The French House
and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle. Learn more
Flip to back
Flip to front
The French House: An American Family, a Ruined Maison, and the Village That Restored Them All Paperback – June 3, 2014
$9.68
FREE Shipping on orders over $35.
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
Gift-wrap available.
NO_CONTENT_IN_FEATURE
Start reading The French House on your Kindle in under a minute.
Don't have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here, or download a FREE Kindle Reading App.
Don't have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here, or download a FREE Kindle Reading App.
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?.
|
Editorial Reviews
From Booklist
As part of a lengthy European sojourn, Mindy and Don Wallace spend a few weeks on Belle Île, an obscure island off Brittany’s southern coast in the Bay of Biscay, where they fall in love with both the wild landscape and the locals. Having resumed their careers in New York, they receive a letter from a woman they had befriended on the island. She tells them that a house has become available for sale in the small village they’d visited on Belle Île. They mortgage themselves to buy the property, really a ruin, and begin long-distance plans to restore the house. Then their Manhattan apartment building goes co-op. What should have generated a financial windfall for them turns sour when the recession hits. The arrival of a baby adds to their stress, and their French project balloons into a multiyear, cash-consuming, transatlantic endeavor before the house is finally ready for occupancy. --Mark Knoblauch
Review
"On a tiny French island, a couple of American dreamers redefine their lives by restoring a ruin-which in this lovely, shimmering story becomes a parable of a saner, greener, more sustainable path that we all can follow if we will but listen to the wisdom of the villagers the way the Wallaces did. The French House moves to a soulful, very funny rhythm all its own." - Meryl Streep
"VILLAGE IDIOTS is a brave, insightful and very amusing memoir about a fantasy that many of us have had but not dared to attempt. The only problem with it is that now I want to adopt myself into the Wallace family." - Jane Smiley, New York Times bestselling author and winner of the Pulitzer Prize
"In this beautifully-written, rich, moving story of a fabulous, resourceful and utterly original family, Don Wallace has crafted a delicious French bon-bon of a book. THE FRENCH HOUSE is full of humor, hope, and I dare say, lessons on how to live a life full of meaning. I loved it."" - Dani Shapiro, bestselling author of Devotion and Still Writing
"Don and Mindy Wallace had always been Francophiles, so when they had the opportunity to buy a home on a small French island, they leaped sight unseen - into a crumbling mess that challenged their finances and family." - Los Angeles Times
"Abundant reflection on the nature of quiet village life is nicely juxtaposed by commentary on the eccentric neighbors and other inhabitants of the island. Although change inevitably comes to the island, for the Wallaces, their little cottage will always be home. " - Shelf Awareness for Readers
"The French House isn't a memoir. It's a vacation. Charming, gorgeous, perceptive, it is peppered with unforgettable characters and steeped in the deep red wine of long-term friendship, showing us how a remarkable place can make a life worth living. You will never want to leave Belle Ile or Don Wallace's inspiring tale of holding onto a dream despite overwhelming adversity." - Jennie Fields, author of The Age of Desire
"A journalist and fiction writer's account of how a crumbling house he bought on a French island became his family's unexpected refuge and salvation...Warm, funny and full of heart." - Kirkus
"The only question is which you'll fall in love with first, Don Wallace's plucky family, or the enchanted French island on which they (re)build their dream house. Lyrical, funny, and poignant, THE FRENCH HOUSE is the next best thing to an extended vacation by the sea." - Kevin Baker, bestselling author of The Big Crowd
"Author Don Wallace shares the heartwarming story about his family's 30-year journey to restore a ruined cottage on the tiny French island of Belle Ile off the coast of Brittany... readers are privy to the charming true story of a family's journey to create the perfect home away from home." - E! News
