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Linda A | all galleries >> Galleries >> walking in my shoes - 2006 diary > 21st November 2006 - apassionata
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21-NOV-2006

21st November 2006 - apassionata

In a fit of economy, I bought a batch of books at the meadow fair in the summer – they were 10p each and I read by the yard on the train so it’s an expensive, if utterly pleasurable, pastime. I must be honest, I thought they’d all be ‘a good while away a couple of hours on a train’ books, but not great, if you know what I mean.

There is something truly delicious about opening a new book and reading the first few lines of prose. It’s so self-indulgent that it’s like eating a bar of chocolate to me – I don’t like chocolate at all so this is my fix of naughty pleasure. Equally, there is something really painful about coming to the end of a book I’ve loved – it’s almost like the parting of friends. Today I have experienced such sadness.

In the haul from the meadow fair were two books by Carol Drinkwater (she of All Creatures Great and Small fame). The first I read a couple of weeks ago (the Olive Farm) and thoroughly enjoyed it. In between it and ‘The Olive Season’, which I’ve read today, I’ve forced myself to read a couple of other books because, and I’m not sure how typical I am here, but I have found that if I find a new writer that I love, it’s best not to gorge oneself on their output in succession because I get bored of the style of writing and then it spoils the pleasure.

So, today I have read the Olive Season and have found myself uplifted and desperately saddened by it all at once. I must say that when I bought them, I was a little worried about whether it was an ‘escaping it all’ story too far – I have read the Peter Mayles and a few others besides. Each time I expect to find myself numbed to the trials and tribulations of jumping ship but maybe because of who I am or maybe because of our situation, I devour them all. They are just about the only non-fiction I read, barring cookery books, which are one of my other not-so-secret pleasures.

Carol Drinkwater and her lover then later husband, Michel, bought a dilapidated olive farm in Provence and the two books are about bringing it to life. I loved the first one and this one I started full of joy and hope – I felt as though I knew them both and understood their dilemmas – periods of separation through work (I know THAT one alright), coming together ‘late in life’ as they say and the traumas of trying to breathe life into something neglected. Yep – got all of that by the bucket load.

This one took all of that to another level – I can’t explain why because the plot would be given away for anyone who reads this then reads them (which I would urge you to do, even at full-price). Suffice to say, she experiences a desperate sadness in the book, which I can totally relate to, which drove me to tears on the train. For me, this is not an unknown experience, though I do try to minimise the number of occasions when I find myself in this embarrassing position – crying on the train that is, the other is something I just have to live with.

Equally there are some wonderful, uplifting things about the book, the love stories of the challenges they face and her relationship are beautifully told.

Tonight then, a toast to olives – one of the foods of the gods, to Carol and Michel – for a wonderful story eloquently told by Carol and its sharing is something I appreciate and, most of all, to love. Long may it bring joy to our lives.

Last year I was catching soft things on sharp ones!

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Eric Hewis22-Nov-2007 09:47
Our local farmers market has a stall selling olives,I think they grow them on the slopes of Rivington Pike.
Michael Todd Thorpe19-Dec-2006 07:37
These look excellent...
Rene Hales23-Nov-2006 00:20
Lovely image and thanks for the book recommendations. I too find it so sad to end a book that I have been loving. I just wish they could go on and on.--Rene
virginiacoastline22-Nov-2006 03:15
I thought these were cherries
Guest 21-Nov-2006 22:21
remember the ones from Dean and Deluca with the feta cheese stuffed in them?

yummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
Gail Davison21-Nov-2006 22:17
I adore olives and those look wonderful. I hope this shot makes it into the calendar.
Bill Miller21-Nov-2006 20:23
This looks delicious, and I adore olives (so does Mack, especially the anchovy stuffed ones). Have you read the books by Peter Kerr? A scottish farmer that moved to Mallorca to run a small finca, and then back to Scotland to run a deer farm. His latest is "From Paella to Porridge", which is a good yarn to read on holiday. All the best. Bill.
David Mingay21-Nov-2006 19:48
and Nicky hasn't tasted them. I have... serious yum, and Linda's made them look good too!
Nicki Thurgar21-Nov-2006 19:38
I thought they were plums & my mouth was watering, now I realise they're olives I'm literally drooling.... beautiful shot!