Patricia and her husband Patrick are spending the summer in their holiday home in the Languedoc village of Morbignan la Crèbe. One hot Friday afternoon Patrick walks in with the little dog, thinking she is a stray. They have no intention of keeping her. ‘Just for tonight,’ says Patrick. ‘We will take her to the animal shelter tomorrow.’ It never happens. They spend the weekend getting to know and love the little creature, who looks at them appealingly with big brown eyes, and wags her absurd stump of a tail every time they speak to her. On the Monday her owner turns up, alerted by the Mairie. They could have handed her over. Instead Patricia finds herself saying: ‘We like your dog, Monsieur. May we keep her?’ It is the start of what will be four years as Morbignanglais, as they settle into life as permanent residents of the village. “At Home in the Pays d’Oc” is about their lives in Morbignan, the neighbours who soon become friends, the parties and the vendanges and the battles with French bureaucracy. It is the story of some of their bizarre and sometimes hilarious encounters: the Velcro bird, the builder in carpet slippers, the neighbour who cuts the phone wires, the clock that clacks, the elusive carpenter who really did have to go to a funeral.

    Lonely for her father and petrified for her mother’s safety, Arden dreads her trip to the house in Sardinia—the only place that has truly felt like home to her. So when she meets a group of fun, carefree, and careless friends on their summer break, she decides to put off her trip and join them to sample the sights and culinary delights of Europe. Soon they are climbing the Eiffel Tower, taking in the French countryside on a train chugging toward the Alps, and gazing at Michelangelo’s David in Florence, all the while eating gelato and sipping cappuccino. Arden tries to forget about the danger her mom faces every day, to pretend she’s just like the rest of the girls, flirting with cute European guys and worried only about where to party next. But the house in Sardinia beckons and she has to make a choice. Is Arden ready to jump off the high dive?

    Villa America was in fact a real house on the French Riviera that Sara and Gerald Murphy built to escape to in the 1920's. Members of a group of expat Americans, they were known for their fabulous parties and for making the Riviera into the glamorous place it is today. Their freewheeling days were filled with champagne and caviar, but these were people who kept secrets and who were, of course, heartbreakingly human. This is a stunning story about the Lost Generation, about a marriage, about a golden age which could not last.

    It has been unoccupied for years but they are drawn to the charm and dignity lying under the grime and cobwebs. Even before the purchase goes through "les Anglais" are welcomed with genuine affection by their new neighbours. From their very first day at St Paradis, in the impoverished department of the Creuse, they begin to make close and lasting friendships in spite of the language barriers. But it is not only their neighbours who welcome them. Soon they are aware that the spirit of a former owner seems delighted to see her family home being restored to life. Indeed, it appears almost as if she has chosen the Loaders for this task..."A Bull by the Back Door" traces how the Loaders face what they describe as "A-Level Housebuying", complete with charts and copious documents, and how they nearly fail. It depicts life in the village of St Paradis and how the family are assimilated, as well as detailing what they do to bring their beautiful stone house back to life again. THE AUTHOR: Anne Loader started in journalism in 1965, with East Midland Allied Press in Lincolnshire and Norfolk. After her marriage she worked as a senior reporter on the Southern Evening Echo at Southampton. She was the feature writer on Northwich World from 1980-84 and was editor of the Crewe Guardian for ten years until 1995 when she was made redundant. She now runs Léonie Press, publishing short-run books on autobiography and local history. Anne originally wrote the book to amuse her elderly mother, who had lived in France in the 1920s and had instilled a passion for France in her daughter from her earliest years. Extracts were serialised in Living France magazine and the book was very well received, becoming Léonie Press's most successful title.SOME REVIEWS:Enchanting... Those who find Peter Mayle's books about life in Provence somewhat patronising of the locals will consider the francophile "A Bull by the Back Door" in refreshing contrast - Living FranceStunning illustrations - Northwich Guardian, Crewe Guardian Rival Peter Mayle - Evening Sentinel, Northwich Chronicle Simply takes you there - superb value for money - BBC Radio Stoke Couldn't put it down; I feel as if I've been there; Wonderfully readable; Just like our own experiences; Thank you for writing this book, I look forward to the next one! - Readers' comments A Bull by the Back Door starts with an account of 'A-level house buying' and many readers will recognise the false hopes and near-misses at the beginning of their search. The family's wholehearted acceptance by the villagers and their efforts to renovate the beautiful stone house will ring bells with anyone who has attempted the same thing and will act as encouragement to others just beginning. - French Property News

    Then, never having owned a tin box on wheels, they accidentally bought a caravan. They named her ‘Kismet’ – which means ‘Fate’. Half way down the second bottle of CCC (Caravan Celebratory Champagne) they made the perfectly rational decision to go straight from being First-Timers to Full-Timers. Within a month, they had sold most of their possessions on eBay and rented out their apartment to tour in Kismet full time. They called it ‘Early Retirement’ and set out to Live the Dream by touring Europe with their surfboards on their roof. ‘Fur Babies in France’ is the story of their first year on wheels with Kismet and ‘Big Blue’ – their trusty tow vehicle (and toy box) - a Hyundai iLoad panel van. It was a steep learning curve; one that involved lots of breakages and started on Day 1 with a near-death experience! However, Jackie and Mark approach all of their mishaps and misadventures with more than a pinch of humour. And avoiding the crowds to tour France by the back roads, they finally found what they were looking for; beauty, peace and tranquillity, with a bit of windsurfing thrown in!

