Frecossais Posted September 13, 2011 Share Posted September 13, 2011 I have always enjoyed reading books set in France, even if I don't like the book very much. They usually make me want to visit the area described in the book. However I've just finished Trespass by Rose Tremain, whose setting is the Cevennes. The theme, the characters and the brooding forest and pitiless landscape all conspired to make me feel I'd rather stick pins in my eyes than go anywhere near there.Am I missing anything? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pads Posted September 13, 2011 Share Posted September 13, 2011 Yes I think you might be missing this http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=cevennes+national+park&hl=en&biw=1280&bih=696&prmd=imvns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=14pvTv33F4O58gOw9OTfCQ&ved=0CEMQsAQIts a loverly area especially in a sunny May June timeEdit sorry usless at posting links ...you will have to copy and paste it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NormanH Posted September 13, 2011 Share Posted September 13, 2011 And this:http://les.cevennes.free.fr/en/national-park.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frecossais Posted September 13, 2011 Author Share Posted September 13, 2011 Thanks Pads and Norman. Have placed the Cevennes National Park on the map of France and read something of the geography of the region. They say a good time to visit is in spring or autumn. May look to that next year when the bathroom is finished.Thanks again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patf Posted September 13, 2011 Share Posted September 13, 2011 Not exactly a novel - Celestine by Gillian Tindall is a sort of historical biography, set in the Berry, I think.Very atmospheric. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frecossais Posted September 14, 2011 Author Share Posted September 14, 2011 Years and years ago I read a Mary Stewart book, can't remember name of it now, but on the strength of it, my sister and I hitch-hiked to France to see Lake Annecy. Beautiful area.The following year we travelled to Crete after reading The Moon Spinners.Well, we were young. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnOther Posted September 14, 2011 Share Posted September 14, 2011 Try Kate Mosse, Labyrinth, Sepulchre, and The winter Ghosts.Mixed reviews on amazon but OH throrougly enjoyed all three and she is a discerning and critical reader. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Judith Posted September 14, 2011 Share Posted September 14, 2011 [quote user="Frecossais"]Years and years ago I read a Mary Stewart book, can't remember name of it now, but on the strength of it, my sister and I hitch-hiked to France to see Lake Annecy. Beautiful area.The following year we travelled to Crete after reading The Moon Spinners.Well, we were young.[/quote]Nine coaches waiting - eastern France / Switz borderMadame will you talk - Arles and Montpellier (from memory can't find it at the mo)Thunder on the right - PyreneesWonderful writer, they don't make them like that any more .... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frecossais Posted September 14, 2011 Author Share Posted September 14, 2011 I think it was Nine Coaches Waiting, about a young woman who came to France as a governess to a little boy who pronounced "squirrel" in English as "squervirrel". Funny the things that stick in your mind!Remember Airs above the GroundMy brother Michael?As you say......... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frecossais Posted September 14, 2011 Author Share Posted September 14, 2011 AnOther, I read Labyrinth with my book group and enjoyed it, but I was disappointed that she used the same format in Sepulchre, ie two stories, one in the past that has an influence on one in the present. Haven't read the third.However the setting is well described, and I know several people who were fascinated by Carcassonne and wanted to go there. I've already holidayed in that area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Judith Posted September 15, 2011 Share Posted September 15, 2011 [quote user="Frecossais"]I think it was Nine Coaches Waiting, about a young woman who came to France as a governess to a little boy who pronounced "squirrel" in English as "squervirrel". Funny the things that stick in your mind!Remember Airs above the GroundMy brother Michael?As you say.........[/quote]My favourite one is Nine Coaches Waiting, and you remember it correctly. My brother Michael is set in Greece which is why I didn't mention it here ....I think I have them all, though at this moment Nine coaches is "missing" - I am still getting my "book room" in order, a year after we moved! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cooperlola Posted September 15, 2011 Share Posted September 15, 2011 I always thought one of Ms Stewart's great strengths was her sense of place. My favourites were set in the North and Scotland - The Ivy Tree and Wildfire at Midnight. A part of Britain which I love so much and it was just like being transported there. I feel I sort of grew out of her but since I got the Kindle have been half tempted to download one and try her again. I still have the books somewhere but am just not up to rummaging in the loft at the mo'! