Books About France

Instructions for Visitors describes life and love in a village in southwestern France as seen through the eyes of British novelist Helen Stevenson. Fortunately, her eye is a discerning one as she settles into everyday living. Her writing captures the sense of bustling village culture; shopping, eating and café society are high on the agenda, as is art - not surprising in a place where the light and scenery are so beautiful that the village has, over the years, attracted Picasso and Matisse, among others. Helen Stevenson grew up in South Yorkshire and studied modern languages at Somerville College, Oxford. She is the author of three novels, Pierrot Lunaire, Windfall and Mad Elaine, and has worked as a translator for Faber & Faber and Serpent’s Tail. Since taking up full-time writing, she regularly reviews for the Independent. She now lives in London.

Instructions for Visitors describes life and love in a village in southwestern France as seen through the eyes of British novelist Helen Stevenson. Fortunately, her eye is a discerning one as she settles into everyday living. Her writing captures the sense of bustling village culture; shopping, eating and café society are high on the agenda, as is art - not surprising in a place where the light and scenery are so beautiful that the village has, over the years, attracted Picasso and Matisse, among others. This beauty is not lost on Stevenson ("this part of the world is like a colour wheel") and her imagery is poetic and striking: "…each house looks like a children’s dressing-up trunk that has been plundered, contents spilling out into the sun". Not surprisingly, in this setting romance seems almost inevitable and the recently divorced Stevenson embarks on an affair with charismatic local artist, Luc, who is also the village dentist.

She is mesmerised by him and the book follows their relationship, allowing for some wonderfully atmospheric passages--for example, their horse-ride in the mountains--as she describes the ups and downs of their life together. Through Luc she also meets other local, eccentric characters and writes about them sensitively and entertainingly so that Instructions for Visitors is enriched by the glimpses into their lives too. As her relationship progresses, it’s clear that Luc is charming but complicated and very much his own man: "It is as if God wrote lots of little instructions at the beginning of the world, like 'build cities', 'make maps', 'invent printing press' … Luc had taken the one that said 'sit under tree and watch spider.'" Other women from Luc’s colourful past make fleeting appearances; one of his ex-girlfriends, the middle-aged Gigi, runs the local village dress shop and takes Stevenson under her (style) wing as she advises her on her clothes. Stevenson is not unhappy, however, with this lifestyle and uncertain relationship. There is a distinct sense that she is walking away from her previous life and that her final destination is not yet clear "This is not my life, it’s wonderful but it’s not my life", she says--is she herself perhaps the "visitor" of the title? Joanne Harris, author of Chocolat says of this book... "The most authentic, enjoyable and evocative book on French village life that I have read in years"

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