"Wallace's ability to articulate the honest struggle that most people face while trying to find their place in life combined with his breathtaking descriptions of the French isle's landscape make this a perfect summer read." - Bella Magazine
"VILLAGE IDIOTS is a brave, insightful and very amusing memoir about a fantasy that many of us have had but not dared to attempt. The only problem with it is that now I want to adopt myself into the Wallace family." - Jane Smiley, New York Times bestselling author and winner of the Pulitzer Prize
"In this beautifully-written, rich, moving story of a fabulous, resourceful and utterly original family, Don Wallace has crafted a delicious French bon-bon of a book. THE FRENCH HOUSE is full of humor, hope, and I dare say, lessons on how to live a life full of meaning. I loved it."" - Dani Shapiro, bestselling author of Devotion and Still Writing
"Don and Mindy Wallace had always been Francophiles, so when they had the opportunity to buy a home on a small French island, they leaped sight unseen - into a crumbling mess that challenged their finances and family." - Los Angeles Times
"Abundant reflection on the nature of quiet village life is nicely juxtaposed by commentary on the eccentric neighbors and other inhabitants of the island. Although change inevitably comes to the island, for the Wallaces, their little cottage will always be home. " - Shelf Awareness for Readers
"The French House isn't a memoir. It's a vacation. Charming, gorgeous, perceptive, it is peppered with unforgettable characters and steeped in the deep red wine of long-term friendship, showing us how a remarkable place can make a life worth living. You will never want to leave Belle Ile or Don Wallace's inspiring tale of holding onto a dream despite overwhelming adversity." - Jennie Fields, author of The Age of Desire
"A journalist and fiction writer's account of how a crumbling house he bought on a French island became his family's unexpected refuge and salvation...Warm, funny and full of heart." - Kirkus
"The only question is which you'll fall in love with first, Don Wallace's plucky family, or the enchanted French island on which they (re)build their dream house. Lyrical, funny, and poignant, THE FRENCH HOUSE is the next best thing to an extended vacation by the sea." - Kevin Baker, bestselling author of The Big Crowd
"Author Don Wallace shares the heartwarming story about his family's 30-year journey to restore a ruined cottage on the tiny French island of Belle Ile off the coast of Brittany... readers are privy to the charming true story of a family's journey to create the perfect home away from home." - E! News
"Wallace's ability to articulate the honest struggle that most people face while trying to find their place in life combined with his breathtaking descriptions of the French isle's landscape make this a perfect summer read." - Bella Magazine
More About the Author
DON WALLACE has written fiction and non-fiction, journalism, films, reviews and opinion pieces, even the odd poem and song. He writes about a number of diverse environments: France, surfing, military history, business and entrepreneurs, the boating world, bass fishing, high school football, civil rights and Hawaiian music. He has been a magazine editor at Time Inc, Hearst, the New York Times, and Conde Nast and was most recently Film Editor at The Honolulu Weekly. From Long Beach, Calif, he attended Long Beach Poly, UC Santa Cruz, and the Iowa Writers' Workshop; with his wife Mindy Pennybacker (The Green Guide, DO ONE GREEN THING) he lived in New York City for 27 years before returning to Mindy's native Honolulu in 2009. Their son Rory Wallace lives in Manhattan.
Don's new book is THE FRENCH HOUSE: An American Family, a Ruined Maison, and the Village that Restored Them All (Sourcebooks, June 3). It's a memoir of over 30 years that he and his wife Mindy have spent on a tiny island off the coast of Brittany called Belle Ile. They first visited the island as wandering writers in 1980, and were lured by a siren (actually, a former college abroad professor of Mindy's at Stanford)into buying a house in her village. It turned out to be a ruin. It nearly ruined their finances for 7 years, and yet--here they are, deeply enmeshed in rural village life on the Cote Sauvage, with friendships and more stories to tell than there is time. Meryl Streep calls it: "A lovely, shimmering story... The French House moves to a soulful, very funny rhythm all its own."
