France

Mrs. Endicott’s Splendid Adventure

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Mrs. Endicott’s Splendid Adventure by Rhys Bowen

Ellie Endicott is surprised at breakfast one morning in 1938 when her husband Lionel tells her of his plans to get a divorce and marry a younger woman named Michelle. Also, he wants the house that Ellie has furnished and decorated over many years. Ellie can, perhaps, have a small cottage by the train station instead. After decades in Surrey, southwest of London, Ellie has had enough. Her household help, Mavis, and older, outspoken Dora encourage her to make a fresh start.

They all end up in Lionel’s Bentley, heading for the south of France. They wind up in St. Benet, a small fishing village, along with scared and pregnant Yvette. Ellie speaks excellent French, and Dora speaks enough, while Mavis is willing to learn. They find rooms in a guesthouse just getting ready to close for the season, and get to know the villagers. Then the war begins, and Lionel and their grown sons encourage Ellie to come home again.

The village and the scenery are beautifully described, along with the larger hillside house Ellie decides to rent and restore, with help from the villagers. As the war progresses, they acquire a pair of goats, chickens, and a beehive. Ellie learns to drive a speed boat and occasionally visits a monastery on a nearby island. Dora’s failing health improves and Yvette’s baby arrives. There are no battles in St. Benet, so the plot is mostly about life and food in southern France during the occupation, making do, trading food, and helping the resistance. Also, unexpectedly, finding love. Ellie is resilient and very good company for the reader. Not every villager makes it through the war years, and there is certainly danger and hardship, but Ellie is still happy with her choice to stay in St. Benet. Splendid storytelling with a strong sense of place makes this a good choice for readers of World War II fiction on the homefront.

Brenda

Murder Takes a Vacation

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Murder Takes a Vacation by Laura Lippman

Widowed Muriel Blossom, 68, has recently won the lottery, bought an apartment in Baltimore, and is on her way to Paris. She has invited her longtime friend Elinor on a cruise to Normandy, and is spending several days in Paris first. Mrs. Blossom (the annoying way Muriel refers to herself) is a large woman who is sensitive to comments about fitness, overeating, or caftans, though she regularly goes for five-mile walks. It’s been ten years since her husband died, but she is planning her trip partly around places and activities he would have liked.

As with many trips, all does not go smoothly. First, she misses her flight from London to Paris, and spends the time talking with attractive and attentive Allan, who even convinces the claustrophobic Mrs. Blossom to take the train through the underground Chunnel instead of rebooking her flight to Paris. Her hotel room in Paris is searched, as is her cabin on the riverboat, but she doesn’t report it to anyone. Allan mysteriously disappears, as does another acquaintance. And then there’s charming Danny, who takes Mrs. Blossom shopping, and even talks her into buying a caftan. Danny seems to turn up rather too often. Could there be a connection with the room searches and a missing statue with sapphire eyes?

I was really looking forward to reading a mystery set in gorgeous Paris and on a wonderful riverboat cruise in France, but I didn’t feel immersed in the setting. There was more about shopping and accessories than there was about the cruise experience. I was also surprised that a woman who had worked for a private investigator and has been single for ten years would let strangers and acquaintances have so much influence on her. Mrs. Blossom spends more time missing her daughter and granddaughters, who recently moved to Tokyo, than about solving the mystery. That said, this was a fun adventure, with good food, a bit of French scenery, and a little suspense and mystery. Mrs. Blossom does stand up for herself and her friend Elinor before the end of the cruise, and an epilogue shows her enjoying her new life in Baltimore.

This is a quick, easy read, perfect for the beach.

Brenda  

The French Art of Living Well

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The French Art of Living Well: Finding Joie de Vivre in the Everyday World by Cathy Yandell

While not French herself, the author has a good idea of French life and what makes it special. Beginning at age 19, Cathy Yandell has made so many visits to France, mainly to Paris, that she’s lost count. Her two daughters attended school in Paris during three different years, and she’s accompanied many student groups to Paris, as well as doing research in France. Yandell is a professor of French language, literature, and culture at Carleton College in Minnesota. Also, not mentioned in this book, she’s been knighted by the French government.

Yandell shares many observations about how the French have a unique perspective on life. Her friends and acquaintances, many of them from French-speaking African countries, seem to take more time to savor life, from meals, coffee, walks, visiting museums and parks. Sometimes it’s about enjoying the moment with others, even strangers. During the pandemic, the French government greatly increased funding of arts and culture, resulting in numerous outdoor concerts and other entertainment in the summer of 2021, when Yandell was staying in Paris. She shares the experience of a special afternoon in a Paris park, listening to an actor read fiction aloud.

Lengthy Christmas and wedding feasts are described, although this is not a foodie memoir of France. Time at a traditional hammam, relaxing in the waters with a couple of women friends, is another happy memory. World Cup soccer, watched on TV in a bar, helped unite people. French literature, art, and philosophy are discussed, as well as the challenges of parenting a toddler in Paris. Yandell doesn’t strive to be French, but clearly loves the extended time she has spent there, adding up to several years over the past couple of decades. This is a pleasurable, leisurely read. Readalikes include The Good Life series by British expat Janine Marsh, especially My Four Seasons in France, and the novel Lucy Checks In by Dee Ernst.

Brenda