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A Wedding in Provence is published by Century Books and available now in hardback, ebook and audiobook formats. This book is like a lovely, warm hug in front of a toasty fire, It's essentially The Sound of Music story, with less music and just enough original details so that it is not merely derivative. She finds herself in a chateau, looking after three children, unaided, two of which aren't keen to have her there, with a grandmerè who doesn't feel she is qualified, an estranged mother of said children, who wants to whisk the children away, and a friendly dog.
Well, I say buddy read… *taps chin*This was your typical Hannah/Laura buddy read where the planned reading schedule goes to pot on the first night *snorts*. With relatable challenges that keep her on her toes – Antoine’s over-bearing ex-mother-in-law and his haughty ex-wife, a prickly love rival, the upward battle of building trust with children who have all but been neglected – Alexandra’s character develops gently and convincingly. Alexandra is a sweet, kind girl, who means well and is blessed with seeing the positive in most things, which is an attribute you don’t see much of these days. Alexandra is en route to Switzerland, in Paris, enjoying her last moments of freedom, before she has to enrol in a finishing school, as expected by her relations.Then comes along the prim and proper granmere followed by the children's estranged mother who both insisit the new nanny is not suitable and the children should be sent to boarding school in England leaving behind their adopted sister. Cookery school-trained, with ‘colloquial and rustic’ French, Alexandra is to take charge of le Comte’s – Antoine’s – three children in a chateau in Provence for a month. Set in Provence in the middle of the 60’s you are just transported straight into the chateaux with Alexandra, having the confidence to take on the job of nanny to three kids just days after arriving in Paris at just 20 is inspiring and tells you a bit about the kind of character she is. She had had a comfortable life and had nannies and later companions to guide her through the years after family decided to support her from afar.
Characters and places are beautifully depicted and I found the setting in the early 60s quite unusual and very interesting. The 103 third parties who use cookies on this service do so for their purposes of displaying and measuring personalized ads, generating audience insights, and developing and improving products.This was your typical Hannah/Laura buddy read where the planned reading schedule goes to pot on the first night *snorts*. I feel like the story is centered more around Alexandra's relationship with the children (which was EVERYTHING) rather than a romance with the count, but the ending tied it all up neatly and made my heart so happy! A lot happens in the last third of the book which gives it a slightly uneven pace but that takes nothing away from this cosy read. Although there were many aspects of this story I enjoyed, and it was certainly romantic, I felt it was perhaps suited to younger readers than myself.
She did take me way out of my writing comfort zone, setting a book in France when I couldn’t go there, for a start, but I loved living in her world. To find out what personal information we collect and how we use it, please visit our privacy policy.
She gets to hear about a job and decides that this would be the perfect opportunity to putting her cooking skills to good use and getting to stay in Paris a bit longer. Ah to try and find the words to sum up this book… I absolutely loved reading this, I buddy read it with Laura and we both ended up racing through this in a little over 36 hours as it was just so good. Having decided, at Donna’s insistence, to spend a little longer than the planned 24 hours in Paris, Donna tells her about a job in Paris an acquaintance is looking to fill. The characters are well drawn and believable, and there is a strong sense of time and place, with France in 1963 vividly depicted. I want to thank netgalley, Random House UK, Cornerstone publishers and Katie Fforde for allowing me to read this book and give my personal thoughts.
There are many interesting characters in this book, that help to add colour to the story, and the market scenes make me want to go and visit similar places, too! Set in the early 60s, a chance meeting in Paris will change 20-year-old Alexandra’s life… at least for the summer. Portobello Book Blog is not responsible for the republishing of the content found on this blog on other Web sites or media without its permission. This aside, I would still recommend this book and I would definitely read another Katie Fforde having enjoyed so many of her previous books.I love any book that can take me on a beautiful journey in foreign countries, from the comfort of my home. The food descriptions had my mouth watering when reading about the lovely French pastries and delicious meals. It is an enjoyable story and the kittens almost make it worth reading by themselves but to me, it all seemed a bit predictable with too many stereotypes.
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