Customer Reviews

The Provence Cure for the Brokenhearted: A Novel

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Heidi has a gift for making beautiful pieces of art in her bakery. She is a well-known, talented pastry chef. But she has lost her desire to create. Along with her car keys, lids to the toothpaste and jelly, friends, checkbooks - and the most important thing in her life, her husband. It's been two years since Henry died in a car accident, and Heidi still hasn't found her way back to the land of the living. She's not sure if she ever will, or even if she wants to. But she knows that she needs to, if not for herself, than for her son Abbott. A little boy who loves to hear "Henry stories", worries a great deal about his mom, and has developed some OCD tendencies in the wake of his father's death.

Up until her teens, Heidi would spend each summer at her family home in Provence, along with her mother and sister. There they would laugh, play with the boys next door, enjoy the simple life, and hear the stories of the home. They heard of the magic wonders that occur in this beautiful spot, the love that is found, and the miraculous healing of the heart. They hear of the great fire that literally stopped at their doorstep, and of their great grandparents, who could never have children - that is until they visited this beloved spot and were then blessed with the family they dreamed of, yet had given up on. Then one summer, Heidi's mom went to Provence alone, needing time to sort through some personal issues of her own and hoping the magic healing powers of the house will soothe her aching heart.

Despite the joy of her sister's wedding, Heidi still cannot get passed her grief. She tries to put her pain aside to celebrate with her sister, but arriving late for the bridesmaid's toast doesn't help matters. However, she does feel useful when helping to deal with Charlotte, her sister's soon-to-be step-daughter. A sixteen-year-old young woman struggling with being a teen, her father getting remarried, finding her own identity, and keeping a secret of her own. When a fire occurs at the Provence house Heidi's mother is beside herself. That house means so much to her. But not as much as her daughter and grandson's happiness. So along with Heidi's sister, they concoct a plan for Heidi, Abbott, and Charlotte to go to France to oversee the renovations from the fire, and to maybe find some of the magic that the house possesses.

Heidi arrives in Provence and immediately gets off to a rocky start. Not only is their rental car broken into and all their possessions stolen, but then it breaks down. Julien, the son of their neighbor and one of the boys Heidi played with as a child comes to their rescue. There definitely seems to be an attraction between the two, but both are dealing with tremendous amounts of pain, and neither one is looking for love. Can either one move past their hurt and move on with their lives, experiencing love, friendship, tears, and laughter for the first time in a long time? Will the secrets that are revealed bring this family closer or tear them apart? Will anyone experience the magic this house presumes to possess?

The Provence Cure for the Brokenhearted is a story full o f hope, promise, and the love one feels for someone even after they are gone. It's about families finding each other, about secrets being told, and about coming home again. It's a story about believing in oneself, hope for the future, coming together, and dealing with the past. The Provence Cure for the Brokenhearted is a tender-hearted love story that tackles moving on from grief and opening up to love again.

The Provence Cure for the Brokenhearted by Bridget Asher is a beautifully written novel that encompasses grief and life, love, food and can be best described as charming and full of hope. For me, this novel is what I class a comfort read. I started it and was immediately taken by the story and just couldn't put it down. Finishing this book for me was really quite sad; I was not ready to leave the lives of the people within its pages.

Heidi is still trying to get over the death of her husband Henry who passed two years ago. Thankfully she has her son Abbott who pretty much forces her to carry on but he has problems of his own - his grief is coming out through compulsive behaviors. She can't seem to take care of the bakery she and her husband owned and hasn't baked in ages which was something she always loved - creating her pastries. She just can't seem to move forward because she can't give up her past with Henry and her hope that he's still coming back.

Her mother tells Heidi that every woman needs a lost summer for herself. It just so happens that they have a family home in the French countryside where her mother had her very own lost summer when Heidi and her sister were young. This is where her mother feels Heidi, Abbott, and her niece Charlotte should go to get away for a while and remodel the old house. Heidi leaves for Provence with the kids and while there she begins to open herself up more to life and living while, at the same time, learning some long kept secrets about her own mother that leads her to know and understand her better.