Don's last book was ONE GREAT GAME: Two Teams, Two Dreams, in the First-Ever High School National Championship Football Game (Atria, 2003; paper 2004; Kindle). It chronicled a year in the football life of Concord De La Salle of Northern California and Long Beach Polytechnic down South. De La Salle was undefeated for 11 seasons and coached by a legend, Bob Ladouceur; Poly, which as sent more players to the NFL than any high school, was coached by Raul Lara, a probation officer in his first season. These two high-contrast schools--De La Salle private and Catholic, mostly white, LB Poly public, located in the inner-city, the most diverse high school in America in the 2000 Census--jockeyed for position, trained and worried about a football game that was destined to go down in history. The path to the Oct 5, 2001 game is fascinating, but there's more: a sociological study of public and private education, an inside story of how high school sports was being turned into a big business, and a moving personal account of kids, parents, teachers, coaches, fans and the author's own family. When the tragedy of 9/11 alters ONE GREAT GAME'S trajectory--and, of course, America's and the world's--the story takes on added spiritual and human resonance. Finally, the game itself does not disappoint.
Don's first novel, HOT WATER (Soho, 1991), is a comedy about a "rod and gun" marriage. Gar, the husband, wants to leave his job as a Coca-Cola bottling manager and become a pro bass fisherman. His mind is filled with the ways and wiles of the small-mouth bass. His wife, the formidable Virginia Roy, is bored with her life and filled with unformed ambition, thwarted by their provincial Southern life. A die-hard conservative, she turns to paintball, learns to love camouflage, and she decides her destiny is to be a mercenary. The genial put-upon Gar and the proto-Sarah Palin Virgina Roy are also a great love story, united above all by their devotion to each other--even if she does shoot him once in awhile (with a paintball gun).
Don has also written for The New York Times, Harper's Magazine, Fast Company, Kirkus Reviews and many other publications. Along the way he has won awards such as the James Michener Copernicus Prize for a novel; the Pluma de Plata Mexicana for reporting about Mexico; and Author of the Year at Naval History Magazine. He attended the MacDowell Colony.
Don serialized a novel of the American Revolution for 3 years in Naval History Magazine: THE LOG OF MATTHEW ROVING (US Naval Institute Press), winning him Author of the Year honors in 2002.
Don is a featured subject in and contributor to WE WANTED TO BE WRITERS: Life, Love, and Literature at the Iowa Writers' Workshop (Skyhorse, August 2011).
Don was the writer of a documentary about Hawaiian music, aired by PBS Hawaii, the Pacific Rim Film Festival in Santa Cruz and the Honolulu International Film Festival. THOSE WHO CAME BEFORE: The Musical Journey of Eddie Kamae, aired on July 28, 2011.
Don has worked, among others, as Executive editor at Time Inc and at The New York Times Magazine Group; as senior editor at Conde Nast and at Hearst; he has founded and created magazines, including Traveler's Advantage and Golf Digest Woman. He has experience in all types of publications, including business, sports, women's, travel, literary/general, environmental. He is a specialist in start-ups and custom publishing.
BLOGS: don-wallace.com; donwallacefranceblog.tumblr.com; A Salty Blog, at www.asaltydog.blogspot.com.
On the topic of "What It Means to Be a Writer Today" on wewantedtobewriters.com
WEBSITE: www.don-wallace.com
Don's new book is THE FRENCH HOUSE: An American Family, a Ruined Maison, and the Village that Restored Them All (Sourcebooks, June 3). It's a memoir of over 30 years that he and his wife Mindy have spent on a tiny island off the coast of Brittany called Belle Ile. They first visited the island as wandering writers in 1980, and were lured by a siren (actually, a former college abroad professor of Mindy's at Stanford)into buying a house in her village. It turned out to be a ruin. It nearly ruined their finances for 7 years, and yet--here they are, deeply enmeshed in rural village life on the Cote Sauvage, with friendships and more stories to tell than there is time. Meryl Streep calls it: "A lovely, shimmering story... The French House moves to a soulful, very funny rhythm all its own."
