The Olive Season

I scan the terraces, planted with row upon row of ancient olive trees. 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. Abounding in balustrade terraces, nestling among cedars and palms, facing out at a south-westerly angle, overlooking the bay of Cannes towards the sun-kissed Mediterranean, there it is, Appassionata, awaiting us...

THE OLIVE FARM told how Carol Drinkwater and partner Michel fell in love with and bought an abandoned Provencal olive farm. Now, in THE OLIVE SEASON, Carol is pregnant and their ever-loyal gardener is leaving to oversee the marriage of his son. Often unassisted and with new challenges to face, Carol takes on the bulk of the farm work alone. Water is, as ever, a costly problem and she goes in search of a diviner who promises almost magical results. But, as the harvest season approaches, dramatic events cast dark shadows of their olive farm.

“Beautifully written with a great sense of humour, it captures perfectly the dreamy atmosphere of the South of France and its people-- WOMAN AND HOME”

Drinkwater is a rare writer who tackles other people brilliantly...Vibrant, intoxicating and heart-warming

SUNDAY EXPRESS

A spellbinding memoir

CHOICE

One cannot resist Drinkwater's courage and joie de vivre, nor the enormous appetite and enthusiasm for her subject

DAILY MAIL

The new leader of the pack

THE TIMES

Refreshingly honest, this book brings alive the unknown side of Provence, and, as always, ensnares readers in a web of sheer delight

GOOD BOOK GUIDE
She writes so well you can almost smell the sun-baked countryside BELLA
I love Carol Drinkwater's Olive Farm series about her life in Provence. I read them on the beach, thinking how wonderful a summer in France would be -- Jane Brown GOOD HOUSEKEEPING

Actress Carol Drinkwater is probably best known for her role as Helen Herriot in the BBC series All Creatures Great and Small. Also an accomplished novelist, she has achieved bestselling status with her much-loved memoirs of life on an olive farm in Provence.

I scan the terraces, planted with row upon row of ancient olive trees. 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. Abounding in balustrade terraces, nestling among cedars and palms, facing out at a south-westerly angle, overlooking the bay of Cannes towards the sun-kissed Mediterranean, there it is, Appassionata, awaiting us... THE OLIVE FARM told how Carol Drinkwater and partner Michel fell in love with and bought an abandoned Provencal olive farm. Now, in THE OLIVE SEASON, Carol is pregnant and their ever-loyal gardener is leaving to oversee the marriage of his son. Often unassisted and with new challenges to face, Carol takes on the bulk of the farm work alone. Water is, as ever, a costly problem and she goes in search of a diviner who promises almost magical results. But, as the harvest season approaches, dramatic events cast dark shadows of their olive farm.

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