A Year in the Chateau by Sarah Long #Review

A Year in the Chateau by Sarah Long was published on March 5th by Zaffre. I am delighted to be taking part in the celebrations.

 When Nicola's husband, Dominic, retires they decide not to spend their days finding hobbies to fill the time until Countdown is on. Instead, they fulfil their life-long fantasy of buying a country house and filling it with their dearest friends. Reliving their youth and spending their children's inheritance.

Joined by seven of their friends they club together to invest in a château in Normandy. Group dinners, fine wine, beautiful scenery - they're living the dream!

But la vie en rose is harder than it first appears. Is there a reason why only teenagers take gap years?

This is sharp, irreverent and very funny women's fiction for grown ups. If you love Dawn French, Sue Townsend and Veronica Henry, this book is for you!

My Thoughts

A Year in the Chateau takes a light-hearted look at a group of friends who decide to pool their resources and who find themselves the owners of a dilapidated chateau in Northern France. Their early confidence does take a knock as they realise just how rundown their dream house is, but you see them working together and gaining confidence. There are some delightful secondary characters, especially the last chatelaine who always brings a smile to your face.

    All the characters have different expectations of life in France and different ties back in Britain. I found Fizz, the youngest, to be the most amusing with her attempts to build a You Tube channel and to become an influencer. The different personalities are well drawn but I would say my favourite was probably designer Leo, the King of Style. I found this to be an easy, feelgood read with enough in the different characters to keep my interest to see how it was all going to pan out.

In short: Vive La France!

   

About the Author

 Sarah Long was raised in Essex, educated at Oxford and worked in publishing before moving to Paris with her husband and young children. She now lives in London with the same husband and most of her adult children, at the midlife stage that inspired her new novel Invisible Women.

She is the author of two previous novels, And What Do You Do? and The Next Best Thing, as well as Le Dossier of Hortense de Monplaisir or How to Survive the English, a helpful guide to understanding the ways of the British, as seen through the eyes of her snobbish Parisian alter ego.

Although now back in the motherland, she has failed to leave France behind, and spends as much time as possible at her house in rural Normandy, making jam, digging things up and watching the wildlife which often ends up, uninvited, indoors.

You can follow Sarah here: Goodreads   |  Amazon Author Page 

Book link: Amazon UK 

Thanks to Sarah Long and Tracy Fenton of Compulsive Readers for a place on the event. 

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