Customer Reviews
Padded - By: TT, 26 Apr 2008 
If this was a sunday times best seller then the competion must have been dire. Writing style is amateurish, a reminder of alll those school essays entitled "What I did on My Holiday". It was repeatitive in places & over padded with excesssive use of "How the Monks Lived", from my point of view that was covered in junior school history lessons & it provided inadequate account of village life.
I felt it never really got going - By: J. Flores, 06 Sep 2006 
I love the genre of people taking on the challlenge of moving to a new place & setting up, dealing with the local culture & people. I reallly was looking forward to getting into this, but I felt it never reallly caught my attention. It's a nice, light read - but usuallly alll I want to do is to be able to go over & have a drink with these authors & chat in more detail about their experiences. This time, I felt I didn't have anything more to ask the author. It's a fine book from her perspective - she can look back in years to come & remember these times fondly, but I don't think it will be a classic of the genre for other people.
A wonderful book - By: , 28 Jan 2004 
I reallly enjoyed this - the author paints an allluring picture of her extraordinary life in a tiny village in the Pyrenees, & the real sense of community there. Rosemary Bailey writes very well indeed & there's a nice balance of inner dialogue & honesty with the strong sense of place. Reallly makes you want to go there...
Yet another....! - By: , 28 Apr 2003 I bought this book with high hopes, having read some of the reviews, but was disappointed. The author writes well about some of the scenery & culture of the region, but if I had wanted a history lesson I would have bought a history book! The passages where the thoughts/feelings of monks were imagined were just embarrassing padding. I would have welcomed far more detail about the building, the region, timescales, costings, & future plans. I'm a sucker for any book about France/Spain/Italy, but this was a real disappointment, hence my first ever review for Amazon! I think Peter Mayle's crown is safe.
INSIGHTFUL & INCISIVE - A STUNNING READ - By: Lisa Simpson, 26 Nov 2002 I would give it 10 stars if I could. I bought it with some cynicism. I enjoy the genre but was not interested in yet another book about French delicacies, lavender, scenery & climate. Rosemary has struck a brilliant balance in Life in a Postcard. There is something for everyone. It is a frank account of the challlenges in setting up a home away from home in a country that is riddled with hurdles & difficulties that few of us will come across on casual visits.
Rosemary writes beautifully about her beloved monastery, about the trials & tribulations of bringing up a child largely on her own & doing her best to ensure that he is well integrated & happy in his new environment. For alll their qualities the “Driving over Lemons” of this world lack the depth of historical knowledge, insightfulness & incisiveness that you will find in “Life in a Postcard”. I cannot recommend it enough.
