Emma's Review: Escape to the French Farmhouse by Jo Thomas

Reviewed by Emma Crowley

Can she find her recipe for happiness?

Del and her husband Ollie moved to a beautiful village in Provence for a fresh start after years of infertility struggles. But six weeks after they arrive, they’re packing the removal van once more. As Del watches the van leave for England, she suddenly realises exactly what will make her happier…a new life in France – without Ollie.

Now alone, all Del has is a crumbling farmhouse, a mortgage to pay and a few lavender plants. What on earth is she going to do? Discovering an old recipe book at the market run by the rather attractive Fabian, Del starts to bake. But can her new-found passion really help her let go of the past and lead to true happiness?

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Many thanks to Random House UK,Transworld via NetGalley for my copy of Escape to the French Farmhouse to review and to Sharon for having my review on the blog.

Jo Thomas is the queen of being able to whisk you away to a completely different place from where you are and making you feel as if you are transported to another world away from all the trouble and strife that is ongoing at the moment. We really need these kinds of reads now more than ever and in her latest book, Escape to the French Farmhouse, she certainly succeeds in providing her readers with another story that you can readily lose yourself in. It's escapist reading at its very best and I thoroughly enjoyed this story which I read in a day or two, which is saying something as my reading mojo is very hit and miss at the moment.

Jo is synonymous with crafting picturesque locations for her characters who are all experiencing some trouble and challenging times for various reasons and with the help of these beautiful settings and some people they meet along the way they attempt to make a new start in life. This journey is never easy and involves lots of soul searching and stepping outside of one's comfort zone but every character that the author has as the main focus in each book are always ones you can identify with and relate to and you become deeply invested in a long term positive outcome for them.

Del has recently moved to Provence with her husband Ollie but it has become apparent that this was not the move they should have made but would perhaps have been better off staying in England. Her life is spiralling out of control and she feels there is no way to reel things back in and get back on track. She is out of her depth and the small cracks in her marriage are growing ever wider by the day. So much so the couple have decided to sell the French farmhouse they had invested in and return home after having only lived there for six weeks. As the removal van begins to load up their belongings Del has second thoughts.

Everything that could go wrong has, all her hopes and dreams are gone and the weight of failed IVF attempts plays heavy on her mind. Combined with some other unsettling and upsetting news Del takes the bull by the horns and admits to herself she can't face the unhappiness and loneliness in her marriage. Instantly I thought this is my kind of woman. She is struggling and in pain but knows going back is not the answer so she has thought to herself what have I got to lose?  I may as well stay where I am and see can I make a go of things. I loved that Del wasn't afraid to face facts and reality. She was brave in her decision to go it alone as deep down she knew Ollie wasn't what she wanted or needed in the long term.

Del can't let herself crack she has to keep going and over the course of the book she goes from strength to strength but it doesn't always come easy but I loved that she had that sense of determination and a willingness to try and try again no matter what life was going to throw in her way. She really changed, developed and grew up as a character and in a way I suppose she had to given she was the one who had made the final choice to remain in France. I loved how the entire focus of the book wasn't just about Del finding new ways to make her new life in France a success rather that she was able to spread her wings and help others too and in doing so probably unbeknownst to herself she was helping and healing the personal hurts and the issues which had troubled her.

Jo really establishes a lovely community feel to the small French village and lots of characters are introduced but not so many that you have trouble keeping track as to who is who. All have important roles to play and in turn they allow little interesting sub-plots to develop which result in them feeding into the overall themes being explored. It's all so neatly and effortlessly woven together that the reader is allowed to just sit back and relax and absorb this gorgeous, wonderful read without feeling that this a book that requires every bit of attention and alertness in order to follow the plot. Del quickly becomes involved in the local community and makes new friends and she was wise to do so because without company, advice and support she didn't stand much chance of seeing her burgeoning lavender business at the local market come to fruition. She knew that going solo is all well and good but and time and effort needed to be put in. But without friends or perhaps an even deeper relationship than all her efforts and ideas would just go to waste.

One of the first people she meets is Fabien who runs a local warehouse/second hand antiques business and it's where Del goes to find things that she will need to live at the farmhouse. Here is where she finds a cookbook featuring recipes that use lavender and so the seed is sewn for a business but hard work, dedication and hope will be needed if she is to see it bare fruit. Fabien was a kind hearted person but I felt, as with some of the other characters, he just needed that little bit more development. That we didn't really scratch beneath the surface of him. Yes we were told bits about him and you could see he genuinely wanted to help Del and that perhaps there was a little bit of chemistry between the pair but I don't think I ever got to know him really deeply and learnt just what made him tick.

There is a lot that is not said which leads to people, Del in particular, believing certain things. That was one thing about her, she was very presumptuous instead of actually asking straight out about things, she came to all kinds of conclusions in her head. Which really did her no favours at all. Yes, the above mentioned point is an issue but not a major one as it didn't detract from my enjoyment of the story it's more the way I felt at certain points in the book. That at times things just seemed a bit too nice and that some real trouble or desperate hardship would have added some more depth to the overall story. Not that there wasn't some present it just needed some more at times.

Del feels the house has given her a second chance and that she should return the favour to someone if at all possible. Enter Stephanie and her young son Thomas. At first I thought this was all very random that Del would take in someone like that but then the more this as developed it did feel right and it was almost like Del was making up for what she couldn't have her life in terms of what her body had failed to do for her. She wanted to make someone else feel special, wanted, needed, cared for and in good hands. A little community was establishing itself at the farmhouse and Stephanie, although troubled and prone to acting on a whim as her emotions ran high given what she had been through, did prove to be a stalwart in helping Del with the baking and trying to get her market stall up and running. Although towards the end I did think there was a strand to the story where Del gets herself in a knot over something to do with Stephanie was a bit far fetched. It seemed to happen without me realising it and I couldn't fathom why Del was so upset and uptight about it all.

I loved how various ex-pats featured and how they were so very different to Del in that they were trying to establish a corner of Britain in France where Del knew that she had to leave that behind and really ingratiate herself with the locals to become one of them and to be truly accepted. The strand of the story that developed around this turned out to be lovely and heart-warming and showed just how kind and caring Del was and that with her new found confidence she was willing to step out of her comfort zone to help anyone she felt needed it and she knew the same would have been done for her if that was the case. She made friends with so many locals and showed that she was genuine and when push came to shove and certain things came to a head this is what really stood to her.

Escape to the French Farmhouse is another wonderful book from Jo Thomas and yes I did have a few minor niggles and maybe that was me just being picky because I really love Jo's writing and genuine warmth and emotion infused throughout all her books. The descriptions of the setting were fantastic along with the wine and food and there is plenty of fun and laughter to balance some of the more serious moments. The time will fly by as you read because the tone is not all serious its more like you are catching up and checking in with friends. It's definitely one to enjoy out in the garden on a hot summer's day you may well feel like you are on holidays with Del in France. I was excited to see that Jo has a Christmas book coming out again this year and I can't wait to get my hands on Finding Love at the Christmas Market, be it summer or Christmas books Jo Thomas will always be on my go to reading list.

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