Home & Dry in Normandy: A Memoir of Eternal Optimism in Rural France [Paperback]

George East (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2006

When George and Donella East buy a derelict mill in Normandy with only an overdraft to their names, they know it will take more than luck to realize the dream of living the good life. As they set about renovating the Mill of the Flea, Rene Ribet arrives in his ramshackle caravan to assume squatters’ rights. Their mentor promises to school them in the ways of the French countryside, but what the innocents abroad are yet to learn is that Mr. Ribet is known locally as The Fox of Cotentin. A series of doomed survival schemes ensues, and with financial disaster looming, the couple’s vision of a new life seems to be fading fast. This is a hilarious foray into French country domesticity.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

George East has enjoyed a spectacularly eclectic career path including stints as a pickled-onion manufacturer, gravedigger, radio producer, publican and professional bed tester. George is now dedicated to writing full-time and to devising increasingly elaborate money-making schemes.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Orion Publishing (April 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0752877380
• ISBN-13: 978-0752877389
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,810,119 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Even if the nearest you have been to France is watching a renovation on TV, you will love this book !, July 19, 2005

By 

BobMac (Northern Ireland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Home & Dry in Normandy: A Memoir of Eternal Optimism in Rural France (Hardcover)

This is no dry description of the cold hard facts and potential pitfalls of buying a property in France, it is a humourous, poignant and very readable chronicle of the whole process, and the people encountered during it, from the first wish to the eventual fulfilment of a dream that many, many people share. The insights into the very different attitude to life and mind set of their growing circle of friends and neighbours is educational in itself, I wish I had read it before we bought our property in Normandy, we would have understood more about what was happening, laughed a lot more and would have probably been a lot less stressed!

This is an enjoyable read for anyone and not just for people who are buying or thinking about buying property in France, it is a book for anyone who can enjoy reading about some of life's characters in a story about a couple actually getting up and doing something that most others only dream about.

I laughed out loud at some parts and felt their sorrow at others in a book that explains, with insight and humour, a lot of things about France and the French that I, for one, have never quite grasped before, putting all this into a story that held me from page one.

By the time you finish you feel that you know George & Donella West and that you would instantly recognize any one of the characters described in the book. You are able to sense their changing attitudes to the local people and, in turn the locals attitude to them as the story progresses. It is the first in a series and I really look forward to reading the rest.