My Twenty-Five Years in Provence

April 30, 2018
Fans of Mayle (who died in January) will be delighted by this final book from Provence’s most impassioned booster. The memoir takes the form of delightfully quaint anecdotes from the years since Mayle and his wife, Jennie, escaped office life in New York and London in the 1980s for “a simpler, sunnier life” in Provence. The chapters alternate between self-deprecating accounts of settling into the rhythms of café life (“the world seems to have gone pink,” he says, referring to the preponderance of rosé wines) and side notes on their favorite lunch spots (Chateau d’If, where the count of Monte Cristo was imprisoned). Mayle happily plays the transplanted Englishman, bemused by the habits of the curiously emphatic Continentals (“the nose plays a versatile part in French sign language”). He departs from cozy travelogue material for several unique experiences, such as being awarded the Legion d’Honneur or watching Ridley Scott and Russell Crowe make a movie out of one of his books. Composed in a uniformly bright and jocular voice, this is a breezy valedictory note for a much admired writer. Photos.

June 1, 2018

Mayle, the British advertising executive-turned-author who made Provence a household word with the 1989 publication of A Year in Provence, completed the final chapter in his long-running series of reports on expat life in the Southern France before his death early in 2018. Employing his usual droll tone, Mayle revisits familiar themes in this retrospective look at life in the Luberon region: food, wine, truffles, rural village life, and the terrifying habits of French drivers. This time around, however, the author turns to a few more sober topics, including a remarkable reflection on his investiture into the French Legion of Honor. He rewards his faithful readers by revealing several favorite restaurants and markets and with photos of the markets, vineyards, and garlic (and other picturesque things) that complement the charming story he's told for 25 years. VERDICT Mayle had the gumption to do what many only daydream about: run away to a paradise. This valedictory memoir will hold special appeal to devoted readers of his Provençal adventures as well as those in search of confirmation that daydreams do come true.--Therese Purcell Nielsen, Huntington P.L., NY

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