You Couldn’t Make it Up: Our Adventures in Small Town Provence (Paperback)

The south of France, known for its beauty, perfect climate, fresh produce, excellent cuisine, fine wines and steeped in history – but what lurks behind?

This is a humorous yet cautionary tale of 3 naïve individuals, Abi, Marc and their daughter Beth who after losing their financial security in the housing crash of 2008, packed up their belongings and relocated to Provence.

Finding themselves unexpectedly welcomed into the family that owned their rented farm house, Abi, Marc and Beth were in their element, long lunches under the hot sun, dinner parties by the pool, and a simple lifestyle that was to provide them with the pleasurable and affordable elements life has to offer; fresh croissants, soft, creamy goats cheese, an abundance of locally produced wine, lunches on hot winter days at the beach and evening movies in the garden.

Failing to heed the warning that offering a hand in France can mean the loss of the whole arm, this family found themselves in one crisis after another as uninvited strangers sought to share the delights they had previously overlooked. A story of suspicion, jealousy, seduction and of course the impending inheritance, that which keeps all French on their toes.