Des livres

This is a frequently updated list of books we have recommended as part of The Proust Project. They are either set in France or by French authors.

Fiction

  • Eugénie Grandet, by Honoré de Balzac. Set in Saumur, a wine-growing village that is now part of the Pays de la Loire region.
  • All the Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr. This Pulitzer Prize-winning story of two teenagers caught on opposite sides of World War II is one you’re unlikely to forget. Set on Saint Malo in Brittany.
  •  The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Burrows. Set on the channel island of Guernsey off the coast of France during World War II and its aftermath.
  • The Three Musketeers, by Alexandre Dumas. A rollicking adventure tale starring chevaliers from Gascony.
  • The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexandre Dumas. Arguably his greatest work and my personal favorite.e
  • Bruno series, by Martin Walker. Food and mystery set in the Dordogne.

Non-fiction

  • The Plantagenets: The Warrior Kings and Queens Who Made England, by Dan Jones. 2013. This dynasty originated in France and influenced both countries for three centuries.
  •  I’ll Never Be French, by Mark Greenside, a New Yorker who moved to Brittany with his girlfriend. She left, he stayed, and he recounts his experiences integrating into a Breton village. 2008.
  •  The Black Count, by Tom Reiss. The story of novelist Alexandre Dumas’ father, whose life inspired some of his son’s fantastic adventure tales.
  • Duck Season, by David McAninch. A Chicago writer moves his family to a villiage in southwestern France for nearly a year and experiences joie de vivre in a land rich with food, wine, culture and history.

Cooking and Wine