I am a big fan of Peter Mayle and his 1993 Hotel Pastis, a novel of Provence, did not disappoint. It has all sorts of things going for it.
1. It takes place in London and Provence.
2. The main characters include Simon, newly divorced and fed up with his life as a London ad agency executive who gets out of the rat race and opens the high-class Hotel Pastis in a small village in Provence; Ernest, Simon's 'man' of exquisite taste who takes on planning and organizing the opening of hotel along with some help from his bulldog Mrs. Gibbons; and Nicole, Simon's love interest and partner in the hotel whom he conveniently meets on his very first visit to the village.
3. The book is filled with beautiful people wearing beautiful clothes all eating beautiful food.
4. There are amusing gentle jabs at journalists, advertising agencies, chefs, vineyard owners, workmen, artists, and corporate bigwigs.
5. There is a bank robbery gang on bicycles.
What's not to like?
While the hotel gets ready for its grand opening, along the way we meet all sorts of folks: the menacing Enrico with his 'protection' racket; The General who masterminds the bank robbery; Caroline, Simon's ex-wife who is always looking for some way to get even more alimony; William, Simon's ne'er-do-well uncle who comes to Hotel Pastis to sponge off his nephew and help himself to his cigars and liquor; and Crouch the sour British journalist who fights any changes made in the village tooth and nail and yet has a dirty little secret of his own.
There are many more, of course. Some merely stroll across the pages, champagne glass in hand, and some stay for a while. Each one will bring a smile.
This book truly swept me away to Provence. Not a bad place to be.
Like in many parts of the country, we have had snow on the ground now for so long I cannot remember what grass looks like. And today, more is on the way. I wish it were going to snow pink for Valentine's Day!
Bundled up in my reading chair, I am headed for warmer climes. First stop, Provence with Peter Mayle and Hotel Pastis. It is the story of a successful but fed up London advertising executive who buys an abandoned L'Ancienne Gendarmerie in a small town in Provence with the idea of turning it into a first-class hotel. Sounds delightfully warm.
To keep me cozy in bed at night, I am tripping to Miami, Florida with Carl Hiaasen's Tourist Season, a comic mystery involving a dead Shriner, a reporter turned private detective, a terrorist group, and a rubber alligator. Only Hiaasen could pull all those elements together in one place.
What are you doing to stay warm?
I showed much restraint (for me, anyway) at yesterday's Summer Used Book Sale at historic Locust Grove. I showed up with a shopping bag holding six books to donate and left with the same shopping bag holding eight books bought. A net gain of two.
I try to stick with hardcover editions, but this time I came away with five quality paperbacks and three hardcover books.
The books on display are so well sorted. There is one section of the room filled with antiquarian and specially priced books that I just browsed through after I had made my other picks. The rest of the room is filled with hardcovers for $2 and paperbacks for $1. I hit the Literature section first - lots of older books in hardcover - then Fiction, Travel, and a brief browse at the Children's display. I bypassed Gardening, History, Cooking, and Art.
I try to stay focused.
My hand reached out to many books before I realized that either I already had a copy of that title or I at one time had had a copy of it and had given it away.
This was the first time I remembered to take my own shopping bag and boy, was that convenient. Much easier than carrying heavy books in the crook of my arm.
Here are the trade paperback books I nabbed:
Best American Essays 1994 edited by Tracy Kidder and Best American Essays 2000 edited by Alan Lightman - I can't resist a book of essays and within these two collections are pieces by Adam Gopnik, Nicholson Baker, Louise Erdrich, John Updike, Jamaica Kincaid, Mary Gordon, Cynthia Ozick, and Terry Tempest Williams.
Mama Makes Up Her Mind (1994) by Bailey White - Ms. White is perhaps best known as a regular contributor on National Public Radio. This book contains a collection of essays and anecdotes on Southern eccentricity, of which there is plenty. Ms. White grew up and lives in Georgia so she has a lot to say, I'm sure.
A Walk in the Woods (1998) by Bill Bryson - I adore Mr. Bryson and would gladly walk with him anywhere. The woods in this book happen to be along the 2100-mile Appalachian Trail. Just a small hike that Mr. Bryson took and wrote about.
Hotel Pastis (1994) by Peter Mayle - A piece of fiction about a English advertising executive who moves to Provence and transforms an abandoned police station into Hotel Pastis. As always, I am sure Mr. Mayle will delight.
Tomorrow: The hardcovers.
