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Damson Skies and Dragonflies: A Journey through the Seasons in the French Countryside (Life at Les Libellules) Paperback – September 14, 2021

4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 764 ratings

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No. 1 Best Seller in French Travel and New Release in French Cooking.

“Is it too much?” I mouth to my husband when the estate agent’s back is turned. I’m talking about the amount of work, not the asking price, as we survey the dilapidated state of the 300-year-old house. He gives me a knowing look, purses his mouth in a French way and shakes his head. He’s going to do a deal. The truth is, too much work or not, it’s too late. The fairy-tale cottage has spun her magic web around us, and we are her willing captives. As I set out on my voyage of discovery, will I enjoy a leisurely existence close to nature where I can cook with produce from my garden, or will country life not be as cosy I imagined?

This is the first enchantingly uplifting instalment in the Life at Les Libellules series and is perfect for fans of Janine Marsh, Frances Mayes and Peter Mayle.

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Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B09G9LKTSR
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Independently published (September 14, 2021)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 330 pages
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 979-8476800729
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.25 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.83 x 9 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 764 ratings

About the author

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Lindy Viandier
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Lindy was an advertising feature writer for a North Wales newspaper, has written freelance short stories for various UK magazines and had articles on language and culture featured in French Property News. She has a great love of literature and cites the authors Laurie Lee, Gerald Durrell and Lawrence Durrell as her sources of inspiration. Lindy worked as a nurse in Wales for over 20 years before moving to Paris to be with her French partner, now husband. After taking an intensive residential course to qualify as a TESOL teacher, she taught medical English to nurses, midwives and physiotherapists in teaching hospitals in and around Paris before buying Les Libellules, the 300-year-old house that is the inspiration for her memoirs. Lindy is an avid photographer and loves cooking and creating recipes using her home-grown produce, many of which feature in her book.

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
764 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the book delightful, entertaining, and well-written. They appreciate the enchanting descriptions of the place and wildlife around them. The pacing is described as magical and touching, transporting readers to life in rural France. Readers also enjoy the recipes and mention that cat lovers will enjoy the book.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

15 customers mention "Enjoyment"15 positive0 negative

Customers enjoy the book's descriptions of places and events. They find it delightful, entertaining, and a perfect read for these unsettling times. The memoir generates beautiful images in their minds.

"...This book is well written and is a delightful read" Read more

"...As an arm-chair traveler this was a happy read about a couple who might be in over their heads in this project but we won't tell them...." Read more

"...critters, as well as all of the local neighbors, and this was a really fun read." Read more

"This book was very enjoyable. It's a non-fiction account of a a second house in the French countryside, while the couple actually worked in Paris...." Read more

7 customers mention "Writing style"7 positive0 negative

Customers enjoy the writing style. They find the book well-written and enjoyable to read.

"...This book is well written and is a delightful read" Read more

"Very well written of the beginning a restoration project of a 300 year old house in the Burgendy area of France ...." Read more

"I loved this book from start to finish. Lindy is a superb writer with a gift for putting the reader right inside the story...." Read more

"...The author is down-to-earth, and her descriptions are marvelous, telling of her and hubby's lives trying to restore a beautiful old house in the..." Read more

5 customers mention "Description"5 positive0 negative

Customers enjoy the book's descriptions. They find the wildlife, cats, kittens, and interactions with various creatures enchanting. The descriptions are marvelous, down-to-earth, and detailed, including analogies and details about insects, plants, and animals in the garden. Readers also appreciate the village traditions and fascinating old house.

"...Lindy Viandier’s sensibility produces enchanting descriptions of the place and the creatures around Les Libellules as she narrates the first year..." Read more

"...know the neighbors, the cats, the village traditions and the fascinating old house as Ms Viander lets us into her life, one chapter at a time...." Read more

"...I enjoyed the description of the wildlife, the cats/kittens, and the interactions with various locals...." Read more

"...The author is down-to-earth, and her descriptions are marvelous, telling of her and hubby's lives trying to restore a beautiful old house in the..." Read more

5 customers mention "Pacing"5 positive0 negative

Customers enjoy the book's pacing and find it charming and magical. They describe it as a true-life fairytale that transports them to rural France. Readers appreciate the touching tale of the music box restoration and the description of the Mayberryesque Fete des Voisins (Feast of the Neighbors).

"...I love her description of the Mayberryesque Fete des Voisins (Feast of the Neighbors) that have probably been going on for centuries...." Read more

"...and Dragonflies, by Lindy Viandier felt like I was reading a fairy tale for adults...." Read more

"An invitation into an enchanting real life experience..." Read more

"A true life fairytale that transport one to life in rural France! Exquisite!..." Read more

5 customers mention "Recipes"5 positive0 negative

Customers enjoy the recipes. They say the book has great recipes and would make a good gift.

