{"product_id":"la-vie-9780857526458","title":"La Vie","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAN INDIE BESTSELLER\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e''It reminded me all over again of why I threw up everything for the magic of \u003ci\u003eLa Belle France\u003c\/i\u003e'' Carol Drinkwater, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Olive Farm\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e''An utterly beguiling immersion in La France Profonde, keenly observed and beautifully told'' Felicity Cloake, author of \u003ci\u003eOne More Croissant for the Road\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFor fans of Peter Mayle, ''Britain''s finest living nature writer'' takes the plunge and buys an old farmhouse deep in the French countryside - a perfect slice of sunny escapist joy from the perennial \u003ci\u003eSunday Times \u003c\/i\u003ebestseller.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe Charente: roofs of red terracotta tiles, bleached-white walls, windows shuttered against the blaring sun. The baker does his rounds in his battered little white van with a hundred warm baguettes in the back, while a cat picks its way past a Romanesque church, the sound of bells skipping across miles of rolling, glorious countryside.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFor many years a farmer in England, John L\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe writing is \u003cb\u003eas smooth as a glass of vintage wine\u003c\/b\u003e...Even if it doesn't make you want to move to France, you'll still wish you could open your window at night and hear that nightingale singing to you. * Daily Mail *\u003cbr\u003eJohn Lewis-Stempel sets off from the UK to the rural far west of France - \u003ci\u003ela France profonde\u003c\/i\u003e - where he and his wife settle to a farming life in a draughty house with a small menagerie of pets and farm animals and a few acres of vineyards. Life on John's blustery Charente escarpment is a far cry from our sun-baked Olive Farm in Provence. Still, I was quickly drawn into his world and his fascinating \u003ci\u003epot-pourri\u003c\/i\u003e of all things French. His is a good-natured universe of horses and hares, hoopoes and hens. \u003ci\u003eLa Vie \u003c\/i\u003eis a pleasing, gentle read. Like the dormice who nest in the attic, you soon want to snuggle up in the spare bedroom.\u003cb\u003e It reminded me all over again of why I threw up everything for the magic of \u003ci\u003eLa Belle France\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/b\u003e -- Carol Drinkwater, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Olive Farm\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eJohn Lewis-Stempel's story of a year on his smallholding in the Charente is \u003cb\u003ewarm and vivid and beautiful\u003c\/b\u003e. He plants his toes in the French earth and \u003cb\u003eturns his lyrical gaze on the land, the people, the deep community spirit\u003c\/b\u003e. Above all he does what he does best, he \u003cb\u003ewrites with virtuosity\u003c\/b\u003e about the countryside and, in doing so, he writes about himself. -- Trevor Dolby, author of \u003ci\u003eOne Place de l’Eglise\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA clear-eyed and unsentimental, yet \u003cb\u003eutterly beguiling\u003c\/b\u003e immersion in La France Profonde, \u003cb\u003ekeenly observed and beautifully told.\u003c\/b\u003e -- Felicity Cloake, author of \u003ci\u003eOne More Croissant for the Road\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis \u003cb\u003ebrilliantly written \u003c\/b\u003ememoir \u003cb\u003ewill make you want to up sticks.\u003c\/b\u003e * W\u0026amp;H *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eOne of the most celebrated - if not the best - Nature writers of his generation\u003c\/b\u003e... It's not only about the Lewis-Stempels, their two children, dogs and menagerie of livestock. It's also an affectionate portrait of the locals... who welcome the family so warmly. * Country Life *\u003cbr\u003eLewis-Stempel is a one-man advertisement for agricultural viability and ecological sensitivity, and an upholder of local uniqueness. His books is \u003cb\u003einfinitely beguiling.\u003c\/b\u003e * The Lady *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eA charming account\u003c\/b\u003e of how a farmer swapped Herefordshire for a life in rural France... Readers of his many books and his \u003ci\u003eTimes\u003c\/i\u003e nature columns will know how easily Lewis-Stempel's writing marries the lyrical with the descriptive... And \u003cb\u003ehis capacity for wonder never flags\u003c\/b\u003e. * The Times *\u003cbr\u003eHe guides us with gusto around his tiny potager, his five-strong herd of Ouessant sheep with their coveted wool, his water lilies. \u003cb\u003eYou'll yearn for la France profonde.\u003c\/b\u003e * Irish Times *\u003cbr\u003eA poetic, sound-filled book... Lewis-Stempel [is] our finest nature and farming writer, -- Brian Morton * TLS *\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Transworld Publishers Ltd","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48737727414615,"sku":"9780857526458","price":16.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/la-vie-9780857526458","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}