NOTES FROM THE CÉVENNES

A charming look at the history, landscape and people of rural France, told through the eyes of a Parisian-born Englishman, writer and poet

Adam Thorpe is a bestselling writer and the author of the 1992 book Ulverton, described by Hilary Mantel as ‘a late twentieth century masterpiece'. More recently his non-fiction book On Silbury Hill was adapted for Radio 4's Book of the Week.

Thorpe's home for the past 27 years has been an old house in the lower Cévennes, a wild range of mountains in southern France that forms part of the Massif Central. In his writing Thorpe has explored this area, drawing on the legends, history and above all the people of this part of France for his inspiration. He has reflected on hunting, Brexit, French nationalism, ecology, religion, hippyism, the French Resistance and wartime collaborators. In this book, Thorpe takes up these themes, writing at fuller length about his surroundings, the village and his house at the heart of it, as well as the contrasts of city life in nearby Nîmes.

In particular he is interested in how the past leaves impressions - marks – on our landscape and on us. Part celebration of rustic France, part personal memoir, Thorpe's humorous and precise prose demonstrates a wonderful stylist at work, recalling books such as Notes from an Odd Country by Geoffrey Grigson and the travel writing classic Travels with a Donkey in the Cévennes by Robert Louis-Stevenson.

Adam Thorpe is a bestselling novelist, non-fiction writer and poet. He has published several novels including Ulverton (1992), now a Vintage Classic, and numerous collections of poetry. Adam was born and lives in France, in the Cévennes and Nîmes. The author's previous books were translated into many languages including French (Flammarion), Spanish (Debate), Dutch, German (Atrium), and Polish