September book review

At home in Provence by Jeany Cronk

Recipes and Stories from Life in the South of France

At Home in Provence is a stunning cookbook that explores a modern take on life in this sunny French region from co-owner of winemakers Maison Mirabeau, Jeany Cronk. Sharing recipes and table settings, and offering a nuanced look at the local culture and style, the book delves into food, entertaining ideas, and features short essays to give readers a taste of life in France.
 
The 60 recipes showcase the seasons, focusing on simple cooking with local produce bursting with freshness, made to be shared. From dishes to serve up at a casual lunch such as St Tropez Ceviche to mains with a Mirabeau twist like Coq au Vin Rosé, as well as delicious desserts, including Lemon Madeleines with White Chocolate Dip, there's a vast array of recipes to bring a taste of Provence to your table.
 
Divided into four distinct sections: Les Vignes (what to cook in the harvest season, the culture of winemaking, how to taste and understand what to look for in a good Provençal rosé), Le Village (cooking with inspiring market produce, the slow rhythm of village life food markets, fêtes)… Find more on Penguin.co.uk & follow Jeany Cronk on Instagram.

Victorian Writers
Then & Now

A clothbound literary companion for navigating the modern world with elegance, wit, and well-dressed English by Thomas Finch, a true ‘passionate about languages and storytelling’.

Victorian Writers, Then & Now ? 'A compilation of published and, as yet, unpublished ‘Victorian Writers’ posts, some of them where I narrate a passage of text à la Victorian and ‘translate’ it to a contemporary utterance. The passages are a fictional, tongue-in-cheek exploration of a more florid writing style, synonymous with Victorian Writers. To be clear, it is not a novel or a textbook, but it can—one hopes—be a resource for discovering new vocabulary, sentence constructions, and primarily a book to enjoy and revisit’ comments Thomas. More information on Englishenjoyed.com, follow Thomas Finch on Instagram.

LA PAUSA: THE IDEAL MEDITERRANEAN VILLA OF GABRIELLE CHANEL

Discover Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel’s vacation villa on the French Riviera, where she entertained the leading lights of the French cultural scene in the 1930s and 1940s. In 1928, Gabrielle Chanel built La Pausa, a magnificent villain Roquebrune in the South of France.

Designed and decorated by the couturiere herself, it was her refuge for decades, and where she welcomed many friends—leading artistic, cultural,and high-society figures such as the Duke of Westminster, Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dalí and Jean Cocteau.

Plunging the reader into the bustling atmosphere of the Côte d’Azur in the 1930s, this book showcases all facetsof her Mediterranean home—its conception and construction,unique architecture and gardens, and the artists and creativesit inspired. The luxurious tome is bound in Orient blue cloth with an inlaid portrait of the villa, seven-color printing ontwo paper stocks, and three facsimile inserts—Chanel’s correspondence with Picasso and Dalí, and an architectural plan of the villa.

Expert essays and rare archival materials are completed with a conversation between Yana Peel and Peter Marino (who recently restored the villa) and a chronology. Reflecting the creativity and singularity of the iconic fashion designer, La Pausa is a monument to the private world of Gabrielle Chanel. With contributions from Peter Marino, Yana Peel, Montse Aguer Teixidor and Laura Bartolomé, Philippe Collas and Eric Villedary, Laurène Flinois, Hélène Fulgence, Flavia Frigeri, Marika Genty, Cécile Goddet-Dirlès, Marc Jeanson, Madeleine Meissirel, Olivier Meslay,Antide Viand, and Elisabetta Gaspard.

LE BRISTOL PARISAN ODE TO THE ART OF LIVING by Laure Verchère

Discover the sumptuous elegance of the five-star hotel that has welcomed the crème de la crème in Paris for a century.

Located in the heart of Paris, Le Bristol palace hotel has pampered elite guests from around the world since 1925.This volume traces the history of the legendary hotel created by visionary entrepreneur Hippolyte Jammet and named afterthe Earl of Bristol—a renowned traveler during the Age of Enlightenment.

