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Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Book Tour & Review: The Provence Cure for the Brokenhearted by Bridget Asher (+ win a copy!)

Two years after the death of her husband, Heidi is still as lost and heartbroken as the day the tragic accident took him from her.  Coaxed by her family, she takes her son, Abbot (a worrier since his father's death) and her niece, Charlotte (a troubled, misunderstood teenager) to a home in Provence that has been in her family for generations.  But this is no ordinary home.  It is filled with magic!  Its very walls were laid through the sheer power of love.  Heidi's mother knows this home will heal her...give her what she needs...because it has always done that.

Though the journey began out of a sense of obligation, Heidi gradually realizes that through interacting and letting her heart gradually open again actually brings her closer to not only her son, her parents, her sister, her niece and friends from the past...but also to her lost husband, Henry.  She needed to learn to let go in order to hold on.  But it's not simply about Heidi.  Each character grows and develops and pulls at your heartstrings as the story unfolds.  I grew to adore Henry as much as Heidi did with her descriptions of him and how he grew up... "...Henry had been raised so differently.  His family was loud, rowdy, bawdy, quick to anger, quick to forgive--with food everywhere--Southern food mixed with Italian set to the mantra of Mangia! Mangia!--always frying, bubbling, spattering, the kitchen pumping like a steamy heart." p.37

Laced with mouthwatering descriptions of food, meals, wine...and scenes in the kitchen and around the table...this is one of my favorite types of books (books with descriptions of lands I want to visit and things I want to see and food I want to taste). "I loved the order of the vineyards.  The thick trunk of the vine, the neat rows, the way leaves and fruit were supported by the guidelines.  But there was also chaos in those vineyards...The leaves and the gnarled vines and the lurid green grapes grew up wildly from their ordered rows.  It was green against dusty rouge, chartreuse against chocolate." p. 190 A story of love and relationships set amidst food memory and travel.  "The very thickness of the vines showed their age, their maturity, their ability to bear fruit that years later would be the wine on a table with a simple meal of pistou and crusty bread." p. 192  It's a story of sharing your heart, even when it's vulnerable.  The kitchen is the heart and soul of the home and the people who spend time in it.  The sense of calm and unity and grounding become obvious when you just drop your inhibitions and let your senses take over.  It's about realizing that there is more than one kind of love.

Okay, I should probably stop quoting...but everytime I look back to the pages of this book and the penciled in underlines and stars that I added as I was reading it for the first time, I get nostalgic and want to jump in and head back to Provence to spend time with Heidi and Abbot and Charlotte and Julien and Véronique all over again.  Let me end this by saying that I adored this book and to wrap up with my favorite section in the whole book...the one I flip back to time and time again...

    "Véronique then limped into the room, placed the Crock-Pot on the center trivet.  When she pulled away the lid, a breath escaped, and the room filled, and my mind emptied.
    I could see the pale gold chicken resting in its deep sauce of tomatoes, garlic, peppers.  I could smell the garlic, wine, and fennel.  Véronique served and the juices ran sparkling to the edges of my plate, carrying a hint of citrus.  And the smell bloomed  ...  I began to eat, and it was like eating for the first time since Henry's death.  Why now?  ....  The first bite was almost too much for me, so much flavor, and I was so hungry." p. 240-1

Um, in case I wasn't clear, The Provence Cure for the Brokenhearted by Bridget Asher...I loved it.
She said, "I love the way the French shove chocolate into everything.  It's, like, the best nervous tic, ever." -Charlotte p.145
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher to review.  All opinions stated in this post are 100% mine.
 ***The publisher has kindly offered to send one of my readers a copy of The Provence Cure for the Brokenhearted.  If you have a mailing address in the United States and would like to be entered to win a copy, please let me know by leaving a comment below...just for fun, tell me where you would like to go to "clear your mind and get some fresh perspective" if you could choose anywhere.  All entries must be received by April 19th at 11:59 pm (Eastern) and I will draw a random name to receive a copy.  Please make sure I have a way of contacting you via blog or email address if you win.  Good Luck!***
Update 4/20/11: This giveaway is now closed.  A winner has been chosen by random draw (Pierce....congratulations!!!) and contacted via email. Thanks to all who entered. 
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Would you like to comment?

  1. Too bad I am not in States. Can u cast a wider net though.
    Enjoyed reading your review. Will try and catch hold of the book.

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  2. Okay, why did I just notice the p.s. part above the comments? I'm laughing so hard! You are so funny.

    And now I want a croissant.

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  3. Someplace warm, cheery, sunny, without a computer....

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  4. It's breakfast and I want the chicken. And now I am yearning for Provence and it's sun-lit mornings. Lovely, Heather.

