A Year in Provence (Vintage Departures)

It was a joy to read and I would strongly recommend it for everyone to read! Happy reading everyone reading this review.

I loved every word of this book -- I have sent it to two people already. I have been to France, so that was an aid to liking the book, I suppose. I didn't know or exactly recognize anything he described, but it all echoed in my memory of travels to a different part of the south of the country. You don't need to be a Francophile to like this book, though. Even if all you know of French is "oui," you'll like the people he describes -- except the crashers who insisted on inviting themselves for a multi-night stay at his new home! And you might even like *them* -- the author's wit and cleverness make even the household disasters seem funny and somehow more bearable. This isn't a boring travelogue. The author is a storyteller, and a good one. You'll do that annoying thing where you repeat his stories to whoever is unlucky enough to be in the room while you're reading. No, only me?

Since catching the travel bug early, I've always yearned to travel to places far and wide, with one significant exception. Those places I cannot travel to, I read about. Between actual trips and wanderings in the pages of books, I've been just about everywhere. The one place I never had any interest in going to was France. I'd probably spent more time reading about travel to Slovenia than to, say, Paris. This all changed a couple years back. Perhaps the trauma of middle school French class had finally worn away. Recently I've developed a keen interest in French history, culture, cuisine and geography, accumulating the info needed to perhaps someday travel to that country. One doesn't get very far in researching travel to France before running into A Year in Provence by Englishmen Peter Mayle. I'd heard about this book and the hordes it inspired to journey to the South of France with visions of quaint, rustic farmhouses dancing in their skulls. I wondered if Provençal's have the same love hate relationship with A Year in Provence as Savannahians do with Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (which, in Savannah, is simply known as The Book). I approached the book with caution because I thought that to have inspired such a swelling of interest in Provence, Mayle must have painted an unrealistically romanticized version of life there. A Year in Provence chronicles, from January to December, a year in the life of Mayle and his wife, newly arrived in Provence. Any misgivings that Mayle was about to paint an idealized picture of Shangri-la in the South of France were dispelled in the first chapter, "January". In it he describes the Mistral, the icy, brutal wind that rips down the Rhone Valley every winter, tearing shingles and shutters off houses and, if it lasts long enough, driving some to suicide (So powerful is this wind that the French have named a class of warships and a missile for it). The book is very readable and, more than anything, is about the process of the Mayles' adjustment to life in their new home. The common thread that runs through all twelve chapters is the renovation of their farmhouse near the village of Menerbes. Much to Mayle's chagrin, life goes at its own pace in Provence. Dates to begin work and deadlines to complete it are fluid and depend greatly on everything falling exactly into place as it should (which it rarely does). Despite despairing that the project will ever proceed to completion, it doesn't take Mayle long to come to grips with his new reality. Halfway through the book he seems to surrender to the rhythm of life in Provence, stating that he cannot remember the last time he wore a watch. Some have written reviews criticizing Mayle for what they see as condescension towards his new neighbors. To me, he did not come across that way at all. I found his writing style humble and self-deprecating and was struck by the fondness with which he describes the people of Provence. The author's Provençal's are proud and passionate people who admirably eschew the modern get-it-done-now-now-now ethos. If the men working on the writer's house adhere to a, at times, frustratingly flexible concept of time, once they get down to it, they attack their jobs, be it building a wall or installing a central heating system, with skill and professionalism. Whether it be butchering a pig, playing a game of boule, eating a meal or having a conversation about the weather, Provençals live each experience to the fullest. From his crusty neighbor Massot to his outstandingly named insurance agent, Thierry Fructus, it's obvious that Mayle likes the people he lives with, idiosyncrasies and all. He saves his greatest criticism for his countrymen; holiday makers and would be carpetbaggers, some who were no more than nodding acquaintances back in the UK, who presumptuously descend on his little slice of heaven expecting to be put up and fed. I am particularly susceptible to good food writing and A Year in Provence provides a wealth of it. The book is stuffed with all manner and preparation of cheeses, breads, meat from field and farm, mushrooms, truffles, vegetables, fish and pastries, fresh and available every day at the local market, sopped up with locally produced olive oil and washed down with a variety of homegrown wines and liquors. Mayle and his wife journey to tiny villages to experience some of the top restaurants in France. In most of these very small family owned establishments, no menu is posted. The diner sits and eats what the chefs prepare. More often than not, the Mayles were already planning their trip back before the bill was paid. There is something very attractive about an area and culture that places food, its preparation and consumption, in such a central and exalted station. Peter Mayle paints a very vivid picture of Provence with his characters and, yes, the region's food. My criticisms of the book are minor. I would have liked a little more context to his year in Provence. Perhaps a forward about how the decision to move had been made and what the fact finding trip was like before they finally pulled the trigger would have helped. While I was able to get through many of the French phrases in the book, it would have been nice to have had a glossary or perhaps footnotes to translate some of the more obscure verbiage. Mayle, obviously, quotes all his prices in francs. About halfway through the book I finally jumped online to look up the exchange rate in 1988 (approximately six francs to the dollar). Maybe in some future edition a note will be made of this in order to provide a little insight as to how much things cost while Mayle was living there. The book has a nostalgic feel to it and I can't decide whether to attribute it to being set in an era right before cellphones and the Internet or the laidback lifestyle which Mayle describes. Since I finished A Year in Provence, I've resisted the temptation to plan my next vacation around this area. I'd be very disappointed to arrive there and find that Mayle's Provence has caught up with the rest of us.

