When Drinkwater and her fianc get the opportunity to purchase an abandoned olive farm in the South of France, they find the region's splendor impossible to resist. The couple embarks on an adventure that brings them in contact with the charming countryside of Provence, its querulous personalities, petty bureaucracies, and extraordinary wildlife.
NOW A MAJOR NEW TV SERIES: CAROL DRINKWATER'S SECRET PROVENCE Life and love, olive groves and bee hives in Provence - further adventures in the bestselling Olive Farm series from the author of THE FORGOTTEN SUMMER 'Drinkwater is a rare writer who tackles other people brilliantly...Vibrant, intoxicating and heart-warming' SUNDAY EXPRESS 'She writes so well you can almost smell the sun-baked countryside' BELLA After sixteen months of travelling round the Mediterranean in search of the ancient secrets of the olive tree, Carol returns to her beloved olive farm in the south of France, to her husband Michel and his burgeoning family. However, the homecoming celebrations are overshadowed by disturbing discoveries. The plight of the honey bee has become an international crisis and Carol is faced with unsettling news about the hives on her own olive farm. While the multinational companies are pushing for 'bigger, better, bumper' crops, a small band of farmers and ecologists are calling for a halt to many of the modern farming malpractices that are endangering the planet. Carol is amongst them. But it puts her own farm, her idyll, under threat. At what point do you turn your back on all that you believe in and all that you have been fighting for? This is the story of how Carol and Michel struggle with some difficult choices, and how they decide to deal with the unavoidable disappointments and inevitable responsibilities that come with running an organic farm.
The story of life on a French olive farm continues with this moving memoir of hard work, hard luck, and waiting for the return of happiness. Carol Drinkwater and her husband, Michel, arrive at their villa in Provence in anticipation of another glorious summer. Unfortunately, they find the farm unkempt and suffering from lack of rainfall. When their gardener, Monsieur Quashia, finally shows up, he cheerfully explains the shed-building project he’s working on as a surprise for them—a surprise that will send their expenses skyrocketing. But there are bigger problems to come than wild boars tearing through fences and other everyday challenges of farming. After a terrifying accident in Monte Carlo and a hospital stay, Michel is barely functional, and Carol soon realizes she must fend for herself. Burdened with problems from a financial reversal to the threat of nearby wildfires, she will experience firsthand the uncertainties that have plagued farmers since the dawn of agriculture—and hold on to hope that in the end, nature will provide. “A storyteller of great economy and deftness.” —The Telegraph
When Carol Drinkwater and her fiancé, Michel, are given the opportunity to purchase ten acres of an abandoned olive farm in the South of France, they find the region's splendor impossible to resist. Using their entire savings as a down payment, the couple embark on an adventure that brings them in contact with the charming countryside of Provence, its querulous personalities, petty bureaucracies, and extraordinary wildlife. From the glamour of Cannes and the Isles of Lérins to the charm of her own small plot of land-which she transforms from overgrown weeds into a thriving farm-Drinkwater triumphantly relates how she realized her dream of a peaceful, meaningful life.
“A lovely balance of memoir, travelogue and olive-growing how-to . . . Some of her adventures are quite funny.” —Publishers Weekly In this memoir, the author of The Olive Farm returns to the ten-acre property for which she and her fiancé scraped together their savings to buy—just back from their wedding on a tiny Polynesian island, loaded down with luggage and a large hand-painted didgeridoo. As Carol and Michel settle in as husband and wife, they experience the glamor of southern France at dinner parties in the company of aristocrats and at the world-renowned Cannes film festival, as well as the dirt-caked, sun-baked life of farmers—especially after their gardener heads to Algiers to arrange his youngest son’s wedding. For Carol, though, what matters most is that her longtime dream of motherhood finally promises to come true—and over the course of The Olive Season, she shares the story of her hopes and fears as she anticipates another kind of growth and nurturing. Alternately entertaining and emotionally poignant, this memoir is a rich portrait of love, longing, and the constant uncertainties of the cycle of life.
Winner of the James Beard Award Until one stops to notice, an olive is only a lowly lump at the bottom of a martini. But not only does a history of olives traverse climates and cultures, it also reveals fascinating differences in processing, production, and personalities. Aficionados of the noble little fruit expect miracles from it as a matter of course. In 1986, Mort Rosenblum bought a small farm in Provence and acquired 150 neglected olive trees that were old when the Sun King ruled France. He brought them back to life and became obsessed with olives, their cultivation, and their role in international commerce.
“Secrets, tragedy, hidden pasts and family secrets all set in glorious Provence—I loved this.” —Santa Montefiore, bestselling author of The French Gardener Clarisse Cambon is devastated when the family vineyard’s annual harvest is ruined by an accident—and furious at her daughter-in-law, Jane, who she’s sure is responsible. Jane’s longtime feud with her mother-in-law is rooted in a secret they both keep from Luc—Jane’s husband and Clarisse’s son. When tragedy strikes, Jane takes over management of the vineyard and, beset by doubts and questions, begins to look into Luc’s past to understand what he may have kept hidden from her—and what Clarisse may know . . . An atmospheric tale of forbidden fruit, family secrets, and enduring through heartbreak from the author of An Act of Love and the beloved Olive Farm series, The Forgotten Summer will “whisk you straight to the South of France” (Marie Claire). “A lovely book . . . plenty of page-turning drama but also mouthwatering descriptions of Paris and Provence.” —Daily Mail
Carol Drinkwater's much-loved Olive Farm memoirs, THE OLIVE FARM, THE OLIVE HARVEST, THE OLIVE ROUTE, THE OLIVE SEASON, THE OLIVE TREE and RETURN TO THE OLIVE FARM chart the adventures of Carol and her husband Michel on their Provencal Olive farm in the south of France. THE COMPLETE OLIVE SERIES COLLECTION includes all six books in Carol's vibrant and heartwarming series, from the humble beginnings of the organic olive farm and the highs and lows of life in provincial France; to Carol's sixteen month journey across the Mediterranean in search of the routes that olive growing has taken over the centuries; and back again to France for more life and love, olive oil and beehives at the farm in Provence.