GinnVillas - Travel in America, Europe, South America and australia

Unprecedented Emotional Connection with an Author   June 5, 2004

A darling book, though I only gave it 4 stars because it's not a Great Book, but eminently readable - even on the second pass.


Enjoyable, Warmly Human, Ultimately Bittersweet and Moving   December 21, 2003
  25 out of 25 found this review helpful

I was very moved by this memoir and would recommend it to anyone (it feels far more immediate and emotionally rewarding, for instance, than Frances Mayes' "Under the Tuscan Sun").

Unlike some that explore the same territory here (culture shock, setting up housekeeping in a foreign land, quirks of the locals, history of the region and its landmarks, discovery of cuisine and surroundings), there is subtle artistry in the way it's written, gentle looks into the basic human goodness of the French people in her circle, and knowing that the author died of cancer in middle-age before ever seeing this book published brings a bittersweet feel that grows as the last page nears (mentioning in passing in the final chapter, for instance, that she will skip a planned trip to a spa that year due to an event taking place in the village and that the spa will always be there next year has a strong resonance, as you immediately realize and want to call out protectively to her, Yes it will be there, but you will not]).

Aside from the introduction to French life and characters, I found myself more transfixed by what I saw in Ann Barry herself -- a loner who never feels so right in the world as when she is on her own, and especially when in France as her truest self, even relishing that she has no telephone and can't be infringed upon by the outside world.

Knowing that Ms. Barry will die after 12+ years of sharing her journey, I found myself not just reading the story but considering questions of self and meaning in life, and feeling a bit sad for a woman who never connected with a significant other and that the scars of childhood in a somewhat dysfunctional family were far-reaching, as is the case with so many of us. (That sounds depressing, but it's more a consistent subtext here that one attuned will see, and that, to me, enriched my interest in the work. Many people may read the book not coming away with that at all.)

If you enjoy vicarious life and episodic memoir of someone who DID IT rather than THOUGHT ABOUT IT, I can think of no finer memoir that I've read of late, and I'm sure I will continue to think about the questions this raised in me about how we live our lives and what it all means and what good we can do for this world before we leave it, and for that I'm grateful to Ms. Barry for this work.


Lovely, Yet Bittersweet Memoir   July 18, 2003
  7 out of 7 found this review helpful

Ms. Barry's memories of her home in France left quite an impression on me. I approached this book with some hesitancy at first, because, I had read Frances Maye's "Under the Tuscan Sun" and I didn't like it. But "At Home In France" was enjoyable, with vivid descriptions of Barry's home in Carennac, without getting bogged down in too many details. It saddened me to read of Ms. Barry's death after she completed this book. I tried to do a websearch for any additional info about her, or her home in Carrenac--unfortunately I couldn't come up with anything other than sites dealing directly with the book. I hope that the home that meant so much to her is in loving hands.


Better Title: "On Vacation in France"   April 25, 2002
  9 out of 15 found this review helpful

As travel memoirs go, this was decidely a disappointment. Ann Barry never seemed to really BE "At Home in France". Perhaps she was a too-serious, distant and compartmentalized personality for me to enjoy on a personal level, as she often seems humorless and ambivalent, despite her declarations of affection for her house in rural France. In fact, her affection for her house seems greater than that for her neighbors. Oddly, though, she never changes any of the previous owners' furnishings or interior and exterior aspects of the house (or is not even interested enough herself to mention it if she did). After 12 years of 4-weeks-per-year visits, she was only beginning to make the effort of befriending her community, and seems mostly to be "on vacation" rather than "at home." There is no conclusion to the story, as she died before the book was published (evidently an untimely middle-age death that is not explained to the reader). The few pleasant passages are dulled by a preponderance of lukewarm or half-finished vignettes. Unsatisfying.


Charm without pretension-how refreshing   February 10, 2002
  13 out of 13 found this review helpful

I actually read this book a number of years ago. I am a francophile, and do read many books of this ilk, but this was by far my favorite. I learned the author had died after I had read the book, and I did feel a personal loss with this woman I had never met. While the Peter Mayles and France Mayes of the world are wonderful fluff, sometimes you want the real meal and not just the pastries. This book is the real thing, no guile, no patronizing bemusement, but a charming candid experience of a perceptive woman in a culture she finds appealing, perplexing, frustrating, and alluring. She doesn't pretend that she is simply painting a water color on neutral canvas, but honestly and unselfservingly describes her own biases and perceptions. A wonderful recounting of a foreigner dipping into a new and different culture.