Really adored this book and am working my way through some of his others now. If you want a light-hearted, funny, and relaxing read that makes you feel like you are living in the French countryside then this will delight you.

Peter Mayle is so much fun to read! I have read many of his books including the one he wrote about explains reproduction to kids. He just has such a great dry wit and makes you feel as if you ARE in France! I have never been but Peter Mayle, God rest his soul, always awakens that yearning to go!

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.

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!

For me, A Year in Provence was too light even for my summer reading. Mayle can turn a phrase, which is pleasing. But the content/substance of the book was (to me) little more than a recounting of how eccentric the people of Provence are to the people of England-- not exactly condescending, but too close for my taste. While a running theme in the book is the renovation of Mayle's home in Provence, he never provides enough detail or imagery for the reader to be able to visualize what was happening and what transformation took place. Because the book never gets at the essence of anything and the characters are drawn in such a flat manner, it's difficult for me to say anything more favorable than "This book was okay."

Excellent book! I really enjoyed reading it. A well written story, makes one feel as if in Provence. Delightful and joyful.

No wonder this book is a best seller. Peter Mayle nails Provence even in 2025! Everyone who loves Provence - a must read!

If you like a rollicking good read that transports you easily to another place buy this book. Mayle is a genius at describing the life, food, and drink of southern France. Very well observed and captivating.

I really enjoyed this book. I remember vaguely some of the hype around it at the turn of the 90's but as I was only about ten I had no real interest in it at the time. I decided to watch the TV adaptations -staring John Thaw - on YouTube recently, which were good enough to make me want to read the book and I'm glad I did. It's much much better than the TV shows - Peter Mayle has a great sense of humour (lost in the TV versions) and the joke is just as often on him as on the colourful characters he meets in each chapter. His observations, although funny, clearly emanate from a place of deep affection, fondness and respect for the eccentricities of his new community and friends, of which there are many. The way in which he describes everything from the food to the weather to the people themselves is excellent - he creates a vivid image in your mind as though you were there. I've been to France loads of times and have some family in the south and although I've been to Provence as a child I'd really like to go again to see how much has changed and how much of the Provence in the pages of this brilliant book remain in the 25 years since its release.

I have loved the books on Provence. Takes you back to the south of France and imagine you are living there.