"...Enough so that the book is full of delicious recipes making use of the bounty in their potager. I’m looking forward to trying some myself...." Read more

"...A bonus are recipes and meal descriptions. This is a book that can be reread with pleasure." Read more

"...Another big draw card is the enticing recipes, as gallants attempts are made to feed the ever-hungry Mr V, working hard on restorations!..." Read more

"...of the commune, join in with local traditions, and are treated to some delicious recipes...." Read more

3 customers mention "Cat-loving"3 positive0 negative

Customers enjoy the book's wildlife and cat photos. They say it's a good read for cat lovers.

"...In the country Paris cat meets the local barn cats. Cat lovers will enjoy...." Read more

"...I enjoyed the description of the wildlife, the cats/kittens, and the interactions with various locals...." Read more

"...Not this one. This book paints visual landscapes with words, introduced you to cats, snails, frogs,dragonflies and glow worms. It's a beautiful book." Read more

A delicious debut
5 out of 5 stars
A delicious debut
Before I start my own review, I would like to point out to @Zuri whose review precedes this one that as a French speaker and long time resident of la vraie France profonde I am well versed with la Fête de la Saint Jean which this reader erroneously corrects the author on because it is, indeed de la Saint Jean in French. Actually, the author does not claim to be fluent in French, and states ‘My French is reasonable; I’m not fluent by a long chalk, but I get by’. With that put straight I continue with my own review:I read this book on a flight from Boston to London. The first visit I had been able to make to see my family since February 2020. Lindy Viandier’s memoir could not have been a more perfect companion on my travels. Damson Skies and Dragonflies is a lovely debut from an author who deserves great success. Her narrator draws us in immediately and successfully with her conversational style. The story, the first in a proposed trilogy, concerns Lindy and her husband (always referred to, somewhat enigmatically, as Mr V) finding the house of their dreams in the Côte d’Or department of Burgundy. Lindy is English, Mr V French and they live in Paris. The house, a fairytale cottage with a Rapunzel tower (actually a pigeon loft typical of the region) is in a shockingly neglected state but their hearts are instantly snared. Truly, as the French would say: ’un coup de cœur’ . They name the house 'Les Libellules' for the abundance of dragonflies that live in their garden.This book is so much more than a renovation story. It is the blossoming of a love affair with a place, with its people, with its wildlife, with its landscape, with its seasons. The story arc takes us through the first year and each section represents a new season. As the house wakes up, so the couple are more and more captivated by this little corner of paradise they have alighted in. Lyrically descriptive and lusciously pictorial in style, the writing is a joy. It’s an easy read: so easy that the reader is left longing for more, which we are promised. The narrator is wonderfully self-deprecating with an easy sense of humour. Her anecdotal style sits as effortlessly with amusing stories of her early days in Paris as it does with tales of the adopted troupe of cats whose attempts to take up residence along with Pussy Willow, the cat who Lindy and Mr V actually belong to.Favourites amongst so many favourite tales include the moment when the narrator does what any self-respecting Liverpool lass would do and pours the end of a very expensive bottle of wine into her glass and drinks it as Mr. V is using the restaurant facilities. His expression of disapproval as he returns to their table is priceless and perfectly described. The French are very particular about table etiquette and this was an epic fall from grace. Another memory is of the first time her beau introduced her to his friends. Lacking all but the most rudimentary French, she was tongue-tied and at the effect of the obvious horror of his chic and educated friends that he had produced this frightful English bumpkin into their midst.Interestingly, the narrator tells her stories in the present tense. This is unusual but works really well, giving the reader a sense of being alongside her as the house and its surroundings cast their spell and draw her deeper and deeper into the magical heart. So effective is the narrative that the reader finds themselves wishing they really were there, could honestly and actually experience the bewitching life that is being spun like sparkling gossamer. Even the horrors are recanted in a way that is fresh and new. Renovation stories abound, French country stories from the perspective of foreigners too, but this book has a viridity that lifts it into a gleaming new realm.I too am resident in France, and I too fell in love with a house that needs epic amounts of care and attention to bring it back to life. I adore the narrtive for gracing Les Libellules with she/her pronouns. For this is not simply a house: this is a character, a friend, a figure of importance who the narrator and her husband feel a responsibility to as drops in the ocean of her great history, privileged to be her custodians for a while.From the delicious cover by Mel Beswick and her lovely pen and ink drawings which head each chapter and section and herald recipes to the ‘what I learned today’ footers that often end a sequence and which are amusing and informative by turn, this book is a treasure. The author is an accomplished cook and her recipes are tantalising. So is the thought of the next instalment. Write on Ms Viandier, this debut is entrancing, enchanting and seductive. A delightful reflection of the country I call home.
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Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on October 31, 2023
    It’s hard to say which caught my fancy first – the title, because dragonflies are my totem, or the lovely French historic house on the cover, but when my friend Beth Haslam (like Lindy and myself, a Welsh Francophile) recommended it to me, I was sold!