I really liked Heidi. Her grief and her struggles to wade through it made her such a realistic character to me. I liked how she encouraged her son and spoke of her husband often with him. In Provence, even while she was battling against love, she was opening herself up to it. I could feel her pain, her sorrow, and then later her happiness and faith in a better future. While Heidi was my favorite, the other characters were great as well - Charlotte was hilarious as was Heidi's mom. Abbott was pretty cute with his obsessive behaviors and trying to get past them. As always it doesn't hurt to have a Frenchman like Julien, who sounded like a piece of heaven in a gorgeous package.

The Provence Cure for the Brokenhearted by Bridget Asher is so much about trusting enough to open yourself up to love again after suffering a great heartbreak. This book is a beautiful romance and new beginnings. It's about learning to live again and let's face it, could there be a better place to do that in than France? I loved the descriptions of the food and the area - I could almost feel myself there (well I was definitely wishing I was!). It's a fairly long novel at over 400 pages and not once did I feel like I wanted it to end. As a matter of a fact I kept checking to see how far I had to go and began to dread it ending. I was enjoying it that much. I laughed and I cried - for me that makes this novel a favorite! If you're a fan of foodie books and especially the ones where someone travels to another country, then I think you'd love this book as much as I did!

Well-written but the story was incredibly depressing for the first half of the book - and then it was just incredibly predictable. I would not recommend this unless the reader enjoys a really slowly-paced story with very little meat to it.

Even if I wasn't a confirmed Francophile, I would still have loved this story. Wonderful prose that reminded me of Anita Shreve's writing. No, not an earth-shattering plot but THIS is when I feel superb writing comes through....when the author uses her talent of writing, tells a simple story in such a profound way and gives her characters authenticity.....leaving her reader satisfied.

I've been to both Paris and the south of France the author has used for her setting and have to say......she captured ALL of it perfectly.....French culture, scenery, food and wine!

Merci beaucoup for a VERY enjoyable novel!

Unfortunately, I had to force myself to keep reading this book from the first chapter. It has a highly predictable and transparent plot with a heroine (??) who I found to be needy, irritating and completely unrealistic. I kept thinking "it will get better soon" but it never did! There was nothing "foodie" in the whole book except a discussion about some dessert pastries -- no recipes or even vague directions. No woman who had the independence and initiative that our heroine (Heidi -- what a name!!) is said to have had before her husband's death would allow herself to wallow in such complete self pity and helplessness two years later. Her constant mourning and inability to deal with reality is deeply harming her and her business but most tragic of all she is deeply harming her young son who almost becomes the parent in the family. Her mother sends her to an old family home in Provence and of course everything is magically better except for the reader who has had to endure a long slog through stereotyped plot and characters to get to the completely expected finish. I wish I hadn't wasted my time.

I feel bad for this but this book was a chore to get through. I think it started off with a great premise but Bridget Asher promptly shows she is not up to the task to write an engaging novel. It quickly slides into cliches and melodrama and I ended up not even liking many of the characters except for the main character's son by the time we get to the end of the novel.

We begin the novel with Heidi and her running late for her sister's Elysius wedding.

In the first few pages we have Asher telling us how Heidi is still grief stricken after losing her husband Henry in a car accident. Left alone to raise their son Abbott she is still trying to find her footing after losing what she knows was her soulmate.

I do have to say Asher writes wonderfully, her descriptions of Heidi and Henry's love actually made me want to cry. The main issue is though quickly I start to lose sympathy for several of the other characters, Heidi's mother, father, and sister caused me to want to slap them throughout this novel.

Heidi's mother and sister decide that the best thing for her is to go back to the family home in Provence that no one has visited since she has been a little girl after a fire lays ruin to the house. Also somehow Heidi's sister's new stepdaugher is shuffled off with them as well.

SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS

I think the main problem is that Asher sets up the fact that Heidi and Henry's love was epic and then has her go off and fall in love with someone who I honestly still don't see how she fell for.