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  5. I would love to win a copy and I would read it in my "dream place". I've always dreamt of sitting on a outside porch looking over an italian piazza, eating an out-of-the-oven baguette and lathering tons of butter on it...all this while I write about the people and things I see outside my window. One day...
    By the way, your blog entry made me HUNGRY!!!!
    renee(dot)soriano(at)caltech(dot)edu

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  6. For some reason, France seems the place to let all your worries go, and just feast on their fine foods! That's where I'd go!

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  7. This whole post is delicious! I'd love a chance to win the book or a batch of those chocolate filled yummy looking crossants!
    Believe it or not if I could go anywhere the place I would chose is home - of course minus going to work. That would be heavenly!

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  8. I'd love to getaway to central Mexico again. It's been years....

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  9. You sure know how to sell a book. You had me salivating and nostalgic all at the same time. Sold!

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  10. I totally want to read this book. It sounds wonderful. And, I love those chocolately croissants.

    New Orleans has been at the top of my list for years. I'd love to go there, but I'd settle for just about anywhere right now. Heck, even Boise Idaho sounds good. LOL!

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  11. MLisa70@att.net
    I love to lay by the ocean reading this book with some most needed me time!

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  12. Wow...this goes on my wish list at Goodreads. Nice review...love the croissants too. Please, yes, enter me in the contest....my get awya place...would be between Venice Italy or Cahors France. I'd flip a coin!

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  13. I love reading about all these food novels you've discovered. Please enter me in your contest. :) It's pretty boring, but I go to my room to get away. I'm comforted by my things, my computer, my bed. No major travel required.

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  14. I just love books about food! To get away I would head to either the Texas gulf coast or the Oregon coast. If it was going abroad and money wasn't a problem then Venice.

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  15. Love reading the review,this chocolate croissant looks awesome.

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  16. wonderful review, i'd love to read this book! i'd go back to alaska, but it would have to be summertime!

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  17. I like the mountains for getting away from it all. :)

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  18. Thanks for this lovely giveaway. I would dream of going to a secluded beach. saubleb(at)gmail(dot)com

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  19. Great book. Great review. To travel to Italy would be my wish. rojosho(at)hotmail(dot)com

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  20. This is my first trip to your blog. I love your writing, and I love how you wrote about this book!
    I'll be checking it out soon, and adding your site to the ones I check frequently!

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  21. Girlchef I love cook book and this is amazing, love the pictures look dleicious! gloria

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  22. Hi Heather,
    You did a beautiful review of this book.I would love to have this book, and would really enjoy the story in addition to trying some wonderful recipes. Thanks for your review.
    Best Wishes,
    Miz Helen

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  24. love the review - would love to read

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  25. I would LOVE to go to Provence in the summer. Long walks, a good bakery, a bottle of wine and a little fresh fruit would make me a happy girl. I would love to read this book.

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  26. I popped over from the Foodie Challenge website when I saw your post for this book. I have it on hold at the Library. Now, after reading your post, I can't wait until it comes in. Your review made me hungry. I want to cook the chicken. Its 12:30 a.m. and I want to go down to the kitchen and make something that would smell up the whole house and wake everybody up! I have a whole bookcase full of books and a box of books checked out from the library and now I am counting the days until this one comes in. Thanks for a great review./bj

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  27. Great review. I really enjoyed this book too--such a good story and the descriptions of the characters, food, etc. were wonderful. Those croissants look wonderful. ;-)

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  28. I've been seeing this book everywhere! It sounds wonderful! Great review! Also, I just read your review of Kitchen Daughter. I just finished that a couple of days ago. It's a sweet read!

    As for escapes, the reality is that the bathroom is my escape place, but since I don't feel lady-like confessing to that, let me think. To me, a general bookstore or coffee shop in any place would work the magic. I haven't found a place in itself that could do that though.

    I'd love to enter the giveaway.
    ReadingOnARainyDay AT gmail DOT com

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  29. This may sound too simple, but really to clear my mind, sitting on my back porch, on my white wicker chair, with a kitty cat nearby, helps considerably.

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  30. I would go somewhere in France where I could eat pastries all day long.

    thank you.

    chocolate and croissants at yahoo . com

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  31. Hi Girlichef, I came to look for a delicious pasta and found your nice comment on this book. No, I'm not in the USA, but in Thailand; the place where your mind will clear and where you get some fresh perspective. Of course it's not in the place, but in our head where we will find peace and happiness. When my head clears I will try to write a book about it.

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  32. Anywhere? Right now I think I'd go to Brazil...I've become enchanted with the cuisine, and I have a yen for tasting the real thing. Mt. Shasta, though, is much closer and while it's not a culinary haven...it's always cleansing and gives me a fresh outlook!
    And yes...I'd love to win this book!

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  33. I need to check this book out!  I love any book that has food involved- you can see the food on tv, but when someone's describing it in words I can practically smell and taste it...yum.

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