La Belle Saison

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This woman is a real heroine - Rated
I have followed Patricia Atkinson's career with open-mouthed admiration ever since I first saw her on Channel 4's "A French affair" in 1994. When her first book appeared, I pounced, eager to get the background of the TV story, and also to find out what had happened to her. "The ripening sun" is riveting stuff, and you will be struck dumb with admiration for the courage, persistence, and sheer bloody hard work that she has put in to making such a success of her vineyard.
"La belle saison" is as enjoyable in its way, but this time the subject is French country life in her particular corner of the Dordogne, rather than specifically her own story. However, interwoven with the anecdotes and adventures are snippets from her personal life, and, as in the first book, they are laced with personal tragedy.
She writes with great affection for her surroundings and the people, and despite the fact that she seems (to me!) to be typically English, I can never picture her returning to England to live - her total immersion into the local life and integration into the culture is a model for any of us who dream of moving to France.
My only slight gripe is that she always writes in the present tense, which sometimes is a (very) minor irritation, but it will not spoil your enjoyment of the book.

La belle saison - un beau livre! - Rated
Being a big fan of her first book, "The Ripening Sun", I rushed to buy Patricia Atkinson's second book "La Belle Saison".

While her first book is about struggle and hardship to get her business off the ground, Patricia's second book takes a look at all the good things around her; cheese, hunting, truffles and fishing, among others; for which she had no time during the earlier years. But this is also the book of a woman who had to work hard to survive, who, grimly determined to make something of her life in France, just kept going, never looking back and, in the process, inevitably, did leave something precious of herself behind.

How do you handle success - and yourself - now you have achieved the impossible: creating a thriving vineyard and your own highly acclaimed brand in the very competitive wine business? All this as a woman in a French male dominated environment, and English to boot!

How do you face a certain feeling of loneliness and emptiness once you and your wines have become world famous; "you now have all you ever wanted, haven't you?" How do you find yourself back after all these years of abnegation. The answer comes to her, slowly, over time, and remains with Patricia despite trials which would have severely dented other, less resilient people.

This is not a literary masterpiece, she didn't have time to write one. Patricia is in a hurry to live a life as full as possible. This is an warm and fun book, sometimes sad, written in a straightforward manner by (and this you will feel strongly when reading the book) an honest, warm, fun loving, and passionate person who dares to go to the very limit of her many talents instead of playing it "safe". And in the process, she makes a success out of it. This really is the message of the book.

Just Belle - Rated
Are you fed up with the stereotype 'provence' book:
I bought/built a house and here is how wonderful it is/I am???

This is different.

Just go and read it.
A real joy.