Part memoir and part fiction, this adventure is presided over by an aloof and proprietary mongrel, the Boss Dog, who frequents the young family's favorite cafe.

    It reproduces extensive extracts from his correspondence and is illustrated with his paintings, drawings and facsimile letters. Van Gogh's letters are a testimony to his struggle to survive and work. Here, the combination of letters and illustrations, concentrating on the period when he painted his greatest works, aims to provide an insight into his daily life in Arles and St-Remy, his spiritual torment and the process of artistic creation itself. The author is an "Observer" journalist specializing in the arts, and has published four previous books, including "Young Vincent: The Story of Van Gogh's Years in England".

    It was a relationship which Gide exalted-- he termed it the central drama of his existance-- yet deliberately shrouded in mystery. This was no ordinary marriage. Madeleine Rondeaux, two years older than her cousin Andre Gide, became his wife after Gide's first visit to Algeria. In his "Journal", Gide refers to her as Emmanuele or as Em. Only in this book, written after her death and published a few months after his own death, does Gide call her by her real name and painfully reveal hte nature of their life together. In French, the book was published as "Et Nunc Manet in Te"-- from the line attributed to Virgil concerning the lost Eurydice, "and now she remains in you".All of Gide's vast work may be viewed as a confession, impelled by his need to write what he believed to be true about himself. In "Madeleine" this act of confession reaches a crowning point. It isa complex tale by a complex man about a complex relationship.

    This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: Gayeties in Paris. Poverty of the court. Chapter IIL Matrimonial Projects. r I EERE is nothing so successful as sue J- cess." The young king returned to Paris from his coronation and his brief campaign a hero and a conqueror. The courage he had displayed won universal admiration. The excitable populace were half frenzied with enthusiasm. The city resounded with shouts of gladness, and the streets were resplendent with the display of gorgeous pageants. The few nobles who still rallied around the court endeavored to compensate by the magnificence of their equipages, the elegance of their attire, and the splendor of their festivities, for their diminished numbers. There were balls and tournaments, where the dress and customs of the by-gone ages of chivalry were revived. Ladies of illustrious birth, glit tering in jewels, and proud in conscious beauty, contributed to the gorgeousness of the spectacle. Still, in the midst of all this splendor, the impoverished court was greatly embarrassed by straitened circumstances. Death of the Archbishop of Paris. Murmnringfl. Cardinal Mazarin, eager to retain his hold upon the king, did every thing he could to gratify the love of pleasure which his royal master developed, and strove to multiply seductive amusements to engross his time and thoughts. But a few days after Cardinal de Retz had been conducted a prisoner to Yincennes, his uncle, the Archbishop of Paris, died. The cardinal could legally claim the succession. The metropolitan clergy, who had been almost roused to rebellion by his arrest, were now still more deeply moved, since he had become their archbishop. They regarded his captivity as political martyrdom, and their murmurs were deep and prolonged. The pope also addressed several letters to the court, soliciting the ...

    Over the years, however, she found herself becoming integrated into a way of life that, had she stayed in England, she would hardly have believed existed. Grounded in the rhythms of the land and the seasons, daily life in Patricia's south-western corner of France is dictated by a series of rituals and celebrations that we have long lost in our supermarket age.La Belle Saison is Patricia's eulogy to this way of life: a testament to the timelessness of the beautiful French countryside, the bounty of the land, and the generous-hearted French neighbours who showed Patricia that a simple life has many rewards. In France, every season is 'la belle saison', offering up its gifts to those willing to appreciate and look after the land.

    He was the first man to the win the Tour de France five times; the first to win all three grand tours (the Tour de France, Vuelta a España, and Giro d’Italia); and the first to win both the Tour and Vuelta in the same year. The fame Anquetil received for his cycling success was matched only by the infamy of his complex and unconventional private life. As this engaging biography reveals, between his races Anquetil seduced his doctor’s wife and acted as stepfather to her children before asking his stepdaughter to bear him a child. He maintained a ménage à trios with his wife and stepdaughter for several years until the threesome fell apart, after which—in a bid to inspire jealousy in his two former lovers and encourage their return—he seduced his stepson’s ex-wife and had a child with her. Containing exclusive contributions from Anquetil’s family, friends, teammates, and rivals, this engaging biography unveils the astounding public and private lives of one of cycling’s greatest legends.

    “Marry me,” he’d said. “We’ll run these vineyards together.” But now he is gone. There is no one to share the taste of the first fruit of the harvest. And her troubles are hers alone…In sleepy little Reims, France, grieving Nicole Clicquot watches her daughter play amongst the vines under the golden sun and makes a promise to herself. Her gossiping neighbours insist that the rolling fields of chalk soil are no place for a woman, but she is determined to make a success of the winery. It’s the only chance she has to keep a roof over her head and provide a future for her little girl.But as the seasons change, bringing a spoiled harvest and bitter grapes, the vineyards are on the brink of collapse. Without her husband’s oldest friend, travelling merchant Louis, she’d truly be lost. No one else would stay up all night to help count endless rows of green bottles deep in the cellars, or spread word far and wide that Nicole makes the finest champagne he’s ever tasted. One magical night, as a shooting star illuminates their way under a velvet sky, Nicole gazes up at his warm smile and wonders if perhaps she doesn’t need to be quite so alone…But when Louis shrinks from her touch after returning from a long trip abroad, Nicole fears something is terribly wrong. And as an old secret about her husband – that only Louis knew – spreads from the cobbled village streets all the way to the Paris salons, her heart and fragile reputation are shattered. Was she wrong to put her trust in another man? And with Napoleon’s wars looming on the horizon, can she find a way to save her vineyards, and her daughter, from ruin?Fans of Chocolat, Carnegie’s Maid, Dinah Jeffries and anyone longing to sip champagne under the stars will adore this stunning historical read, inspired by the true story of how Nicole Clicquot blazed her own path to build the world’s greatest champagne house: Veuve Clicquot.Previously titled: The Champagne Widow