    Who among us hasn’t fantasized bringing a lovely old home back to life? In this case, Les Libellules is a 300-year-old maison who has seen brighter days, and had been inhabited by nothing but mice, ants, and spiders for a decade or so.

    These plucky Parisians (he native-born, she a Welsh lass living la vie Parisienne) jump in with all four feet to bring her back to beautiful life. In spite of never having had a garden, she turned her hand at turning the soil and got a growing concern going well to make great strides at living off the land.
    Enough so that the book is full of delicious recipes making use of the bounty in their potager. I’m looking forward to trying some myself.

    If you’re a fan of Peter Mayle, you’ll be a fan of Lindy Viandier. She encounters calamity after calamity, and bears it with the grace of the dragonflies which she named their home after.

    Like a pussyfooting cat, she never puts a word wrong. I love her description of the Mayberryesque Fete des Voisins (Feast of the Neighbors) that have probably been going on for centuries. And being a brocanteuse (I believe I coined this word), I delight in reading of her flea markets, and car boot and jumble sales, and the care she puts into helping them be all they can be.

    You’ll especially love the touching tale of the music box her dear husband restored for her.

    You will enjoy her droll and conversational, “What I’ve learnt today” coda to each chapter.

    One of my favorite chuckles was, in describing the distinct differences between Burgundians and Parisians, that with regard to tights, in the UK she wears a Medium, in Paris she wears a Large, but in Burgundy she wears a Small!

    I read one review that claimed this book didn’t have enough ups and downs. Well, I won’t be a spoiler, but the cats and kittens had my heart in my throat a couple of times.

    I’m a decided Normandy/Brittany girl, and hadn’t paid much attention to Burgundy, although we were intrigued when driving on the autoroute and spotted Dijon’s colorful tile roofs. It looked like Germany or Switzerland, which just happen to lurk right over the border. Now, thanks to Lindy, I can’t wait to stop and smell the Burgundian roses on our next trip!

    Really looking forward to devouring her sequel Mellow Mists and Walnut Wine!
  • Reviewed in the United States on February 8, 2023
    There are a large number of recent books written by Brits who relocate to the French countryside. I have read several of them. This memoir is the work of a Welch woman who married a Frenchman. After months of searching they purchase a property in Burgundy. They commute from Paris where he is fully employed and their cat commutes as well. In the country Paris cat meets the local barn cats. Cat lovers will enjoy. The place requires extensive reworking and convinces this reader that no one over 50 should take on such a project. This book is well written and is a delightful read
    4 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on October 19, 2023
    Very well written of the beginning a restoration project of a 300 year old house in the Burgendy area of France . As an arm-chair traveler this was a happy read about a couple who might be in over their heads in this project but we won't tell them. We will just enjoy the lyrical and loving descriptions of a first year of what may turn into a life time project. A bonus are recipes and meal descriptions. This is a book that can be reread with pleasure.
    One person found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on August 9, 2023
    I loved this book from start to finish. Lindy is a superb writer with a gift for putting the reader right inside the story. Being a lover of all things French, I especially enjoyed getting acquainted with this particular area of France, as I'm not very familiar with it. I love Lindy's descriptions of all the little barn cats and other critters, as well as all of the local neighbors, and this was a really fun read.
    One person found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on November 19, 2021
    This book was very enjoyable. It's a non-fiction account of a a second house in the French countryside, while the couple actually worked in Paris. There are no sensational bits, but the author comes across as a very likable character. Also, in these rather tense Covid times, it's one of those books which calms you down! One thing (very small!) bothered me. The UK author has been living in France for a long time and is fluent in the language. In the last chapters, however, she talks about a "Feast of Saint John", but she writes it, over and over, as "La fête de la Saint-Jean". Now surely that should be "La fête du Saint-Jean"?? Strange that someone who speaks French can make such a basic grammar mistake?
    2 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on January 8, 2022
    Reading Damson Skies and Dragonflies, by Lindy Viandier felt like I was reading a fairy tale for adults. Lindy Viandier’s sensibility produces enchanting descriptions of the place and the creatures around Les Libellules as she narrates the first year she and her husband spent remodeling the cottage they bought in Burgundy. The title of the memoir alone generates beautiful images in the readers’ minds. Besides describing the natural wonders around Les Libellules, Lindy Viandier also tells us about their friendly neighbors and the community festivals in the area. Viandier’s descriptions of places and events are vivid and colorful, which makes the readers feel as if the events are happening at this very moment. I have recommended the book to friends, who are currently reading and loving it. I am anxiously waiting for sequels to be available.
    5 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on February 6, 2022
    What a privilege to get to know the neighbors, the cats, the village traditions and the fascinating old house as Ms Viander lets us into her life, one chapter at a time.
    Through renovating dramas and successes, and excursions, and visits we get to know about the daily life, and experience meeting the cats and the ever unfolding natural life around Les Libellules.
    Another big draw card is the enticing recipes, as gallants attempts are made to feed the ever-hungry Mr V, working hard on restorations!
    A very enjoyable book, in which the author showcases her personality and sense of humor more and more as the book progresses. I am looking forward to the next book!

