Trevor Dolby

See humoorikas ja samas südantliigutav raamat viib lugeja kaunisse restaureeritud majja Lõuna-Prantsusmaal Languedocis.Hetkeemotsiooni ajel ostis londonlastest abielupaar Languedocis laguneva maja. See oli armastus esimesest silmapilgust.Tasahaaval saab majast nende käte all kodu. Nad peavad hakkama saama keele, üleujutuste ja jäiste talvedega. Nad leiavad sõpru ja kogevad südamevalu.Aegamööda õpivad perekond ja kohalikud üksteist tundma ning alatasa kiirest elust hõivatud inglased avastavad rahulikumad rõõmud: tüümiani- ja lavendlilõhna, päikesest köetud kivimüüride soojuse, tihetähised ööd, mägede vaikuse, ajaloo ja mälu olulisuse, naeru vabastava jõu ja viigimarjamoosi saladuse."Maja kiriku kõrval" on armastuskiri - majale, külale, maale - väljastpoolt tulnult, kes avastab, et on võimatu end võõrana tunda, kui sind võetakse vastu nii, nagu oleksid koju jõudnud. Vanad majad ei kuulu inimestele. Inimesed kuuluvad majadele.

Escape to Languedoc in this poignant and transportative true account of life in a beautifully restored house in the south of France'Wonderful, exquisitely written, laugh-out-loud funny, profoundly moving. An utter joy and a treat to read from first to last' JAMES HOLLAND'Dolby writes with genuine emotion. He writes beautifully about life in a French village' DAILY MAIL___________An Englishman's home is his castle. But what if it's French?One Place de L'Eglise is a thousand-year-old Languedoc ruin. Leaky, crumbling, lacking basic amenities, it is ignored by the local villagers. But for Londoners Trevor and Kaz it is love at first sight. Over the years they turn the house into a home, navigating floods and freezing winters. Here, these two English find their place - their bar, their baker, their builder (ignore him at your peril).And gradually they learn slower joys - scents of thyme and lavender, warm sun on stone, nights hung with stars, silence in the hills, the secrets of fig jam.One Place de L'Eglise is a love letter - to a house, a village, a country - from an outsider who discovers you can never be a stranger when you're made to feel so at home.___________'Irresistible, a timeless story' MICHAEL PALIN 'Elegant, captivating, and sprinkled with self-deprecating humour. Dolby is a writer of abundant talent' PETER KERR, author of Snowball Oranges

Escape to Languedoc in this poignant and transportative true account of life in a beautifully restored house in the south of France'This love affair between an English family and a very old French house is by turns turbulent, lyrical and tragic . . . Enriched by an insatiable, ever-eager curiosity, he takes us down many a side alley, adding another dimension to the timeless story of what it is that makes France irresistible' MICHAEL PALIN'What a wonderful book. Exquisitely written, it is by turns laugh-out-loud funny then suddenly, unexpectedly and profoundly moving... an utter joy and a treat to read from the first to last pages' JAMES HOLLAND'He writes with genuine emotion . . . He writes beautifully about life in a French village' DAILY MAIL________One day a Londoner and his wife went a little crazy and bought a crumbling house in deepest Languedoc. It was love at first sight.Over the years these Londoners gradually turn the house into a home. They navigate the language, floods and freezing winters. And eventually they find their place - their bar, their baker, their builder (ignore him at your peril).Slowly the family and the locals get to know one another and these busy English discover slower joys - the scent of thyme and lavender, the warmth of sun on stone walls, nights hung with stars, silence in the hills, the importance of history and memory, the liberation of laughter and the secrets of fig jam. One Place de l'Eglise is a love letter - to a house, a village, a country - from an outsider who discovers you can never be a stranger when you're made to feel so at home. Old houses never belong to people. People belong to them.________'Wonderful. Exquisitely written, it is by turns laugh-out-loud funny then suddenly, unexpectedly and profoundly moving, wistful and touching: a homage to a place, to magical moments in time. An utter joy and a treat to read from the first to last pages' James Holland, author of Brothers in Arms