Olive Farm

By Carol Drinkwater

More information to be announced soon on this forthcoming title from Penguin USA.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Penguin Group
• Release date: Apr 23, 2001
• ISBN: 9781468308709

Reviews for Olive Farm

[seasidereader · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The author is an English actress, and the sound of her voice as narrator added immensely to the pleasure of listening; however, she's also a skillful writer, and though events seem at times overly dramatized, I cared about the outcomes. This is more than just another "travails of buying property on foreign soil" story.

[tanyatomato · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

My partner and I have also taken on an extensive remodeling project - not an apassionata in the south of France with hundreds of acres, but just the same I could relate and be grateful it wasn't me while reading her delightful memoir.

[mayoung_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

With their new purchase of an olive farm in the South of France, Drinkwater and her husband attempt to cultivate both the soil and a family of eccentric locals.

[debnance_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I can't get enough of these moving-and-starting-over stories; should my husband be worried? Here Drinkwater, a British actress, and her French producer boyfriend, Michel, impulsively buy an olive farm in the south of France. The property has an amazing view of the Mediterranean, many ancient olive trees well known for the quality of their oil, and a house that is all but falling down. Various good-for-nothing day laborers and slow-paced French bureaucrats find their way into the story. Yes, it's a bit like Under the Tuscan Sun. Quite a bit, actually, but Drinkwater is gifted at describing her world and telling a story; I've already started the sequel.

[mschoenhofer_2 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I loved this book, my first from Drinkwater. Beautifully written, very descriptive of the region of France and its people. I loved the drama built into the story that made this memoir a real "page turner" for me. I have already reserved the second in the series at my Library for pick up this week.

[lisamaria_c · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I read this book because it was recommended in The Ultimate Reading List under the Travel section. Unfortunately, I had read it after very similar books on the list: Peter Mayle's A Year in Provence, Frances Mayes Under the Tuscan Sun and Chris Stewart's Driving Over Lemons. Like Mayles, Drinkwater is a foreigner who decides to settle in Provence. Like Stewart, she plunges her life savings into land she tries to make into a working farm. And like Mayes, there's a romantic villa on the property. But I didn't find Drinkwater as engaging a writer as the others--and I have found this is by no means a favored genre. I didn't finish A Year in Provence and I didn't finish The Olive Farm, although I gave it longer than Mayles' book, over a hundred pages before admitting to myself I was bored. I thought Under the Tuscan Sun not only lyrical with sensuous sensory details, but more eloquent about the history and nature surrounding the villa. Drinkwater I often found more purple than lyrical, and writing in first person present does not by itself a literary style make. Chris Stewart was more down-to-earth and charming, and gave me more of a sense of the people and culture surrounding his Spanish farm. I found Drinkwater in comparison rather bland. In so much of this story I felt I'd been there, done that--and better done too.

[bead3nut · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Liked it. Moves a bit slow in places but overall is a good rendering of life as an expat in the South of France. Interestingly, the author is known for acting in the UK tv series All Creatures Great and Small.

[nyiper · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I slowed right down reading this---I just did not want it to end so I am delighted that this is part of a series about the Olive Farm. Drinkwater is an amazing writer and who knew when I loved watching All Creatures Great and Small so many years ago. The book is just plain delightful because Drinkwater is so completely forthcoming about everything that is happening and in extraordinary detail. Truly a wonderful true story to read about and I am SO happy there is MORE!

[tony2704 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A bit slow in places but i guess thats indicative of life in rural France, felt like a book i had already read but having said that it was a relaxing read

[robeik_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Yes, perhaps another one of those books of someone trying to make a go of it in France, attempting to fulfil a romantic dream of a measure of self-sufficiency in a foreign land. But in this case is is a bit more: the author focuses less on the detail of the problems all these stories encounter, and more on the personal relationships and the cultural interconnections. A story well told and well written, does not get bogged down in detail - an easy read. I'm looking forward to read the continuation of the story in the other books in the series.