Top reviews from other countries

  • Isabel Alexander
    5.0 out of 5 stars A book that you just don't want to end!
    Reviewed in Canada on April 20, 2023
    To say I loved this story and the author's style are gross under statements!

    I was truly, truly sad to read the last words and hoped fervently that I would immediately find the continuation of Lindy Viandier's Life At Les Libellules so that I could purchase it and pick up where we left off!

    I felt part of this story, through the author's description, I was living there, part of the new history of this place!

    This author engages all of our senses and deftly draws us in to a magically, heart and humour filled experiences of past, present, and future caretakers of a special place indeed!
  • Francophile
    5.0 out of 5 stars An enchanting journey through the seasons
    Reviewed in France on February 23, 2023
    Lindy Viandier and her French husband fall under the spell of a house in need of renovation in the Burgundian countryside. This is Book 1 of their experiences, covering their first year, a journey through the seasons. They tackle the practical challenges while discovering the countryside, the culinary delights, the abundant wildlife and the people, revelling in the contrasts with their everyday life in Paris.

    Lindy Viandier has a talent for writing, and her descriptions of the natural world around their home are enchanting and evocative. No single element dominates the book. This is a holistic celebration of life in the French countryside with all its joys and setbacks, expressed with humour and sensitivity. You feel you are there with her, enjoying an apéritif on the terrace as dusk falls.
  • Kate McGowan
    5.0 out of 5 stars Uniquely spellbinding
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 16, 2021
    From the moment I turned the first page I found myself transported by Lindy to her 300-year-old Burgundian home, Les Libellules. I loved every page that followed of her memoir, which chronicles the first year of her and her husband, Mr V, lovingly restoring the house and her garden. Over the year they adapt to many challenges from insect invasions, structural struggles, and battles with extreme weather. They also adapt to the changes from their life in Paris; befriending characters from the community, caring for its wandering cats, and embracing local traditions and festivals.

    Lindy’s prose is very special indeed, her writing instantly draws you close as a reader and holds your attention. Her memoir is filled with rich descriptions and interjections of humour, which are contrasted alongside poignant reflections on nature and her adaptation to a life in rural France.

    I particularly loved the structure of her memoir too. Its quick chapters, broken down into further sections, make it easy to follow your own journey through the seasons with Lindy, leaving and returning to the book at your leisure. Other lovely touches are the hand drawn illustrations throughout, a wonderful array of recipes linked to chapters (I can’t wait to make her chocolate pots!), plus a little ‘what I learned today’ where you are invited to take a message away with you.

    I highly recommend this memoir for lovers of France, nature, culture and cookery. But beyond the many themes, I would recommend for anyone who is in need of their own escape. Allow the magic of Les Libellules to, as she did Lindy, put you under her spell.
  • jean henrickson
    5.0 out of 5 stars A compelling read!
    Reviewed in Australia on October 15, 2021
    Lindy Viandier writes exquisitely with powerful
    Imagery, describing her first year of living with her French husband in a hamlet in rural France. The book includes wonderful descriptions of the plants in her garden and also the wildlife including dragon flies, frogs and farm kittens. It also includes some tasty sounding recipes that I can’t wait to try! I couldn’t put it down and now I am eagerly awaiting hersecond memoir ‘Blackberries and butterflies.’ She is a really skilled author who held me spell bound.
  • M. Werdermann
    5.0 out of 5 stars A Relaxing Escape into a Real Life Adventure
    Reviewed in Canada on October 10, 2021
    What a lovely, relaxing read. This book is a beautiful balance between descriptive prose that stimulates all the senses, gentle humour, and an honest look at the struggle it really takes to realise your dreams. Sprinkled with recipes that sound both delicious and also surprisingly easy to make, I know I'll be referring back again and again.