Provence, 1970

 

About the Book

Provence, 1970 is about a singular historic moment. In the winter of that year, more or less coincidentally, the iconic culinary figures James Beard, M.F.K. Fisher, Julia Child, Richard Olney, Simone Beck, and Judith Jones found themselves together in the South of France. They cooked and ate, talked and argued, about the future of food in America, the meaning of taste, and the limits of snobbery. Without quite realizing it, they were shaping today’s tastes and culture, the way we eat now. The conversations among this group were chronicled by M.F.K. Fisher in journals and letters—some of which were later discovered by Luke Barr, her great-nephew. In Provence, 1970, he captures this seminal season, set against a stunning backdrop in cinematic scope—complete with gossip, drama, and contemporary relevance. (Goodreads)

My Review

This is a unique book in the fact that it's about multiple people's lives. Luke Barr is the grandnephew to M. F. K Fisher so he had good knowledge on all of these famous culinary folks meeting. The book grabbed me in the first few chapters, but then things got a bit slow. There is a lot of jumping around with the different people and it reads like a biography, which is the category the book is under. I like biographies and I really enjoyed the many parts about Julia Child. There are letters and so many little details that give the reader a glimpse into the lives of these people and Provence. 

I think the book could have been written a little better perhaps with a different organization of the story line? I also wish it wasn't just the author telling me what happened. I want to feel like I'm in Provence with them and this book was not that way.

Four stars.

"I received this book from Blogging for Books for free in exchange for an honest review."