Photo of me and Jean-Marc in 1991. Today, enjoy an extended sound file in French as Jean-Marc summarizes our story. Now that our vineyard memoir is written, we have arrived at a critical step: finding an agent and then a publisher for the hardcopy edition. Your help is vital! Please study the following synopsis in English and in French, and help answer the questions that follow.
Today’s Word: féerique
-magical, stellar, enchanting, fairy tale
The Lost Gardens is the story of a man who pursues his dream of making the ultimate Bandol wine. After experiencing the harvest at his uncle’s vineyard in the world-renowned Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Jean-Marc Espinasse makes a life-changing decision. He quits his job as an accountant in the cosmopolitan city of Marseille, and moves his young family, including his American wife, to an isolated domaine in the windy, inhospitable Rhone Valley. There begins an unbridled pursuit of his wine fantasy, which takes him on a whirlwind of bipolar ups and downs.
In a take-turns husband/wife narrative, Jean-Marc chronicles his battle with a longtime mood disorder, aggravated by a mysterious family tragedy, and his painful struggle as he comes up against a never-ending string of obstacles at the vineyard–from a near-death accident in his wine cellar, and again on his tractor, to the ultimate threat of a lawsuit which leads to his final breakdown and loss of the winery. In her chapters, Kristi shares her determination to stay sober on two consecutive vineyards, her own struggles with anxiety, and her escape into blogging and gardening. Throughout the story, she considers the mystery of love as she analyses her difficult relationship with her soulmate, from its fairytale beginning in the South of France to a total breakdown of the heart when the love is lost, somewhere among the wine and the vines.
With the vineyard and gardens slipping away, the couple has nowhere to turn but to each other. Through the storm there emerges a story of faith, hope, and love, and what it means to stay committed in the darkest moments.
Audio recording: Click here to listen to the book synopsis in French
The Lost Gardens est l'histoire d'un homme qui poursuit son rêve d'élaborer le nec plus ultra des vins de Bandol. Après une vendange chez son oncle, dans le célèbre vignoble de Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Jean-Marc Espinasse a une révélation. Il quitte son emploi de comptable dans la ville cosmopolite de Marseille et installe sa jeune famille, y compris sa femme américaine, dans un domaine isolé de la Vallée du Rhône, venteuse et inhospitalière. C'est là que commence la poursuite effrénée de son rêve de vigneron, qui l'entraîne dans un tourbillon de hauts et de bas bipolaires.
Dans un récit à tour de rôle, Jean-Marc raconte son combat contre ses troubles de l'humeur de longue date, aggravés par une mystérieuse tragédie familiale, et sa lutte douloureuse contre une série interminable d'obstacles au vignoble – d'un accident qui frôle la mort dans son chai, et un autre sur son tracteur ou la menace ultime d'un procès qui le mène à sa dépression finale et à la perte du vignoble. Dans ses chapitres, Kristi parle de sa détermination à rester sobre dans deux vignobles consécutifs, de ses propres luttes contre l'anxiété et de son mode d'évasion dans le blogging et le jardinage. Tout au long de l'histoire, elle se penche sur le mystère de l'amour en analysant la relation difficile qu'elle entretient avec son âme sœur, depuis son arrivée féerique dans le sud de la France jusqu'à son désespoir lorsque l'amour se perd, quelque part parmi le vin et les vignes.
Avec ces jardins qui leur échappent, le couple n'a plus qu'à se tourner l'un vers l'autre. À travers la tempête émerge une histoire de foi, d'espoir et d'amour et de ce que rester engagé signifie dans les moments les plus sombres.
QUESTIONS
1. An important question that publishers will want to know is this: What other books out there on the market resemble our story? In reading the synopsis above, does our account bring to mind anything else you have ever read with a similar theme? Please name those books in the comments section.
2. Does the English-to-French translation reflect the subtleties within the text? Do you have any suggestions or corrections?
3. What new words did you learn today via our text? We hope this bilingual edition has been as helpful to you as it has been to us. Thank you very much for your help with our book!
For more about our story and/or to purchase the current online edition, click here.
Photo of Jean-Marc and me by Suzanne Delperdang Willis Land. The "Real Men Drive Tractors" was a gift from our friends Chris and George. Thank you for sharing this post with anyone who may be interested in our story.
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Mille mercis encore to your son, Armand, who I just learned is 15, for such helpful and needed corrections in French!
I would like to purchase the online edition of your book as part of a birthday present for a friend. When I click on “Purchase here”, will it give me that option?
Sally Finkel
Trying to respond to question #1, I am stymied! I can’t think of anything I have read quite like this and I read a lot! I love the format and the length of the chapters. Your willingness to share your most personal feelings touched my heart and I admire and respect you both more than ever!
