Any novels about Burgundy?
 

I've let my searching for books to read on plane go until last minute, but wondering if there's anything out there about this area?

Can't think of any novels, but M.F.K. Fisher's books are always a good read, and her Long Ago in France is about the three years she and her husband spent in Dijon, from 1929 to 1932.

Yes--that's an excellent book. But I know there's a novel set in Burgundy and will sit here and stew about it until I remember the title.

Eureka! "The Vintner's Luck," by Elizabeth Knox.

grandmere, are you going to Burgundy? Please please write a report when you get back. We don't leave until the 31st of October, so hope I'll have time to see it before we go.

"Chocolat" is set in Burgundy. The movie is wonderful too.

Grandmere, "long Ago in France" is where MF mentions she ate the truite bleu at the same place, I did for a few times through the years.
"The Vinter's Luck" by Elizebeth Knox
about a vinter and an Angel.

For light reading consider Peter Mayle's novels set in the south of France. Mayle is best known for his travelogue "A Year in Provence". But I think I like his novels better. In particular, "A Good Year" is about a vineyard. I think it included time among the wine dealers of Burgundy.

His other novels, "Hotel Pastis" and "Chasing Cezanne" are delightful. Very funny (especially the audio version of Hotel Pastis!). If you like P.G. Wodehouse, you'll like these books.

Lots of Colette's books take place in Burgundy(she was born near Auxerre)

Not a novel but Amanda Hesser ( a food writer) has an excellent book about the time she spent there cooking at the estate of Anne Willan...it tells about the life of a Burgundian farmer and his wife and has excellent recipes and food tips. Maybe not for the plane, though.

Thanks, all; I've read Mayle, Fisher (and enjoyed), but Vintner's Luck sounds like just the thing. Now to find it locally before Sun.!

I, too, am looking for a good read for our flight from LAX to NICE in 3 wks. OF COURSE I've read A Year in Provence! Twice! Thx all. :B

But have you read "Hotel Pastis"? If not, grab a copy at once! It will be a great read on the plane.

The best-known Burgundy author is probably Henri Vincenot, and his best- known novel is the Le Pape des Escargots. I think one or two of his novels have been translated into English.

Gabriel Chevalier's classic comic novel "Clochemerle" is set in a fictitious town in Beaujolais. It's worth looking for. There are several sequels, including Clochermerle-Babylon and Clochemerle-les-Bains.

I'm off to Borders and/or B and N to see if they have either Vintner's Luck or Clochemerle.

I thought Chocolat took place around the Lot, Dordogne?

Merci, folks!

Clochemerls is about a village and a pissoir but hard to find in English.
Too bad I brought my English copy to an American in France as a gift and he did not think it funny.

Again, not a novel, but if you are intereted in food, you might like The Perfectionist: Life and Death in Haute Cuisine about Burgundian chef Bernard Loiseau who commited suicide when he thought he would be losing a Michelin star.

ekscrunchy, I agree that is a book to read especially for those like underhill who know the names of chefs.
His apprenticeship with the later to be well-known chefs was interering but let us not forget he was bi-polar,

There are twointeresting non-fiction books set in Burgundy: "Burgundian Stars," about Bernard Loiseau in his good years, and "Burgundy: the Country, the Wines, the People," by Eunice Reed. That book was my introduction to the chef Jean-Pierre Silva, but it also includes several well known vintners.

"Chocolat" was filmed in Burgundy; perhaps that's the confusion?

Have a formidable trip, grandmere.