these characters, their characteristics, moods and even their gait was fun.
Returning to Mayle's nonfiction body of work lead me to French Lessons: Adventures with Knife, Fork, and Corkscrew. The book is exactly what you would expect and more. What are the French known for? Great food. Each chapter Mayle explores a famous french dish (frog legs, chicken, snails, cheese, etc) and writes about his personal expereince in finding all about the dish. It was delightful. Fun characters both French and foreign were included and delish food and drink..with Mayle's fantastic sense of humor of course included. Here is my Goodreads review: "Another fun Peter Mayle book. Just like last year's book I was worried going into this one. That worry was quicky subdued by the end of the first chapter. Mayle writes stories that center around food but include fun characters, quaint and charming towns, and beatiful writing. His way of writing about the seemingly trivial things in life and making them an enjoyable read is very satisfying. He describes arriving in a town and walking around looking for a hotel or the silliness of how spitting out wine stains the novice taster's shoes and pants. I look forward to my yearly tradition and I look forward to next winter's book just as I looked forward to this year's."
Next year who knows which Peter Mayle book I will read. One thing I know is that I will enjoy it. Thank you to Peter Mayle.
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