We have his mother running around and saying cryptic things and a childhood playmate from when she went to France as a child trying to heal his heart since his wife ran off with his brother...yeah that actually occurred and everyone is somehow being okay about it. I don't want Jerry Springer screaming and yelling but seriously everyone was kind of blase about the entire situation.

We also have Elyusius stepdaughter being sent to go off with Heidi and Abbott to France who we find out is pregnant which I called as soon as we are introduced to her character. Anytime a writer says baggy clothing it equals pregnant.

Also the disgusting characters of Heidi's sister and new brother in law deciding that they just don't have time to deal with her and her baby and start talking abortion so it doesn't ruin their lives. I love how its because the father is an artistic genius and needs a woman to take care of him.

The ending was too pat when we have Heidi decide to somehow end up taking in Charlotte, her baby, her son, and live with her new boyfriend in France in the summer and home in FL during the rest of the year. I honestly think that the author just read a book on how to write novels and followed the formula through the end with no real surprises.

Grade: F

Henry died two years ago in a car accident. His wife Heidi has failed to move on as she lives for his memory and to keep germy reality away from touching her and their eight years old son Abbott. She even stopped making her bakery a success.

Heidi's mother and her sister Elysius are worried about Heidi and what her grief is doing to Abbott. They decide that Heidi and Abbot accompanied by Elysius' troubled teenage stepdaughter Charlotte will go to the family house in rustic Puyloubier in Provence, France to oversee the fixing up of the kitchen ruined by a fire. Although they object, the trio heads to the estate only to lose all their belongings. However when Julien, whose marriage has just ended, and Heidi meet for the first since they were children, they are attracted to each other. However, their mutual desire leads to Abbott running away, sixteen years old Charlotte announcing she is pregnant, and what happened the summer mom ran away to Provence.

This is an entertaining family melodrama starring a wonderful protagonist who wants to be left alone in her wallowing and a strong cast who either share in her miserable outlook or foster an intervention on her. Melancholy and nostalgic, fans will agree with mom that the house in Puyloubier possesses the "logical cure for the brokenhearted."

Harriet Klausner

What a tender and enchanting novel, simply full of love! Heidi is still mourning the tragic death of her adored husband in a car crash two years before; she thinks she sees him everywhere, but it is never him. Heidi's seven-year-old son also has never stopped missing his father. There is, however, an old house in Provence in southern France which had been in the family for generations and which supposedly can create emotional healing and bring love to those who care for it and live within its walls. Heidi's mother sends her and the boy there, along with her sister's recalcitrant adolescent stepdaughter.

In spite of an inauspicious beginning, Heidi does find an enchantment in the house nestled against the mountains which subtly begins to bring new life to all of them. To Heidi it brings something very special for she finds that the little boy next door with whom she played as a child is now a sensitive, caring and handsome man with his own losses in need of healing.

THE PROVENCE CURE FOR THE BROKENHEARTED is beautifully and wisely written, wrapping its handful of characters in such love that surely the restorative and joyful qualities of the house with all its legends will reach out from the page and also draw the reader lovingly inside. The novel is dedicated to the reader. It is really a gift to anyone who finds herself within its pages.

I am the author of CLAUDE AND CAMILLE: A NOVEL OF MONET.

I thought this book was very sweet. I agree with others that you don't see the plot unfolding and you have to take a leap of faith in some areas, but it's a sweet book that I really enjoyed.

I was enchanted by this novel. Bridget Asher's insightful characterizations are vivid, their emotions raw and real. Family tensions and secrets are realistic, as are portrayals of the French and French life. Asher delightfully nails typical 7- and 16-year-old behaviors (with the possible exception of a few rather mature statements by the 7-year-old). Winsome heroine Heidi courageously faces grief after losing her husband and tentatively steps toward new possibilities. The Provence Cure is simply a wonderful story I thoroughly enjoyed.

On a personal note ... I have never experienced the sudden death of a husband, and reading this book helped me better understand widowed friends' healing of this profound loss, and it increased my appreciation for every day I have with my husband. Also, although Aix-en-Provence is not my favorite--nice but that's all--memory of Provence, I may give the area another try, thanks to this novel.