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A Good Year (novel)
A Good Year is a 2004 novel by English writer Peter Mayle, author of ''A Year in Provence'' and '' Chasing Cézanne''. The story follows Max Skinner, a London stockbroker who loses his job before finding out that he inherited a vineyard in France from his late uncle Henry. Plot summary Max Skinner is a moderately successful trader in a City finance company. After spending several months compiling a lucrative trade contract, only to have it taken over by his immediate superior, he resigns, losing his car, income, and expected bonus, leaving him in debt. The same day he receives a letter from a notary in France, telling him his uncle Henry has just died, bequeathing him his estate in Provence. This is Le Griffon, a house and vineyard where Max had spent much of his childhood. After discussing the matter with his friend Charlie Willis, an estate agent and wine enthusiast, and with a substantial loan from him, Max travels to France to investigate the inheritance with a view to bec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peter Mayle
Peter Mayle ( "mail"; 14 June 1939 – 18 January 2018) was a British businessman turned author who moved to France in the 1980s. He wrote a series of bestselling memoirs of his life there, beginning with ''A Year in Provence'' (1989). Early life Born in Brighton, Sussex, the youngest of three children, Mayle and his parents moved to Barbados in the aftermath of World War II, where his father was transferred as a Colonial Office employee. Mayle returned to England after leaving school at 16 in Barbados. Advertising career His first job in 1957 was as a trainee at Shell Oil, based in its London office. It was there that he discovered that he was more interested in advertising than oil and he wrote to David Ogilvy, the head of the advertising agency that had the Shell account at that time, asking for a job. Ogilvy offered him a job as a junior account executive, but Mayle's interest was more on the creative side of the business and he subsequently became a copywriter in 1961 based ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |