If you are a fan of the delightful Julia Stagg’s Fogas Chronicles – you will love the latest in the series. If you are new to Fogas, a make-believe place in the south of France, then you’re in for a treat!
Julia Stagg lived and worked in France running an auberge in the gorgeous mountainous area known as Ariège-Pyrenees. A land of caves and castles, vast forests and dramatic landscapes, a place of beauty and mystery where it often feels as though time has stood still.
Julia has perfectly captured the spirit of this beautiful area with Fogas, a little French commune. Her story of everyday life for the inhabitants is heart-warming and hugely entertaining.
Following on from her best-selling books L’Auberge, The Parisian’s Return and The French Postmistress, A Fete to Remember follows the stories of the main characters in this little town that is the subject of dastardly deeds by the ruling elite of the neighbouring town.
Throughout the long hot French summer, a romance simmers as it did in the previous book in the series between brooding hunky farmer Christian and postmistress Veronique. Will they, won’t they? Will Christian pluck up courage to woo his true love? Will Fabian be able to find the right time to propose to Stephanie? Will Pascal’s wife find out just what a rat he is – or does she already know? Fogas may disappear forever and lose its identity if it is merged with its bigger neighbour. We’ve been kept on tenterhooks for a while now by Julia with some of these threads – you’ll have to read the book to find out what happens, I’m not going to spoil it for you!
I will tell you though that when I read the first sentence of A Fete to Remember I was shocked! A key character seems to have met his demise – will he join the ghost of Jacques the former innkeeper? I’m certainly not going to ruin the surprise by telling you! Watching the goings on from his place by the fireside of the bar his widow now runs, able to see what the living can’t, Jacques fears for the future of his former friends, family and neighbours in his beloved Fogas. A missing child, heated politics, evil adversaries, love and romance, loss and coming to terms with it, new life – all overlaid with Julia’s fabulous descriptions of life in a gorgeous village in rural France.
A Fete to Remember by Julia Stagg – uplifting, entertaining, witty and a rollicking great read!
