A Place in Normandy

by Nicholas Kilmer

Book Overview

Preparing to take up the generations-old love affair with his family's farmhouse in Normandy, Nicholas Kilmer is beset by enemies - many of whom appear in the guise of friends. Julia, his wife, also... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0805039309
• ISBN13: 9780805039306
• Release Date: January 1997
• Publisher: Henry Holt & Company
• Length: 255 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.6" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

A gem of a book that is too little known

I found this book delightful, and so have passed it on to several people, all of whom think it is a great read.

A full-contact love affair with a romantic house

Nick Kilmer's lush, exuberant prose takes the reader through an eventful week, during which, by means of flashbacks and vignettes, we experience his dithering over the purchase of his family's wonderful house in Normandy. He will have two gardens (one in Cambridge and one in Normandy), two roofs that need attention, piles of books and letters and projects and paintings in every stage of finishment, and one wife who cannot say no, and cannot say yes, to this expensive disaster that is his family's ancient home. Pleasantly meandering, we visit stone-age Normandy, the days of the war, the ancient farmer's wife in whose arms (he tells us) his grandfather died, newly baptized (but still staunchly Republican ...) A fine read, growing better with each rereading. Let's have more from this writer.

Memoir of an extramarital affair with an ancient farmhouse

Kilmer comes from a line of poets and artists on both sides of his family. His extramarital affair with an ancient farmhouse in western France is erudite, witty and passionate. It is at once meandering and suspenseful. Wentworth Foster

Update: good reproductions ; recommended for Christmas gift.

The first trade edition, printed on acid-free paper, has goodreproductions. I'm up-grading my rating to an 8. The New York Times recommends this book for Christmas giving. Although the publication date is 1997, the publishers have decided to release it early.