Product Description

Tim Reinhart enters a wondrous new world the moment he buys a farmhouse in the country of France, region of Quercy, department of Lot. Or, in his marvelous words, "From the moment I saw this property, I had a bead on it. I cant completely explain why, but I had an intense feeling of belonging." He has given up his teaching life in New York and begun working as the artist hes always wanted to be. Letters written to his family back home sweep the reader up in Tims schooling in, and awakening to, the pastoral French lifestyle. From the attention to food (meals seem to Tim a semireligious rite) to the delightfully quirky neighbors who appear to spring straight out of a Balzac novel, we share Tims ever-growing pleasures and adventures. But his enchantment with this foreign land becomes far more complicated when his drawings-and then Tim himself-catch the eye of Mademoiselle Benoir, a beautiful, aristocratic woman twenty years his senior. Their decision to marry sets off a cluster bomb, uncovering incendiary layers of emotional and cultural complexity on both sides of the Atlantic, as his family tries to reason with him, her family declares war, and the villagers choose sides. Will tradition triumph over love? Inspired by a true story, this is a delicious stew with something for everyone. Christine Conrad has worked as the New York City film commissioner, as an editor in book publishing, as a screenwriter for motion pictures and television, and as an advocate for women's health. Her most recent book, Jerome Robbins, is a pictorial biography inspired by her long friendship with the choreographer.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1920478 in Books
• Published on: 2005-12-07
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: .82" h x 5.40" w x 7.26" l, .70 pounds
• Binding: Hardcover
• 240 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Conrad's pleasant first novel follows Tim Reinhart, a 30-something American mathematics professor, as he transforms a run-down farmhouse in the south of France into habitable living quarters and an artist's studio, struggling with the vagaries of French culture, romance and inheritance laws along the way. The story unfolds entirely through letters and diary entries—an artifice that loses steam halfway through the story—and though the author captures the charms and frustrations an outsider encounters in France, she doesn't achieve a credible male voice or the quirky appeal of A Year in Provence. Tim's on-again-off-again relationship with a neighbor, Marcelline Becaze, a lawyer in a nearby village, provides some spice, but the culture clash really heats up when his friendship with Catherine Benoir, a French woman nearly 30 years his senior, deepens into romance. Catherine's older sister, Pauline, is horrified at this slap in the face to French tradition. Her extreme and often amusing attempts to quash the relationship provide an intriguing look into French mores and traditions. Though she turns most of her family against Tim and Catherine and tries to use her family's clout with the Catholic Church to impede their nuptials, love, as always, prevails. (Jan. 4)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
What mother wouldn't be stunned by the news that her son, whom she expected to return after a year living in France, has purchased a farm in a desolate French valley? So begins Conrad's first novel, about a young, idealistic, romantic American former mathematics teacher, now aspiring artist. Tim Reinhart's acculturation unfolds in a series of letters to family members and friends, revealing his frustration with academic life and an exuberant plunge into rural French life populated with gastronomic delights, idiosyncratic neighbors, and Gallic bureaucracy. Tim is introduced to the Benoirs, a nearby aristocratic family, and Catherine, one of the three sisters, has the joie de vivre, sophistication, and compassion that make her a kindred spirit to Tim, despite a significant age difference. Their friendship leisurely grows into love and a desire to marry, leading to repercussions on both sides of the Atlantic. The novel's epistolary format gives a 360-degree view of events, providing an intimate look at the emotional reactions of each character. A thoroughly satisfying and thoughtful story of love triumphant. Laurie Sundborg
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About the Author
CHRISTINE CONRAD has worked as the New York City film commissioner, as an editor in book publishing, as a screenwriter for motion pictures and television, and as an advocate for womens health. Her most recent book, Jerome Robbins, is a pictorial biography inspired by her long friendship with the choreographer. Conrad lives in Los Angeles.