A French Adventure

A new life in the idyllic French countryside isn't running away, it's an adventure! Suddenly unemployed and single, Anna escapes to her parents' beautiful house in France for a much needed recharge – and to work out what she wants to do next with her life now her carefully mapped-out plan has gone out the window. Anna gives herself 6 months to recuperate, all the while helping renovate her parents' adjoining gites into picturesque b&bs. But working alongside the ruggedly handsome Sam on the renovation project, she didn't expect for life to take an unexpected, if not unwelcome, twist... Will Anna embrace this new beginning, or return to her past? Packed full of French flavour and idyllic settings this is a romantic, heart-warming and unputdownable new novel about life and love, perfect for anyone who loves Milly Johnson, Lucy Diamond and Debbie Johnson. Praise for Lucy Coleman: 'A wonderful escapist read. For me, it's a 5 star read!' Katherine's Book Universe. 'I adored this beautifully written tale. The score... is a well deserved and easy 5* out of 5*' Ginger Book Geek. 'This book gives you all the feels. It'll make you want to move to France and start a new life... Lucy Coleman has a way of writing where it feels like you're actually there standing beside Anna and you mentally really feel involved in the story' Stacey, The Cosiest Corner. 'I adored this book. It's a wonderful escapist read about learning to move on in life no matter how hard it is, appreciating the small things in life and finding new passions. For me, it's a 5 star read!' Kat.

James Martin’s French Adventure showcases the superstar chef's handpicked favourite recipes from the series and sees him journey the length and breadth of the country, sampling the very best food France has to offer. Along the way he cooks seafood in Marseille, shops at colourful Provencal markets, cooks with legendary chefs including Michel Roux and Pierre Gagnaire and explores the vineyards of Burgundy. With 80 recipes for fabulous French classics, as well as James's own takes on some of the delicious dishes he tastes on the road, you’ll be spoilt for choice. Enjoy a warming bowl of vibrant pistou soup on a chilly evening, or take duck rillettes with fig and peach chutney on your next picnic. For a treat, try scallops Saint Jacques with champagne sauce or a classic boeuf bourguignon. And what better end to a meal than a pear and rosemary tarte tatin or a refreshing iced blackberry soufflé? Overflowing with stunning photography, James Martin’s French Adventure is a must-have for anyone who loves the good life and great, simple food.

A chance conversation with a Provençal vigneron leads to the most unlikely of quests - a hunt to find France's palest rosé. Extremely Pale Rosé is a richly entertaining and informative account of the travels of Jamie, his wife Tanya and their ebullient friend Peter, as they take up this challenge. Giving up their lives in London, they quickly discover an unfortunate truth - the French won't treat rosé or their quest seriously. Rosé is seen as a poor cousin to red and white wine, drunk as an aperitif or to wash away the taste of spicy food. In bars, boulangeries and boucheries from Bordeaux to Bandol, Jamie, Tanya and Peter are recommended diverse vineyards to visit, and as they travel they encounter the beginnings of a rosé revolution - French attitudes to pale pink wine appear to be changing, but is it too little too late to help them succeed in their quest? With wit, candour and wonderful storytelling, Jamie Ivey maintains a tradition of excellence in food and travel writing. Readers are left with dreams of France, summer days, baguettes, and . . . extremely pale rosé.

A SPECTATOR and PROSPECT Book of 2022 'Ceaselessly interesting, knowledgeable and evocative' - Spectator 'A fresh way to write history' - Alan Johnson 'A quirky, amused, erudite homage to France . . . ambitious and original' - The Times _____ Original, knowledgeable and endlessly entertaining, France: An Adventure History is an unforgettable journey through France from the first century BC to the present day. Drawn from countless new discoveries and thirty years of exploring France on foot, in the library and across 30,000 miles on the author’s beloved bike, it begins with Gaulish and Roman times and ends in the age of #MeToo, Black Lives Matter, the Gilets Jaunes and Covid-19. From the plains of Provence to the slums and boulevards of Paris, events and themes of French history may be familiar – Louis XIV, the French Revolution, the French Resistance, the Tour de France – but all are presented in a shining new light. Frequently hilarious, always surprising, this is a sweeping panorama, teeming with characters, stories and coincidences, and offering a thrilling sense of discovery and enlightenment. A vivid, living history of one of the world’s most fascinating nations, it will make even seasoned Francophiles wonder if they really know that terra incognita which is currently referred to as ‘France’. _____ ‘Packed full of discoveries’ - The Sunday Times 'A gorgeous tapestry of insights, stories and surprises' - Fintan O'Toole 'A rich and vibrant narrative . . . clear-eyed but imaginative storytelling' - Financial Times 'Full of life' - Prospect

