I LOVE FRANCE!

I plan to publish this meme every Thursday.

You can share here about any book

or anything cultural you just discovered related to France, Paris, etc.

Please spread the news on Twitter, Facebook, etc !

Feel free to grab my button,

and link your own post through Mister Linky,

at the bottom of this post.

*******

Treachery in Bordeaux

by

Jean-Pierre ALAUX
Noël Balen

Translator: Anne Trager

30,000 words

ISBN 978-0-9853206-2-1 (Kindle)
978-0-9853206-3-8 (epub)

Buying links:

For your Amazon Kindle.

For your Barnes & Noble Nook.

For your iPad, iPhone or iPod touch.

For your Kobo.

This book counts for the following Reading Challenges:

MY THOUGHTS ABOUT THIS BOOK

“The word is that Scandinavian crime fiction is dead, put to the sword by an invasion of French crime writing excellence.” Thus begins a fascinating article just written by Quentin Bates (France is the new Sweden by Quentin Bates. ) on crime fiction.
Could we say the same of mysteries? Anne Trager would probably agree, as she launched Le French Book precisely to make French writers better known to the English reading public, and quite a few of the books they have translated and published so far are mysteries and crime fiction – see 4 of them currently on tour at France Book Tours, and a very exciting one coming up at the end of October, by a very famous French writer – there are a few spots still available for reviewers!

For my part, I decided to read Treachery in Bordeaux, a whodunit/mystery set in the Bordeaux region, to get a bit out of my comfort zones – the Champagne and the Burgundy regions, where I have spent many years of my life.

If you love wine and know a bit about its scientific and chemical aspects, this book is for you, you will find it fascinating. I know almost nothing about wine at that level, so sometimes this was a bit too technical for me.

But I enjoyed very much the description of the Bordeaux region, its landscapes, cities, population, with some interesting characters.

The book could have been longer as well, with more events happening along the plot, but as this is the very first volume of a long series, I guess things will gradually heat up.

If you want to accompany your reading of the book with the wine of its name, you will not find the “Moniales Haut-Brion.” This is a fictive name, but the real thing is not too far:  Le Château Haut-Brion, a very very old wine area that was started sometimes in the 1st century!  Before planning your next trip there, visit their website and their gorgeous picture gallery.

QUOTATIONS

“Cooker had a predilection for openings, prologues and introductions, whether they were symphonies, oratorios or lyrical works. He had recorded many tapes and enjoyed them the same way he enjoyed a bottle of wine: for the pleasure of tasting, without feeling obliged to finish it.” [screen 21 on my Nook]

I like these 2 passages showing the wrecks silly modern inventions can do to the landscape, its beauty and its worth:
“Starting in 1970, they built weight 18-story buildings on the estate. All that so that 4,000 idiots could have hot water, an elevator, a tiny balcony and the opportunity to hear their neighbors fart…
They tore down the Château de Rocquencourt to set up a sports complex on the campus: nearly 620 acres of intyellectual desert for brats who drink soft drinks and don’t give a shit that it wrecked acres of vineyards!” [screen 47]

WHAT IS IT ABOUT

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

The authors of Treachery in Bordeaux are Epicures. Jean-Pierre Alaux is a magazine, radio and television journalist when he is not writing novels in southwestern France. He is a genuine wine and food lover and the grandson of a winemaker. For him, there is no greater common denominator than wine. His coauthor Noël Balen lives in Paris, where he shares his time between writing, making records, and lecturing on music. He plays bass, is a music critic and has authored a number of books about musicians in addition to his novel and short-story writing.

http://www.lefrenchbook.com/our-authors/jean-pierre-alaux-noel-balen/

Contact: anne@lefrenchbook.com

Facebook: LeFrenchBook

Twitter: @LeFrenchBook

AND NOW FOR A CHANCE TO WIN THIS BOOK!
Please enter this short form

I will draw 1 winner on 8/7

Good luck!

Notes:

* If you have problems entering the giveaway for this ebook, please send me an email beofre midnight on 8/6 at ehc16e {at] yahoo [dot) com. Include in it:

1. the title of the book you are entering to win – write this in the subject to be sure I don’t think your email is spam
2. the email address you use to subscribe to this blog by email [after you enter your email address in the top right corner to follow my blog by email, you will receive an email confirmation. If you do not confirm, your subscription will not show as active, and I will not be able to count your entry in the giveaway]
3. the url of your tweet of this giveaway, for an extra entry.

* when you enter a giveaway, I keep your email address only until a winner has been chosen and has confirmed. After that, I delete the form where your answers were stored during the duration of the giveaway. If you win and you email me your mailing address, I delete this email and its information as soon as I have mailed you the book.

HAVE YOU READ THIS BOOK?
DO YOU KNOW OF OTHER FRENCH BOOKS
TAKING PLACE AROUND BORDEAUX?

SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS  IN A COMMENT PLEASE

***

Just a reminder guys:

please if possible

include the title of the book or topic in your link:

name of your blog (name of the book title or topic):

Thanks!