The Olive Farm

The Olive Farm
by Carol Drinkwater (Penguin Books, 2001)

The Olive Farm has nothing to do with Christmas. Though there are several delightful scenes in the book that occur during the Christmas season.

I love reading books that take place in France. France is the country near and dear to my heart. So when I found this book, I was eager to secure a copy so I could read it.

Written by Carol Drinkwater, actress in All Creatures Great and Small, The Olive Farm takes place in the South of France. Drinkwater and her fiancé discover an abandoned olive farm. They cannot resist. They hock everything to buy the dilapidated farm. Extremely dilapidated.

Thhe story leads readers through the challenges of farming. And particularly, farming and fixing up a property in France. From other books I've read set in France, the difficulties are a common theme. Sometimes depressing and amazing, other times hysterical and unbelievable. This tale of the redemption of a lonely, overgrown piece of land, is captivating.

Through it all, Drinkwater transparently shares her life, struggles, successes, problems, and victories. The Olive Farm made me want to move to the south of France and grow olive trees so I can share my own home grown bottles of olive oil.

Perhaps I will just go and visit my new friends at their farm, Appassionata.