Don's last book was ONE GREAT GAME: Two Teams, Two Dreams, in the First-Ever High School National Championship Football Game (Atria, 2003; paper 2004; Kindle). It chronicled a year in the football life of Concord De La Salle of Northern California and Long Beach Polytechnic down South. De La Salle was undefeated for 11 seasons and coached by a legend, Bob Ladouceur; Poly, which as sent more players to the NFL than any high school, was coached by Raul Lara, a probation officer in his first season. These two high-contrast schools--De La Salle private and Catholic, mostly white, LB Poly public, located in the inner-city, the most diverse high school in America in the 2000 Census--jockeyed for position, trained and worried about a football game that was destined to go down in history. The path to the Oct 5, 2001 game is fascinating, but there's more: a sociological study of public and private education, an inside story of how high school sports was being turned into a big business, and a moving personal account of kids, parents, teachers, coaches, fans and the author's own family. When the tragedy of 9/11 alters ONE GREAT GAME'S trajectory--and, of course, America's and the world's--the story takes on added spiritual and human resonance. Finally, the game itself does not disappoint.
Don's first novel, HOT WATER (Soho, 1991), is a comedy about a "rod and gun" marriage. Gar, the husband, wants to leave his job as a Coca-Cola bottling manager and become a pro bass fisherman. His mind is filled with the ways and wiles of the small-mouth bass. His wife, the formidable Virginia Roy, is bored with her life and filled with unformed ambition, thwarted by their provincial Southern life. A die-hard conservative, she turns to paintball, learns to love camouflage, and she decides her destiny is to be a mercenary. The genial put-upon Gar and the proto-Sarah Palin Virgina Roy are also a great love story, united above all by their devotion to each other--even if she does shoot him once in awhile (with a paintball gun).
Don has also written for The New York Times, Harper's Magazine, Fast Company, Kirkus Reviews and many other publications. Along the way he has won awards such as the James Michener Copernicus Prize for a novel; the Pluma de Plata Mexicana for reporting about Mexico; and Author of the Year at Naval History Magazine. He attended the MacDowell Colony.
Don serialized a novel of the American Revolution for 3 years in Naval History Magazine: THE LOG OF MATTHEW ROVING (US Naval Institute Press), winning him Author of the Year honors in 2002.
Don is a featured subject in and contributor to WE WANTED TO BE WRITERS: Life, Love, and Literature at the Iowa Writers' Workshop (Skyhorse, August 2011).
Don was the writer of a documentary about Hawaiian music, aired by PBS Hawaii, the Pacific Rim Film Festival in Santa Cruz and the Honolulu International Film Festival. THOSE WHO CAME BEFORE: The Musical Journey of Eddie Kamae, aired on July 28, 2011.
Don has worked, among others, as Executive editor at Time Inc and at The New York Times Magazine Group; as senior editor at Conde Nast and at Hearst; he has founded and created magazines, including Traveler's Advantage and Golf Digest Woman. He has experience in all types of publications, including business, sports, women's, travel, literary/general, environmental. He is a specialist in start-ups and custom publishing.
BLOGS: don-wallace.com; donwallacefranceblog.tumblr.com; A Salty Blog, at www.asaltydog.blogspot.com.
On the topic of "What It Means to Be a Writer Today" on wewantedtobewriters.com
WEBSITE: www.don-wallace.com
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
16 of 18 people found the following review helpful
By
WestMetroMommy
on June 3, 2014
Format: Kindle Edition
Comment
Sending feedback...
This was one of those cases when I expected a different book than I actually got. From the above summary, I thought I was going to get a French twist on The Money Pit. There are definitely elements of that in this book, although not in the same slap-stick vein. But, instead, this is really a love story that an American couple has about a way of life.
