Download A Castle in the Backyard: The Dream of a House in France, by Betsy Draine

Download A Castle in the Backyard: The Dream of a House in France, by Betsy Draine

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A Castle in the Backyard: The Dream of a House in France, by Betsy Draine

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From Library Journal

Draine and Hinden (English, Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison) have charmingly recounted their past 15 summers establishing a summer home in the Dordogne valley in southwest France. With wonderful detail, they have created a colorful picture of their search for and purchase of an old stone house in the hilltop village of Castlenaud-la-Chapelle. Similar to Michael Korda's tale of relocation in Country Matters and Peter Mayle's best-selling A Year in Provence, this charming memoir brings to life the history, character, and beauty of the authors' new culture, their rural surroundings, and their quirky fellow villagers. The book includes a list of further readings for those interested in more information about the Dordogne valley, but after reading A Castle in the Backyard, you may not need the extra information it may feel as if you've already been to the south of France and loved it. Highly recommended for travel collections in all public libraries. Mari Flynn, Keystone Coll., La Plume, PACopyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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From Booklist

Several years ago this married couple, both professors of English at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, traveled through the Perigord, a ravishingly beautiful area of southwest France washed and backdropped by the lovely Dordogne River. Captivated by what they saw, they purchased a summer home in the particularly evocative village of Castelnaud, which is dominated by a castle built during the Hundred Years' War. The authors' recollections of their summers in the Perigord and, especially, their charming little house will delight any fan of the I-bought-a-house-abroad memoir. From remembrances of their dearest neighbor, Madame Boucher, to descriptions of local cuisine (featuring walnuts, foie gras, and truffles), to stories about the prehistoric cave paintings for which the region is well known, every one of their anecdotes is delightfully worth telling. Each detail of their account is a delicious morsel akin to the hearty fare served in every Perigord home and inn. Brad HooperCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product details

Hardcover: 240 pages

Publisher: University of Wisconsin Press; 1 edition (September 16, 2002)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0299179400

ISBN-13: 978-0299179403

Product Dimensions:

5 x 0.8 x 8 inches

Shipping Weight: 15 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)

Average Customer Review:

4.5 out of 5 stars

30 customer reviews

Amazon Best Sellers Rank:

#1,664,038 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

This is kind of an autobiographical story of an American couple's adventure to buy a home in Perigord. Its definitely well written (the author is an English professor). It gives you a chance to walk through the precise process of how they decided to buy a home and all the trouble to buy it, and what it was like. Although there are other books and magazines (in fact there are some magazines produced in Britain all about buying a home in France and featured articles on people who have done so), this is the most thorough in most ways of the emotional journey. Unlike the magazine articles which mention actual dollar figures, this is a little secretive about the exact numbers though.My complaint is that the book is a little too slow and detailed. It seems to go over what they ate at each meal and what their discussion was, and how they felt at various up and down times in the house hunt. To the point that it takes a 1/3 of the way through the book before they even buy the house. And you feel like you are a fly on the wall for much, but not all, of their marriage life.It is valuable to go through their experiences, their decision making process, and the results - especially if you are contemplating anything like this in dreams or reality.

I'm almost done with this book and I can't put it down. The rich details and descriptions of characters, places and experiences make this one of my favorite French memoirs. I've visited the Dordogne many times and this book definitely conjures up splendid images of the quintessential French lifestyle. I like the way the authors don't sugarcoat their "buying a house in France" experience. They tell the good with the bad which makes it a very enjoyable and realistic read. Can't wait to finish the rest!

I read this book in 2008 and read it again recently to help prepare for my first trip to the Dordogne. The book is interesting, well written and informative. The authors give a good, detailed description of searching for a second home in the Dordogne, in southwest France. It is not a book about renovating an old house, but instead is about choosing a place to spend their summers and finding a house that suits them. Then they introduce us to their village, their neighbors and the Dordogne. They work practical travel information into the book. One chapter describes the prehistoric sites the area is famous for. Another talks about local food and restaurants. And another describes some of the local walking/hiking trails. I took notes and am looking forward to visiting the area!

We've just returned from a week long visit to the Dordogne and I re-read this book to relive my still fresh memories. We rented a stone house in Domme for the week, but I can imagine how wonderful it would have been to actually spend a season there. This is a beautiful part of France and the world as a whole. It is a step back in time, not only because of the medieval villages and castles, not only because of the prehistoric cave art but because it is a region still caught in time....a glimpse of the France that was. I remember standing atop Castelnaud looking out at the gorgeous river valley and marveling that there were no golden arches or strip malls, no Walmarts or ugly housing developments to be seen.As far as the eye could see, it was picture perfect. I know that image is deceiving; that the countryside is perhaps artificially kept because of tourism, but it is still very special. The book captures the essence of the Dordogne, its culture, food, history, and people and it does so lovingly.

I really enjoyed reading this charming book. The author Betsy Draine is unassuming and her honesty is refreshing. It's obvious that she didn't make up stories just to spice things up. More often than not, truth is more interesting than fiction. Dordogne particularly the town of Castelnaud where the author and her husband buy a vacation home is beautifully described, but you feel her sadness as she describes the changing of the times.Another great book on Dordogne that I recommend is "The Most Beautiful Villages of Dordogne" by James Bentley and Hugh Palmer. As a matter of fact, the town of Castelnaud is featured in that book as well with some fantastic photos including one of the castle and its surrounding town on the back cover of the book. I highly recommend both! It's also refreshing to see that the story is actually set in the French region of Dordogne instead of the very popular Provence or Tuscany. There is a list of suggested readings in the back of the book.

This book is collection of personal experiences enjoyed by a an American couple after they decided to buy a little stone house in a village in the Dordogne. The authors are a married couple who are also English Professors, so as you would expect, the writing gets high marks for style and technique. The book invites comparison with "A Year in Provence" by Peter Mayle and "Under the Tuscan Sun" by Frances Mayes. But unlike these books, "A Castle in the Backyard" does not focus on problems encountered in the course of remodeling a stone house. Rather, the focus is on personal interactions between the American authors and the French villagers. The highlight of the book is the chapter on French food and the experience of eating dinner in a rural French home. One also gets good insight into the sense of fraternity among the French villagers and the bureaucratic nature of French civic life. I would recommend "Castle in the Backyard" to anyone who is contemplating an extended stay in a village in the south of France.

What a total delight this book is. After five years of visits to Provence, I decided on exploring the Dordogne. None of the guidebooks on the market connected me so much with an area as did this beautifully written volume by Betsy Draine and Michael Hinden. Their descriptive writing had me share their agonizing search for their dream house, slowly getting to know their neighbors, and especially their frustration of seeing the idyllic village turn into a tourist mecca. The ending came too swiftly. I could have enjoyed a few more chapters, a sort of never-ending story. Perhaps we will someday be blessed with a continuing volume.

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