Designed with a spirit of remarkable freedom, the hotel attracted Parisian high society in the RoaringTwenties and has continued ever since to welcome A-list guests from across the globe.Today, it represents a distinctively French lifestyle, at the crossroads of the arts, and exudes timeless luxury through high-quality service, lavish rooms, and peaceful gardens that offer refuge from the bustling city.

With a total of four Michelin stars,Le Bristol’s restaurants embody French culinary excellence, serving up iconic drinks such as the Bristol Old Fashioned and recipes such as Onion Soup with Beef Consommé or Lemon Sorbet.

Combining history, architecture, interiors, gastronomy, and a taste for luxurious living, this bilingual English-French book—produced with silver gilt edging and onlay cover vignette—celebrates this jewel on Paris’s prestigious Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré.

Laure Verchère was a journalist for Elle Décoration and has written numerous books including Le Grand Hôtel and Café de la Paix: French Art de Vivre (2022), and Signed Sybillede Margerie: Bespoke Interiors(2020).

CHANEL: HER INTIMATE WORLD by Isabelle Fiemeyer

This illustrated biography offers unprecedented insight into Coco Chanel’s complex and enigmatic life through new research and analysis of the designer by an expert historian.

Chanel expert Isabelle Fiemeyer offers a rare, deeply personallook into the life of the iconic designer Coco Chanel. This biography draws from exclusive interviews with Chanel’s closest family members and extensive archival research to reveal the designer’s most private world—her love for symbolism and poetry, her romantic relationships, and her enduring bondwith her nephew, André Palasse, who she raised as her own son. His daughter, Gabrielle Palasse-Labrunie—Chanel’s goddaughter and only direct descendant—shares intimate memories and access to her great-aunt’s cherished collectionof fashion, jewelry, and art.

Divided into five chronological sections, the book immerses readers in Chanel’s life, unveiling rarely seen personal artifacts: gifts from her great love, Boy Capel, as well as her furniture, favorite jewelry, talismans, garments, family photos, andcorrespondence. This new book expands upon Fiemeyer’s research from her previous books on the designer and includesthe compelling chapter “Alias Coco,” which explores newly uncovered documents from French Secret Service archives, shedding light on Chanel’s clandestine activities during WorldWar II and her connections to the Resistance.

Isabelle Fiemeyer’s sensitive, literary style along with theinsights and recollections of Palasse-Labrunie reveal the hiddendepths of Chanel’s character, exploring a side of “Auntie Coco” far removed from her public image. This handsome book—withthree-quarter binding and cloth spine—is an essential read forthose who seek to understand the complex and enigmatic woman behind the legendary brand. Isabelle Fiemeyeris a writer, historian, and specialist on Coco Chanel. She has published Intimate Chanel, Chanel:The Enigma, and Chanel: An Essence of Mystery.

 Uzès, regards croisés... A photographer, a painter and a writer tell the story of Uzès, a town steeped in history. A magnificent and singular tale with three narrators (at your local bookshop & reading partner of the blog Maison de la presse d'Uzès).

A Week Abroad Cévennes

In this edition, we invite you to discover the Cévennes through the eyes of seven fascinating local personalities: a hotelier couple, a cabinetmaker, a beekeeper couple, a designer, a Météo France manager, podcast creators to listen to on the trails, and a birdwatcher. Discover their portraits and all their confidential addresses from the Causse Méjean plateau to Mont-Lozère, via Alès and Florac.

Exceptional local products, delicious restaurants, traditional crafts, wild landscapes and natural treasures, experience the places your friends from all over the world might have told you. Find 145 pages of interviews and addresses as well as a detachable illustrated map that will accompany you everywhere to experience a week like a local. A book and travel guide dedicated to traveling differently and promoting local and independent economies. Read more.

For the young ones of the family (and everybody else!) two card games to learn more about Nîmes and Cévennes history edited in a bilingual collection by Alcide publisher.

Memo de Nîmes la Romaine & Memo des Cévennes are both colorful, funny, entertaining games to play and learn at the same time... Look for it at our books partner, Maison de la presse Uzès.