The Olive Harvest: A Memoir of Love, Old Trees and Olive Oil

by Carol Drinkwater (Author)

• Used

  Paperback
  2004

  $3.27

  'It is April, late spring. Here in the hills behind the Cote d'Azur, the olive groves are delicately blossomed with their tiny white-forked flowers. Beyond them, perched halfway up the slope of the hill, our belle epoque villa comes into view...' Returning to their home after an extended absence Carol and her husband Michel are looking forward to summer together on the farm. A shocking blow leaves Carol alone. The future is uncertain. The Olive Harvest takes us beyond the perimeters of her olive groves to where hunters, poets, bee-keepers, boars and gypsies abide. In search of the language of troubadours, the dark and sometimes barbarous heart of Provence is revealed. Nature and the generosity of the South of France's harvests offer a path to joy and an abundant resolution.

• Used

  Paperback
  2005

  $3.27

  The stars shimmer like spilled handfuls of glitter. The day is beginning to rise with a faint mist. As I turn my head, ghostly halos, auras of light, appear and disappear ...The silence is truly awesome. Not a bird, not a whisper of wind, not a breath of life. Only the two of us, a most implausible pair, standing shoulder to shoulder gazing upon an awakening heaven Returning to their home after an extended absence Carol and her husband Michel are looking forward to summer together on the farm. A shocking blow leaves Carol alone and the future is uncertain. Feeling isolated and with no olives to harvest, Carol ventures beyond the farm to explore other aspects of Provencal life - from hunting to bee-keeping, the ancient language to the ever-present demands of family and friends. And ultimately, Provence's generous diversity - and Carol's own persistence in sharing it with those she loves - paves a path to joy.

• Used

  Hardcover
  2004

  $3.27

  'The stars shimmer like spilled handfuls of glitter. The day is beginning to rise with a faint mist. As I turn my head, ghostly halos, auras of light, appear and disappear and I cannot tell if it is caused by my lightheadedness or is a freak of nature. The silence is truly awesome. Not a bird, not a whisper of wind, not a breath of life. Only the two of us, a most implausible pair, standing shoulder to shoulder gazing upon an awakening heaven'. Carol Drinkwater has already built up a large readership eagerly awaiting the third volume of her Olive Farm memoirs. Returning to their home after an extended absence Carol and her husband Michel are looking forward to summer together on the farm. A shocking blow leaves Carol alone. The future is uncertain. The Olive Harvest takes us beyond the perimeters of her olive groves to where hunters, poets, bee-keepers, boars and gypsies abide. In search of the language of troubadours, the dark and sometimes barbarous heart of Provence is revealed. Nature and the generosity of the South of France's harvests offer a path to joy and an abundant resolution. The magnificent humanity and honesty that characterised the first two episodes of her trilogy sets Carol Drinkwater's work apart from others in the same genre. The Olive Harvest and its vibrant Mediterranean world will enthral her many readers.