A Good Year — Peter Mayle

*NOW A MAJOR FEEL-GOOD FILM STARRING RUSSELL CROWE* When he left depressing, drizzly London for a sun-soaked vineyard in Southern France, he was expecting to find a savvy business investment. Instead, he found himself. Meet Max Skinner. Max spends his days trading stocks in the City, his nights flirting with beautiful women in bars. He's successful, well-paid, good-looking for his age . . . but the reality is that he's lost. And in the grey maze of London's Square Mile, there's no clear escape route. After a disappointment at work causes him to resign, he receives a letter telling him that his uncle Henry has passed away, leaving him an estate and vineyard in Provence. Slowly, memories of the magical summers he spent on the vineyard as a boy start to return to him. And then there's the matter of beautiful, magnetic waitress Fanny Chenal. Not to mention the American backpacker who's just turned up on his doorstep, claiming that Uncle Henry was her father. The ultimate feel-good read, A Good Year is a love letter to second chances, simple pleasures, and how the wonder we thought we'd lost in our childhood was with us all along. You might just have to go on a journey to find it again. ** 'The only thing wrong I found with this story is that it ended' - Goodreads reviewer 'Irresistible' - BookPage