The Adventure of French Philosophy is essential reading for anyone interested in what Badiou calls the “French moment” in contemporary thought. Badiou explores the exceptionally rich and varied world of French philosophy in a number of groundbreaking essays, published here for the first time in English or in a revised translation. Included are the often-quoted review of Louis Althusser’s canonical works For Marx and Reading Capital and the scathing critique of “potato fascism” in Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari’s A Thousand Plateaus. There are also talks on Michel Foucault and Jean-Luc Nancy, and reviews of the work of Jean-François Lyotard and Barbara Cassin, notable points of interest on an expansive tour of modern French thought. Guided by a small set of fundamental questions concerning the nature of being, the event, the subject, and truth, Badiou pushes to an extreme the polemical force of his thinking. Against the formless continuum of life, he posits the need for radical discontinuity; against the false modesty of finitude, he pleads for the mathematical infinity of everyday situations; against the various returns to Kant, he argues for the persistence of the Hegelian dialectic; and against the lure of ultraleftism, his texts from the 1970s vindicate the role of Maoism as a driving force behind the communist Idea.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER A MACLEAN'S SUMMER READ The hugely anticipated follow up to Heat--Bill Buford's hilariously self-deprecating, highly obsessive adventures in the world of French haute cuisine. In Dirt, Bill Buford--author of the best-selling, now-classic, Heat--moves his attention from Italian cuisine to the food of France. Baffled by the language, determined that he can master the art of French cooking--or at least get to the bottom of why it is so revered--Buford begins what will become a five-year odyssey by shadowing the revered French chef Michel Richard in Washington, D.C. He soon realizes, however, that a stage in France is necessary, and so he goes--this time with his wife and three-year-old twin sons in tow--to Lyon, the gastronomic capital of France. Studying at l'Institut Bocuse, cooking at the storied, Michelin-starred Mère Brazier, Buford becomes a man obsessed--to prove that French cooking actually derives from the Italian, to prove himself on the line, to prove that he is worthy of these gastronomic secrets. With his signature humor, sense of adventure, and masterful ability to immerse himself in his surroundings, Bill Buford has written what is sure to be the food-lover's book of the year.

Winner of the Kate O'Brien Award 2018. Shortlisted for the Kerry Group Irish Novel of the Year 2018. Shortlisted for Newcomer of the Year at the Bord Gáis Energy Irish Book Awards. Sammy is a spiky, quick-witted and sharp teenager living in Dublin; Nico is a warm and conscientious girl from Moldova. When they are thrown together in a Dublin brothel in a horrific twist of fate, a peculiar and important bond is formed . . . This is a novel about a flourishing but hidden world, thinly concealed beneath a veneer of normality. It's about the failings of polite society, the cruelty that can exist in apparently homely surroundings, the bluster of youth and the often appalling weakness of adults. Harvesting is heartbreaking and funny, gritty, raw and breathtakingly beautiful, where redemption is found in friendship and unexpected acts of kindness.

When your old life ceases to exist, it’s time to build a new one... It’s early summer on the French Riviera when Vivienne Wilson arrives for a one-woman writers’ retreat after her philandering husband informs her that their 30-year marriage is over. There to collect the shell-shocked Vivienne is recently widowed Maxine Zonszain, who is struggling to come to terms with her empty life following the sudden death of her husband. Florist extraordinaire, Olivia Murray, shares the Villa that Vivienne is renting. She’s pretty content with life - but longs to meet ‘The One’. Life under the summer sun in Antibes becomes a challenging time for all three women. Secrets are shared, problems are halved as they forge new and unexpected friendships and embark on new adventures. Sometimes life’s surprises turn out to be unwanted but just sometimes the ‘new normal’ makes for a happier life than the one lost. A uplifting tale of friendship and second chances. Perfect for the fans of Jill Mansell and Fern Britton. Praise for Jennifer Bohnet 'Unputdownable, a heart-warming story of love, family and friendship in the glorious south of France. What’s not to love!' - Lucy Coleman 'I couldn’t stop myself from turning the pages and read it in one sitting. I absolutely loved it. Highly recommended!' - Alison Sherlock A beautifully written and heart-warming tale of family and friendship' - Jessica Redland 'There is much joy in this story, tempered with some bittersweet memories, but I can promise that you’ll be left feeling both joyous and uplifted. Highly recommended.' - Reader Review 'No surprises here. Just two sweet romances in a dream-come-true story. Not soppy sweet, just charmingly so. Perfect for a rainy day on the couch or a sunny day on a patio.' - Reader Review