Third in the series following ‘Au Revoir’ and ‘The Last Tango in Toulouse’.
The drought, another affair and a grandchild born with a rare chromosomal disorder are just a few difficult and harrowing experiences Mary encounters in this book! Before Mary leaves for France this time, their family’s lives are documented as the cameras are rolling… the Moodys had agreed to be involved with the ABC’s ‘Australian Story’, not properly understanding how invasive, intense and utterly exhausting those ten days would be.
France’s deadly heatwave of 2003 sees the usual very social characters of the town hibernating in their own abodes, a very different holiday scene to the one Mary had previously cherished. David and Mary are enclosed in their French holiday home which becomes a melting pot, not just through the heat of the day but with the strain of their relationship. David has come to hate their French house as much as Mary adores it!
Returning to Australia, Mary is flung straight into a national tour promoting her books meanwhile hiding a very painful truth, her marriage is flagging and a situation she never imagined has shocked her to the extent that she suffers a mini meltdown. What will happen?
In this book Mary has really been brutally honest and her emotions are raw and exposed. Her husband David has been humiliated and hurt and their now very ‘public’ life was not only in print, but on radio, television and raked up again and again to live audiences across Australia!
Yes and there is more… years after her first three books, Mary wrote ‘Sweet Surrender: Love, Life and the whole damn thing’. Quite an interesting title, stay tuned for the review in the next BLIC BLURB ! Between gourmet garden tours in the French Provincial and Himalayan treks, Mary is still a very busy lady.
In her earlier years as presenter for the ABC’s ‘Gardening Australia’ program, Mary published quite a few other books if you are interested. The topics range from gardening, French gourmet, cottage gifts and antiques!
Sue Fisher‘s rating: 7 out of 10
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