    This remarkable, award-winning novel is both a tribute to some of the world's first sporting celebrities and an investigation into the curious workings of fame.Not just a book for lovers of sport, The Book of Fame is essentially a story about friendship and loyalty, and about a group of astonishing young men at the peak of their abilities.From the Trade Paperback edition.

    It is the distillation of what the Pardey's have learned in 150,000 miles of sailing on board their two cutters, Seraffyn and Taleisin, and on scores of other boats they have delivered or raced. Lin and Larry tell how they have sailed in comfort and safety without large cash outlay- on a pay-as-you-earn-as-you-go plan and by simplifying.In its first edition, this invaluable text has seen nine reprints. Now Lin and Larry have updated and revised the information to make it current and a valuable edition to any sailor's library right up to the millennium.

    We both looked after Sophie and her baby. We had to. It’s not like Sophie was going to look after that baby herself. All she was interested in was weeping and wailing for her dead husband. She was so busy weeping and wailing for her dead husband that she rejected his baby who was right in front of her.When Olga’s friend Lara becomes a grandmother, Olga helps out whenever she can. After all, it’s a big imposition on Lara, looking after her bereaved daughter and the baby. And the new mother is not exactly considerate.But smoldering beneath Olga’s sensible support and loving generosity is a deep jealous need to be the centre of Lara’s attention and affection—a need that soon becomes a consuming, dangerous and ultimately tragic obsession.Gigi Fenster’s A Good Winter is an enthralling psychological thriller, a dark and complex portrait of a troubled mind.

    They decide to honor her memory by living out one of Mom's lifelong dreams, taking a road trip, and selling pies out of a newly-acquired food truck.

    But when she finds a birth certificate for a twin brother she never knew she had, along with a death certificate dated just two days later, she realizes why she never felt quite whole. She sets off on a trip to visit her brother's grave. Peter Finnegan, her neighbor, comes along for the ride. Emma thinks they can't possibly have anything in common, but with each passing mile, they find themselves learning more and more about themselves and each other.

    . . . Amy Curry is having a terrible year. Her mother has decided to move across the country and needs Amy to get their car from California to Connecticut. There's just one small problem: Since her father died this past spring, Amy hasn't been able to get behind the wheel. Enter Roger, the nineteen-year-old son of an old family friend, who turns out to be unexpectedly cute ... and dealing with some baggage of his own. Meeting new people and coming to terms with her father's death were not what Amy had planned on this trip. And traveling the Loneliest Road in America, seeing the Colorado mountains, crossing the Kansas plains, and visiting diners, dingy motels, and Graceland were definitely not on the itinerary. But as they drive, Amy finds that the people you least expected are the ones you may need the most—and that sometimes you have to get lost in order to find your way home.

    And yes, there are lots of books about living in France out there already. But a lot of these are the short-term adventures of single people or retired couples or tourists. Moving abroad for good with a family, and without a pension, is a whole new ball game. That’s what makes Heads Above Water different. It’s about us, a family with three children, who stick the hardships out and make things start to work. It’s about actually making a living in a new country. It’s realistic, honest and gritty – but also fun, lively and very entertaining, and, I hope, ultimately inspiring.

     A passionate rock climber,as well, Billy is indicted in a New York juvenile court for murder. He's accused of shooting his teen-aged girlfriend's father, an East Hampton garbage collector who believes he's a descendant of Shakespeare. Billy's parents believe that their son has a heart of gold and the mind of an old soul. Is he guilty of murder? And, if that's possible, what drove him to commit such a terrible act? BOY ON TRIAL follows the legal and emotional adventures of this extraordinary gifted person. He and his family take us on a journey that, as a reader, we don't want to end..

    Along with her husband and pate-loving dog, Folly, they gain insights on the history, people, and daily life. Joyful reading for voyagers and armchair travelers alike!

    The Weary Blues announced the arrival of a rare voice in American poetry. A literary descendant of Walt Whitman ("I, too, sing America," Hughes wrote), he chanted the joys and sorrows of black America in unprecedented language. A gifted lyricist, he offered rhythms and cadences that epitomized the particularities of African American creativity, especially jazz and the blues. His second volume, steeped in the blues and controversial because of its frankness, confirmed Hughes as a poet of uncompromising integrity. Then in the 1930s came Dear Lovely Death (1931) and the radical A New Song (1938). Poems such as "Good Morning Revolution" and "Let America Be America Again" made his pen one of the most forceful in America during the Great Depression.