I read several Peter Mayle books over the years, starting with A Year in Provence. Maybe just for that, I was sad while reading My Twenty-five years in Provence, a compilation of his essays after the author’s death.

Each piece in this book is a memoir and when all the pieces are put together, we find, in the beginning, an Englishman in a foreign country trying to adjust to his surroundings, the surroundings he is in love with, and we realize that over time, Mayle has become a local himself. This is because, while he points out his own likes, dislikes and flaws, and that of other tourists, he is always a true citizen of Provence at heart.

Provence with its sunflower fields, truffle hunting, Mayle's renovating the farmhouse, the wine bar, a farmer’s market, local customs, and people-- also shown in photographs of his wife Jennie—gains a new life through Mayle’s pen. Each essay is a short piece, easy to read, but full with the author’s piercing observations and caring reflections. The life the author projects is slow-paced, quaint, yet delightful. Each essay usually presents one different area or a person.

The author definitely had talent in storytelling because reading through the book, I didn’t feel one moment of boredom, even if this wasn’t a thriller or a mystery. The only thriller-like essay was the one toward the end when Mayle was hospitalized and had to go through a serious heart procedure, which might have been the sign for the end of life. Even that Mayle tells with great wit and humor.

Although this book is usually classified under travel writing, it has nothing to do with travel but rather with loving a certain place. That Mayle was an Englishman has little to do with his traveling but more with the place he chose to build his home of 25 years and memoir writing.

I enjoyed this book very much although some of the sections were repetitions of the contents of earlier books.

learning about life in Provence during the second half of the 20th century.

a bit sad because the essays were put together after the author's death

is Peter Mayle, who was the author of fifteen previous books. A recipient of the Légion d'Honneur from the French government for his cultural contributions, he lived in Provence with his wife, Jennie, for more than twenty-five years. He died in January 2018.

it is one author's keen insight into a specific place, and the writer's easy yet accomplished style is an example of good writing.

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Created Mar 05, 2019 at 3:05pm • Submit your own review...