From Publishers Weekly:
As fans of A Year in Provence and Toujours Provence may have suspected, Mayle's skills as a writer translate well into fiction. His first novel is as adroit, funny and charming as his previous works, and again it is set in his favorite region of France. Newly divorced, disenchanted and bored with his job as a director of a prestigious British ad agency, Simon Shaw is delighted when beautiful Frenchwoman Nicole Bouvier suggests that he rescue from bankruptcy a half-finished hotel in the drolly named town of Brassiere-les-Deux-Eglises. Taking a huge risk, Simon resigns from his agency and becomes patron of the new establishment in the picturesque Luberon region. In counterpoint, Mayle crosscuts to the escapades of a lovable band of criminals who are conspiring to break into the vault of a bank in the neighboring village of Isle-sur-Sorges. As the threads of the plot begin to converge, Mayle displays his satiric eye for social foibles by skewering advertising execs in England and the U.S.; he is equally adept at evoking typical Provencal villagers. Wickedly sharp and sympathetic at the same time, his characterizations are accurate down to nuances of class differences, voice, accent and vocabulary. The novel is as smooth as a sip of pastis, and one hopes that Mayle will find his segue into fiction equally addictive.

A little piece of RABCKery before the Holidays! Happy reading:)

What a lovely surprise! Thank you, Chich! I have enjoyed A Year in Provence and Toujours Provence by Peter Mayle, so now let's see how his fiction is! I lived in France years ago, so it is also fun and nostalgic to read about it! How kind of you to think of me and send it so far. Have a lovely day!

I finished this book today; it was one I'd brought with me on an overnight trip to Nagarkot, a hilltop town with lovely Himalayan views that I took some visiting friends to. I'd actually started it some time before, but read it very slowly. I found the pace of it very slow and not really compelling to keep you reading, so I often put it down and didn't pick it up again for a week or two. It was pleasant--and the descriptions of meals are great--but sadly, I didn't think it was anywhere near as good as his non-fiction, which I absolutely loved. Simon & Nicole seemed to me rather one-dimensional, with all of the secondary characters being far more interesting. I especially loved Jojo and his gang of bicycle riding bank robbers…they were the best part of the book and the reason I kept reading. The ending was a little disappointing to me, which kind of went along with my feelings about Simon in general.

The former manager of Cafe Mitini has opened a little cafe and bed & breakfast with his girlfriend, and I finally managed to track it down today to discuss a possible food article. It's a lovely place with a cozy, artsy atmosphere. There was also a basket with books & newspapers in the main area, and I left this book there to continue its journey -- I suggested a bookswop shelf too, and they liked the idea, so let's see where that goes!