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ariège Author Posted September 17, 2011 Share Posted September 17, 2011 Devoured all of Mary Stewart's books when I was younger. She's obviously still appealing to readers out there as her publisher, Hodder, re-released all of her novels this year. Just shows, the old ones are the best... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mint Posted September 17, 2011 Share Posted September 17, 2011 Just been listening to Hilary Mantell on TV, talking about her books and her life. I don't recall the exact title, but her first book was about the French revolution and the central character was Marie Antoinette.I thought she'd won the Man Booker more than once but, in fact, I think it was just in 2009 for Wolf Hall (off topic here as that one is not about France!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rowland Posted September 18, 2011 Share Posted September 18, 2011 The book is called A Place of Greater Safety Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mint Posted September 18, 2011 Share Posted September 18, 2011 Thank you, rowland....and there was I, having watched the whole programme from start to finish ,and can't remember the name of the book! This memory loss is getting worse by the day.....I think that nowadays, I am relying more and more on Google to remember things for me: you see, I knew that if I just googled Hilary Mantell, for example, the name of the book would come up!Wonder what implications this has for the evolution of memory in the human species?[:D] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5-element Posted September 18, 2011 Share Posted September 18, 2011 [quote user="sweet 17"]Wonder what implications this has for the evolution of memory in the human species?[:D][/quote]The implications are that memory lapses can be kept private for much longer than in the pre-Google days![:-))] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mint Posted September 19, 2011 Share Posted September 19, 2011 [quote user="5-element"][quote user="sweet 17"] Wonder what implications this has for the evolution of memory in the human species?[:D][/quote]The implications are that memory lapses can be kept private for much longer than in the pre-Google days![:-))][/quote]So, evolutionary laws will ensure that we lose our memories more quickly but that it will take longer for others to rumble us?Well then how will that help or hinder the progress of the human race? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Judith Posted September 19, 2011 Share Posted September 19, 2011 [quote user="Ariège Author"]Devoured all of Mary Stewart's books when I was younger. She's obviously still appealing to readers out there as her publisher, Hodder, re-released all of her novels this year. Just shows, the old ones are the best...[/quote]That is good news, I found I was missing one, and ordered it (whilst still in London), it took about 2 years to arrive .... so obviously the first of the re-printings ..... now, I wonder where my 9 coaches is ... better go hunt! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Judith Posted September 19, 2011 Share Posted September 19, 2011 [quote user="cooperlola"]I always thought one of Ms Stewart's great strengths was her sense of place. My favourites were set in the North and Scotland - The Ivy Tree and Wildfire at Midnight. A part of Britain which I love so much and it was just like being transported there. ![/quote]Deb,I so agree, though the northern ones were never my favourites .... all are now slightly dated in the time period in which they are set (modern, but the world has moved on and manners and morals are not the same as when she wrote - cf Airs above the ground ) which is why they went out of favour perhaps, but she can write a good thriller and romance at the same time, not always successfully done by other thriller writers who scare me somewhat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frecossais Posted September 19, 2011 Author Share Posted September 19, 2011 Another book I read that was set in the Morvan in Burgundy was The Virgin Blue. I think it was written by Tracy Chevalier. That too was about a dark secretive people full of superstition, and set in their ways. I've been to the Morvan and much of it is beautiful, but those forbidding forests can still make me shiver.Mary Stewart, I so hope I won't be disappointed when I read her again. My sister and I followed her to Crete when we read The Moonspinners. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ariège Author Posted November 16, 2011 Share Posted November 16, 2011 On this topic - has anyone read Pure by Andrew Miller? Debating about buying it for a Christmas present so any feedback welcome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmilyA Posted November 16, 2011 Share Posted November 16, 2011 Nothing to do with France at all, but if you are interested in the effect of the internet on our brains then you need to read a book called The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains by Nicholas Carr. Absolutely the most interesting book I have read this year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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