Thank you very much, Sally. I appreciate this! After your purchase, I will write you a note asking for the recipients information and any special instructions you might have.
Only one minor correction (addition) that caught my attention – in the first paragraph you note “Jean-Marc and his American wife” but never state your name; then in the second paragraph you appear as “Kristin” but there is no clear connection that you are this American wife. Just my little bit of input 🙂 Love your stories and your blog, and have had the pleasure over the past years of meeting you, Jean-Marc and your son here in Portland, Oregon!
Hello Becky, Thank you for this helpful addition and for your kind words. Sending warmest wishes to you in Portland.
Wishing you great success in getting your wonderful book published. I think it’s a unique idea with the perspectives of both of you, husband and wife! You’ve been through a lot and have also reaped many rewards after steely perseverance. Mush admiration and I think many couple will be able to relate your life stories to their own. I can’t wait to read again under the published print of a hardback book (or paperback?). 🙂 judi
Dear Kristi,
I am happy that you are going to publish your novel in a bilingual format. I have recently finished a wonderful book in a dual language (Italian and English) format which I highly recommend, “In Other Words/in Altre Parole” by Jhumpa Lahiri, a Pulitzer Prize- winning author. The Italian is on the left page and the English on the right. Paragraph structure is the same on both sides, so you will have a challenge to rework the writing so it matches up. But it is so worth the effort, I assure you, because the benefits to the reader are enormous. I could see a professor using this book to teach a wonderful class where the student could read the French page and then cover up the right side and attempt a translation or vice versa it’s just a marvelous way to learn. When I read Ms. Lahiri‘s book I increased my Italian vocabulary and polished my translation skills. Please get a copy of the book to see the beauty of this system, all the best, Suzanne
Only a few moments. I always enjoy your blog very much. As a professor, I do not see the word “domaine” commonly used for acreage in American English. I would suggest “plot of land”. Choice belongs to the author and editor! Thank you for the vulnerability you both bring to your very powerful narrative.
Thank you, Hazel! I had a doubt about this word. Your note is most helpful and your words about our book mean a lot. Merci!
No words of help about the book, but I adore the picture of you two in 1991. Such a beautiful, handsome couple.
Kristi, I think in your first paragraph of the pitch, it hit me when I saw the word “bipolar” and wondered if it was a euphemism for the ups and downs of the life story. To me, it kind of came out of nowhere. There are several themes here, one being the story of starting a winery and a family in that region in France. Another is the bipolar illness which by itself is the subject of many books. And then there is your story as a young American woman swept off her feet and leaving her country to marry and live in France. This is the hardest part in writing – the pitch and the clarification of the essence of the whole story. The last paragraph tells us that through love and dedication you have survived the travails. It’s a very compelling story from all angles and I can’t think of another that I’ve read that is like it. I’m currently reading a memoir written by a friend of mine “How to Enjoy Life with Bipolar Disorder” which is fascinating because of the circumstances of her life and childhood – I haven’t gotten to the illness part yet – but of course it’s nothing like your story. So…I’m going to sit down and read your memoir and then will know more about it!
What your book has and others don’t is the reality of your situation, without all the French stereotypes that make me cringe when I read them or see them in movies, from Maurice Chevalier to “A Year in Provence.” It is not meant to be charming, but real.
I am a weekly subscriber to your blog and have purchased your on line version of Lost Gardens as well as Blossoming in Provence. I regret that I do not have the retention skills I once had and am not sure it’s worth learning French in my late 60’s. However, the one thing I wish was included is a pronunciation key with the list of new words. Or being able to see the written version of your husband’s pronunciation rather than going back and forth looking at the words and registering to the spoken words.
Perhaps I just do not have enough experience with the French language but this would indeed be helpful for beginners like me.
Loving the books!
Hello Margo, Thank you for buying our book and for your thoughtful suggestions. There used to be a pronunciation key, but I did not always get it right, and discontinued it (before leading anyone astray). As for the possibility of hearing the example text while seeing the words, this requires a technical know-how that I do not have. At the moment, you will need to click back to the previous screen as soon as the sound file appears. If you are reading on a smartphone, I am not sure how to switch back to the text, but if you are on a desktop computer, you may click between screens. I hope to find a solution to this issue.
Thank you, Dana 💕
I am in awe of your tenacity and talent. When it is published in hard cover, it will be packed in my suitcase to read in a mountain cabin without Internet so that I can fully digest the raw honesty and intensity. I am looking forward to that day. Publishers should be fighting over this. The best of luck!