We are less than three weeks away from the publication of THE HOUSE ON THE EDGE OF THE CLIFF. These days are always a little nerve-racking, because I am agitating about the book’s future success. Will it live up to expectations in the eyes of the publisher etc. It is a time of interviews, preparing…
Hello, For those of us in the northern hemisphere, it is welcome to spring. Our winter has not been harsh but it has been unpredictable with, as is becoming the norm for many areas, extreme temperatures and erratic weather patterns. Dining outside for lunches on the terrace, wearing sunhats to protect against 22C in February…
Paris in the spring is like no other time of year, no other place on earth. April in Paris. Grace, my young English heroine in THE HOUSE ON THE EDGE OF THE CLIFF, who is trying to escape the scars of her violent upbringing, is in search of adventure and perhaps a romantic encounter. When…
Forgive the blatant self-promotion of this post, but I am very excited. Here is the front cover for my new novel to be published on 16th May. It has been described as “Carol Drinkwater’s epic story of enduring love and betrayal, from Paris in the sixties to the present day.” I am delighted that it…
Here in France, we have the right to wish someone a ‘Happy New Year’ up till the last day of January, so I am just in time even for those of you living in Australia. Phew! ‘Happy New Year’ and, as we say in France: ‘surtout la santé’. Above all else, good health. These last…
Ever since we moved to the south of France I have been a great fan of the artist, Joan Miró. There is an excellent collection of his work at the Foundation Maeght in St Paul de Vence, which is set in the hills behind Nice. This is really where I first discovered him and I…
Apologies for the lack of Newsletter this side of the holidays. I am fiendishly busy. News after the holidays. Here is Samson who some of you will know came to us as a rescue dog in April. See how he has settled and blossomed. Gloriously, I discovered he was born on Christmas Day. He is…
Metz is a city in the northeast of France, Le Grand Est, capital of the Lorraine region, and one that I had never visited before last weekend. It sits alongside the winding Moselle river and is surprisingly inspiring. I was in town because my husband, Michel Noll, was inaugurating a film festival. The festival, titled…
I am two novels along since I published THE FORGOTTEN SUMMER with Penguin in March 2016. For those who read my post last month you will know that my latest novel, THE HOUSE ON THE EDGE OF THE CLIFF, to be published 16th May 2019, is set in Paris during the 1968 student riots, and…
Dear Friends, Where has this year gone to? We have hit the olive harvest season and I am not really prepared for it. The trees are laden and the fruits are fat and healthy. If only I could persuade the three dogs to get their paws at the ready and get picking instead of lazing…
These photos were taken by Bruno Barbey who was a twenty-five-year-old photographer in ’68 and a superb visual chronicler of the events of May 1968. He wrote later, “I went with Cartier-Bresson to buy helmets to protect us from the stones, but with them we couldn’t use our Leicas.’ It is always an exciting moment…
Every now and again I feel fortunate to stand face to face with a remarkable piece of history. Last week, while I was in Paris, I swung off Boulevard Saint-Michel and strode to the Panthéon where hangs a huge photographed image of Simone and Antoine Veil. They are backdropped by the European flag. I stood…
Hello Everyone, If you are lucky enough to find yourself along the Côte d’Azur on Saturday 21st July, PLEASE come along and say hello at the English Book Centre in Valbonne any time between 3.30 and 6.30pm. There will be refreshments and nibbles and plenty of copies of THE FORGOTTEN SUMMER and THE LOST GIRL…
The Kings Arms in Askrigg was the real name of the pub we used as The Drovers Arms in All Creatures Great and Small. I returned there seven years ago when I was writing a feature for the Mail on Sunday. I ordered a glass of red wine and sat alone, deep in reflection. In…
I want to begin by introducing you to our new member of the Olive Farm family. His name is Samson. He is a Tibetan Mastiff and has jaws like an alligator. I heard about him through my Olive Farm Facebook page where I saw a photo of him. He was in a refuge over on…
As I write this, planes from everywhere are disgorging bands of women into airports across the Republic who have flown home to Ireland to vote YES to the repeal of the Eighth Amendment. It is a vital vote in Ireland today and by the time you read this, the result will be in. I am…
Dates are on mind as this week as I have celebrated a big birthday. I was hunting about to see what of note in history occurred at around the same time as my birth. Instead, the internet led me to the Republican Calendar. (I am not that old!) I have lived in France for over…
“When I dream of an afterlife in heaven, the action always takes place at the Ritz, Paris.” Ernest Hemingway wrote. I wonder whether he would offer the same opinion today, or perhaps he would consider some of the latest episodes in this new era of the Ritz as definitely worthy of a novel. I am…
Dear Readers and Friends, This is an exciting month for me for several reasons, but let me begin with a bit of non-book news and then continue with the professional afterwards. Michel and I have just returned from a very short trip to Puglia in southern Italy. The winter has been very harsh, hasn’t it?…