‘Adieu’ to ‘A Year in Provence’ author
PETER Mayle, who wrote the bestselling memoir, A Year In Provence, has died at age 78, his publishers Alfred A Knopf announced.
Following a short illness, the UK author died a week ago in a hospital near his home in southern France.
A Year In Provence, about his first 12 months after relocating to the south of France, was released in 1990 with an initial print run of 3 000. The witty tale of moving into a 200-yearold stone farmhouse in the lavenders-cented, remote countryside, and adapting to the slower Provençal way of life, went on to sell six million copies in 40 languages.
Its infectious warmth for the local lifestyle and culture fired up the imaginations of millions to seek the same romantic dream.
Mayle wrote several follow-on books, including Toujours Provence and Encore Provence.
Director Ridley Scott, his friend and neighbour, directed the 2006 film, A Good Year, starring Russell Crowe and Marion Cotillard, based on Mayle’s novel of the same name.
“It was all that humorous competitive spirit between the French and English that Peter captured brilliantly,” said Scott. “It was quite true about the French – and quite true about the British.”
Mayle was made a knight in France’s Legion d’Honneur in 2002 for his services to French culture.
“Peter was a very kind and successful man, and was driven by his own spirit. You could feel whatever he did, whatever he touched was going to work,” said Scott.
Mayle took French nationality as Britain’s EU membership referendum approached. In September 2016, he reflected on ways in which both he, and Provence, had changed or stayed the same, 25 years since his landmark memoir came out.
“I am still easily lured from my desk by interesting distractions. A wine tasting, a promising young chef, the rumour of truffles to be found under a nearby oak, a murky hammam [Turkish bath] in Marseille, a vicious game of petanque in the village and, of course, the spectacle of daily life as seen from the cafe terrace.
“I don’t want to go anywhere else. I’m happy where I am. That, I suppose, is contentment, and I shall always be grateful to the literary accident known as A Year In Provence for helping me achieve it.” — AFP