At Home in France

Rating:
Summary: Like Ms. Barry's life, this book is too short.
Review: In March '97. I wrote the following letter to Ms. Barry, only to have it returned by the publisher with the announcement of Ms. Barry's having passed away:

Dear Ms. Barry,

Shreve & Co. meant nothing to me. Nonetheless, because it advertised a going-out-of-business sale in silver and crystal and provided as well a shortcut to a bookstore in a Walnut Creek shopping center, an area unfamiliar to this country boy from the mountains east of San Diego, I entered the store.

As I waited for the clerk to finish her conversation with a customer, a conversation regarding the south of France, I listened in. Interrupting to ask for directions as well as to share their experience, I announced that my wife, my son (who'll be thirteen on Bastille Day), and I have rented a farmhouse in the Perigord Noir for this coming July. The customer announced enthusiastically that I must purchase At Home in France by Ann Barry. But no Walnut Creek bookstore had a copy.

Last Friday, I found your book in San Diego and have almost finished it. Before I do complete it, however, I begin this letter to thank you for having written it. You express so well your wonder and joy, your frustration and anger, your delight and love for France that I feel self-satisfied and even smug with my decision to take my wife and my son to southwestern France to rent a place in Cenac, 15 kilometers south of Sarlat, from June 28 to July 26.

You've given to us a perspective I'd not had before--even after having enjoyed Peter Mayle's travails in Provence. You've provided tidbits worth remembering--gaz lachymogene (my wife, a neurologist, jogs daily while on vacation), Rauley's bread, Roland's sword, the -ac suffix, menus and restaurants. And because of you, we'll return to Paris by car rather than the TGV (which we will take from Paris to Bordeaux in late June) and spend a day in Chârtres. Sometime during the month, we'll visit friends near Lyons and head to the Château de Vault-de-Lugny somewhere in Burgundy (Michelin will direct us). And we'll certainly visit Carennac (but promise not to drop by!) though I surely will not follow the reversed and upside down map as depicted on page vii.

And, yes, I've now finished your book--reluctantly. Very simply, it's too short.

Rating:
Summary: Lovely, Yet Bittersweet Memoir
Review: Ms. Barry's memories of her home in France left quite an impression on me. I approached this book with some hesitancy at first, because, I had read Frances Maye's "Under the Tuscan Sun" and I didn't like it. But "At Home In France" was enjoyable, with vivid descriptions of Barry's home in Carennac, without getting bogged down in too many details. It saddened me to read of Ms. Barry's death after she completed this book. I tried to do a websearch for any additional info about her, or her home in Carrenac--unfortunately I couldn't come up with anything other than sites dealing directly with the book. I hope that the home that meant so much to her is in loving hands.

Rating:
Summary: Unprecedented Emotional Connection with an Author
Review: My cousin (also a globe-trotting single female) recommended this book to me when I undertook a solo 13-day driving trip around France. I viewed it as a bit of fluff to downshift with every night before sleeping. I intended to zip through it and hand it off to another traveler, perhaps on the return flight. I had not foreseen the grip it would have on me.

I revere Peter Mayle and think he is one of our most brilliant wordsmiths. At first, by contrast, At Home seemed pedestrian, but charming enough. I realized the difference between them is that Mayle was a ad-man (flash-boom-bang!) who could make the mundane hilarious and Barry was an editor (who-what-when-where-why-how?) who was a stealth raconteuse who wrapped me in her delicate web. I found myself up reading 'til 1 and 2 every morning, and genuinely felt grief when I read that she had died. Indeed, the book seemed to have ended unfinished. Like another reviewer or two, I yearn to know more about the circumstances of her death, and the disposition of her beloved cottage.

What was unprecedented for me was that as soon as I finished it, I began to re-read it, and am I ever glad I did! I'm getting nuances out of it I'd glanced over previously. Ann was a dear companion on my own travels, and my trip was the richer for it. I don't intend to part with this book. I will lend it to friends and reread it again when I, too, get to realize my dream of owning a gite in France. (Unlike Ann, I'm not financially able to just keep it in mothballs between visits - mine will be rented out.)

A darling book, though I only gave it 4 stars because it's not a Great Book, but eminently readable - even on the second pass.

Rating:
Summary: Unprecedented Emotional Connection with an Author
Review: My cousin (also a globe-trotting single female) recommended this book to me when I undertook a solo 13-day driving trip around France. I viewed it as a bit of fluff to downshift with every night before sleeping. I intended to zip through it and hand it off to another traveler, perhaps on the return flight. I had not foreseen the grip it would have on me.

I revere Peter Mayle and think he is one of our most brilliant wordsmiths. At first, by contrast, At Home seemed pedestrian, but charming enough. I realized the difference between them is that Mayle was a ad-man (flash-boom-bang!) who could make the mundane hilarious and Barry was an editor (who-what-when-where-why-how?) who was a stealth raconteuse who wrapped me in her delicate web. I found myself up reading 'til 1 and 2 every morning, and genuinely felt grief when I read that she had died. Indeed, the book seemed to have ended unfinished. Like another reviewer or two, I yearn to know more about the circumstances of her death, and the disposition of her beloved cottage.

What was unprecedented for me was that as soon as I finished it, I began to re-read it, and am I ever glad I did! I'm getting nuances out of it I'd glanced over previously. Ann was a dear companion on my own travels, and my trip was the richer for it. I don't intend to part with this book. I will lend it to friends and reread it again when I, too, get to realize my dream of owning a gite in France. (Unlike Ann, I'm not financially able to just keep it in mothballs between visits - mine will be rented out.)

A darling book, though I only gave it 4 stars because it's not a Great Book, but eminently readable - even on the second pass.

Rating:
Summary: Utterly charming, at times hilarious, thoroughly captivating
Review: That's it! I'm running away to France where I'll buy a charming country cottage...Oh,wait. Ann Barry already did that, and wrote this wonderful book. We should all be as fortunate and as adventurous as Ms. Barry. This captivating little book is charming, funny and completely enjoyable.

Rating:
Summary: Fascinating acct of a woman's part-time residence in France
Review: This book is a fascinating account of one (single) woman's experience in living abroad. She lives in Eastern US, and buys a residence in the south of France where she spends part of each Fall and Spring. Her account of her experiences, meeting of nieghbors, and general adventures provide an interesting read. I was saddened to learn the author died in 1996; in fact, before the book was published. Anyone know what happened to her? Please write [e-mail]. Thanks, and you'll enjoy this book