La Belle Saison: Living Off the Land in Rural France [Hardcover]

Patricia Atkinson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 26, 2005

In The Ripening Sun, the author wrote about the trials and pleasures of developing a vineyard in France. Now she turns her hand to telling stories of life from the village of which she has become so much a part and succeeds in capturing a timelessness that is in danger of being lost.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Patricia Atkinson has lived in south-western France for 15 years, having left her city job to work in the vineyards. Her first book, The Ripening Sun, describes her transition from novice amateur to expert, award-winning winemaker.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Random House UK (July 26, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1844136000
• ISBN-13: 978-1844136001
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.6 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,162,699 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Beautiful Season, December 23, 2006

By 

Gregoryjhobbsjr "Greg Hobbs" (Denver, Colorado) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: La Belle Saison: Living Off the Land in Rural France (Paperback)

La Belle Saison

Patricia Atkinson

The beautiful season! It surely is. Patricia Atkinson's second book begins with the timeless Ecclesiastes verse: A time ... A time ... A time ...

"It's late August in the Dordogne as I look out over towards the valley of Bergerac from the highest point of my land."

On the verge of another harvest at her vineyard in Gageac, she welcomes us. She pours and talks.

You recall how in The Ripening Sun I moved to a country whose language I did not know to begin a life I was not prepared for? The first red wine harvest turned to vinegar. Our savings drained away. Our marriage foundered. He returned to England. "I threw myself into work with a vengeance."

Now she's an accomplished vintner writing of seasons she shares with family, friends, neighbors, and visitors like us--of hunting wild boar, wild truffles, wild pigeons, wild cepe mushrooms; vines, geese, ducks, and oysters to cultivate.

Preparing a savory meal requires devotion. "They start with Jambourra, a soup of vegetables cooked in the stock that the black pudding was boiled in." Followed by fricassee cooked slowly with onions and carrots all day with meat that "simply" melts in the mouth, then fillets and chops grillade, salad, cheese, and dessert.

She writes in winter, a thousand words at a sitting. Her style is generous and reserved. When you find Patricia, you find her with granddaughters Amy and Beth; neighbors Gilles, Odile, and Juliana; and the lovely Edge who sweats out vendanges, writes zany whimsical hopeful poems, and passes along with Geoffrey, Madame Cholet, Comte de la Verrie, and Fidde.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mouth-watering, June 1, 2009

By 

Dubitato "oldlawprof" - See all my reviews

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This review is from: La Belle Saison: Living Off the Land in Rural France (Paperback)

I was not sure that Patricia Atkinson could top her first book (The Ripening Sun), but La Belle Saison comes close. It is a wonderful series of personal stories, of a tragic death of a friend, of various French farmers, hunters, and wine makers. I salivated over the meals that she described. The only disappointment: her wines are not available in the United States. I am saving my pennies with the hope of traveling to her winery and trying her wines there!

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing, September 12, 2008

By 

Soozie (Kihei, Hawaii) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: La Belle Saison: Living Off the Land in Rural France (Paperback)

I loved Patricia's first book, The Ripening Sun. It was fresh, interesting, engaging. So I could not wait to get this one. What a disappointment! Page after page of adjectives and adverbs describing hunting trips, truffling (briefly) and so on. I have spent some time in that area of France, and I was unaware of how many things are"succulent."

Patricia has a compelling story, but it is absent from this book. Her first book was a real winner because it had a lot going on -- from novice to expert, from married to adrift, from stranger to neighbor. This one is static, and just plain boring. I hope Patricia will keep writing, but next time we need some sort of narrative to hang all the descriptions on.