Don and Mindy Wallace are what others may call Bohemians--although they would probably use another word to describe themselves. In the midst of living a paycheck to paycheck Spartan lifestyle in New York City, they buy a ramshackle ruin in a town on an island off the coast of Brittany. I have to admit that I was a bit taken aback by their financial choices, I do think that my reaction actually made this book more interesting to read.
However, while there is a fair amount about their purchase and the work in entails, the real heart of this book is the village and its people. Wallace skillfully brings to life the villagers in a way that is somewhat reminiscent of Garrison Keillor and his Lake Wobegon. But this book is essentially French. Wallace pays a great deal of attention to the French--especially the Belle Isle--way of life and how it differs from the American, or even the mainland French way of life.
I do feel that you have to read this book in a leisurely way, as if you yourself were on Belle Isle. This is not a book to rush through--it is a book to savor. The beauty in Wallace's writing is in the details and you won't catch them if you are trying to push yourself through this book. His descriptions of the island are breathtaking--and accurate! After I finished this book, I googled pictures of Belle Isle and it was exactly as I had imagined it while reading this book.Read more ›
Don and Mindy Wallace are what others may call Bohemians--although they would probably use another word to describe themselves. In the midst of living a paycheck to paycheck Spartan lifestyle in New York City, they buy a ramshackle ruin in a town on an island off the coast of Brittany. I have to admit that I was a bit taken aback by their financial choices, I do think that my reaction actually made this book more interesting to read.
However, while there is a fair amount about their purchase and the work in entails, the real heart of this book is the village and its people. Wallace skillfully brings to life the villagers in a way that is somewhat reminiscent of Garrison Keillor and his Lake Wobegon. But this book is essentially French. Wallace pays a great deal of attention to the French--especially the Belle Isle--way of life and how it differs from the American, or even the mainland French way of life.
I do feel that you have to read this book in a leisurely way, as if you yourself were on Belle Isle. This is not a book to rush through--it is a book to savor. The beauty in Wallace's writing is in the details and you won't catch them if you are trying to push yourself through this book. His descriptions of the island are breathtaking--and accurate! After I finished this book, I googled pictures of Belle Isle and it was exactly as I had imagined it while reading this book.Read more ›
Thank you for your feedback.
If this review is inappropriate, please let us know.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful
By
C.R. Hurst
TOP 500 REVIEWER on June 3, 2014
Format: Kindle Edition
Verified Purchase
Comment
Sending feedback...
What I like best about The French House by Don Wallace is its pace. From its opening chapters where Wallace gives us a guided tour of his charming but temperamental maison to its conclusion where we learn that after twenty-nine years restorations to the home are still not complete, the memoir moves with seductive slowness. And well it should, since its setting is a small island off the coast of Brittany, a place time forgot. Here we meet the Bretons, an independent people who make the rugged and beautiful island their home, and who accept (sometimes grudgingly) the American Wallace and his extended family. I urge you to read this lovely, witty book, perhaps in the warm sun lounging in an old wicker chair with a glass of Chardonnay by your side, but certainly slowly, since as the author asks, "What's the rush?
Thank you for your feedback.
If this review is inappropriate, please let us know.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
12 of 14 people found the following review helpful
By
Michelle Fabio, Bleeding Espresso
on June 9, 2014
Format: Kindle Edition
Comment
Sending feedback...
Don Wallace’s The French House is engaging and well-written and will make even non-Francophiles yearn for a trip to France.
This memoir tells the tale of Wallace and his wife Mindy’s purchase and renovation of a house on a small French island. Like many an expat tale, it includes stories of difficulties in construction (including cash flow!) and unique neighbors, but it’s far from cliché thanks to Wallace’s writing. You’ll find yourself rooting for the couple as they scrap and save and persevere, transforming their ruin into a lovely home — over the course of decades.
This book charmed me from the opening chapter, written as if the reader is a guest arriving to stay in the French house. Wallace’s prose is open and conversational, and his storytelling is superb.
