The cover is delightful, the thought of stepping into it and enjoying the Nice sun is an offer we cannot refuse
Story in a seaside shell
Theresa is 60 and feels like her life is just one round of unpaid babysitting for her ungrateful daughter and even more ungrateful grandchildren. So when she decides to up sticks from her home (too handily accessible for babysitting duties) her family is none too happy.
But Bellevue-sur-Mer seems a lot more attractive than Islington in so many more ways than just escaping baby sitting duties. But when she gets there, turns out life in paradise is not all sun and cocktails.
Several secrets start to fall out of closets – one of which is a naked man. And he isn’t revealing secrets…
Just what on earth and where on earth has Theresa ended up getting involved in?
Place and setting
Beaulieu sur mer We think this might be the inspiration for the fictional Bellevue-sur-mer. If not its a nice excuse to visit! Nice – Promenade des anglais – the casino palace hotel is almost a landmark in its own right Theresa walks and does a lot of thinking along here Avenue jean medecin for the nice shops – the old town where the girls brunch and wander
But all that glistens in the Frenchsun is not gold as Theresa soon finds out. Moving abroad at any age is a challenge and exciting but at the age of 60, particularly so. Nevertheless Theresa wants a change and a change is what she gets.
The small town of Bellevue-Sur-Mer sparkled like a diamond on the French Mediterranean coast.
Trying to learn French and get into the swing of things, she’s helped by the local expat community. She soon meets up with Carol, a glamorous American married to David; Sally a TV star , Zoe, Sian and Brian….
The town of Bellevue-Sur-Mer is luckily fictional for if you met these people and saw what Theresa saw then you may not want to live here. Still Nice is rather stunning and more than makes up for it. Taking the bus –
The route ran alongside the beach for the length of her journey, then she had a very short walk along the Promenade des Anglais to her hotel.
There’s a nice literary leaning towards the area described too –
Understandably, Bellevue-Sur-Mer had, like most places on the Cote d’Azur, seen more than its fair share of artistic and literary visitors: you couldn’t walk five hundred yards without passing a building which had been associated with Rudyard Kipling,Robert Louis Stevenson, HG Wells, Jules Verne……
When Theresa takes up baking and giving cookery classes for her new friends, the novel takes on a fluffier tone and there are several recipes dotted in the book to enjoy.
Cakes, lunch beside the beach and a gentle, easy read. Relax and take off those flip flops.
Celia Imrie
Want to bake like Theresa? Inspired by the recipes in the book?
Inspired by Theresa’s love of baking and her cookery classes, we offering the chance to win a copy of the book along with a baking starter kit. The French perfumed goodies are for when you’re sitting on the beach waiting for your cakes to bake.
The book trail 