At its core, The French House is a story of wanting something so badly that no logic or reason can dare stand in the way; whether you’ve experienced this yourself or wish to do so someday, you will find inspiration as well as some laughs within its pages. The beautifully composed descriptions of the French landscape and lifestyle are added bonuses.
I just loved it and recommend it to anyone who likes memoirs, expat tales, being transported to faraway lands through words, property renovation stories, or simply good, solid writing.
This memoir tells the tale of Wallace and his wife Mindy’s purchase and renovation of a house on a small French island. Like many an expat tale, it includes stories of difficulties in construction (including cash flow!) and unique neighbors, but it’s far from cliché thanks to Wallace’s writing. You’ll find yourself rooting for the couple as they scrap and save and persevere, transforming their ruin into a lovely home — over the course of decades.
This book charmed me from the opening chapter, written as if the reader is a guest arriving to stay in the French house. Wallace’s prose is open and conversational, and his storytelling is superb.
At its core, The French House is a story of wanting something so badly that no logic or reason can dare stand in the way; whether you’ve experienced this yourself or wish to do so someday, you will find inspiration as well as some laughs within its pages. The beautifully composed descriptions of the French landscape and lifestyle are added bonuses.
I just loved it and recommend it to anyone who likes memoirs, expat tales, being transported to faraway lands through words, property renovation stories, or simply good, solid writing.
Thank you for your feedback.
If this review is inappropriate, please let us know.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
By
Emmanuelle Cazabonne
on July 25, 2014
Format: Paperback
2 Comments
Sending feedback...
One of the characteristics of our modern world is that one no longer remains in one’s job for life. To survive, one often needs to reinvent oneself, and often in lands quite far away from where one was born.
Don Wallace and his wife Mindy are thus typical people of their time. Struggling as a young couple with their jobs and their own identity, they decided to travel in Europe and see if life would be better out there.
Things did not seem to be much brighter than in New York for these two aspiring authors, but at least in Greece they had tasted a bit of island life and they had liked it. So when a friend invited them to spend some time to recuperate on a tiny island off the Brittany French coast, they went.
From now on, forget about your typical modern couple!
When they discovered a house was for sale on this island of Belle Ile, they decided to buy it. The problem was, it looked more like a ruin than a house. Any typical people would probably have chosen security. But the Wallaces decided to follow their dream, their memory of their time there, and they risked everything to achieve their dream. It actually took years for them to be able to finance enough restoration to be able to spend at least one night in their dream house!
I was really amazed by their courage and their tenacity, further more challenged by the notorious slowness of French repair men and workers. Besides, at first they were not even supported by friends and family who thought they were really nuts and totally irresponsible.
So the book is about their adventure, and how they coped all along, with a new born on top and family hardships.
But it is also so much more.Read more ›
Don Wallace and his wife Mindy are thus typical people of their time. Struggling as a young couple with their jobs and their own identity, they decided to travel in Europe and see if life would be better out there.
Things did not seem to be much brighter than in New York for these two aspiring authors, but at least in Greece they had tasted a bit of island life and they had liked it. So when a friend invited them to spend some time to recuperate on a tiny island off the Brittany French coast, they went.
From now on, forget about your typical modern couple!
When they discovered a house was for sale on this island of Belle Ile, they decided to buy it. The problem was, it looked more like a ruin than a house. Any typical people would probably have chosen security. But the Wallaces decided to follow their dream, their memory of their time there, and they risked everything to achieve their dream. It actually took years for them to be able to finance enough restoration to be able to spend at least one night in their dream house!
I was really amazed by their courage and their tenacity, further more challenged by the notorious slowness of French repair men and workers. Besides, at first they were not even supported by friends and family who thought they were really nuts and totally irresponsible.
So the book is about their adventure, and how they coped all along, with a new born on top and family hardships.
But it is also so much more.Read more ›
Thank you for your feedback.
If this review is inappropriate, please let us know.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
Most Recent Customer Reviews
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
