A Feast at the Beach news and reviews

Cover of the first edition of A Feast at the Beach

Now available on Amazon.com, Barnes&Noble.com, Powells.com, Target.com and at fine book stores, author William Widmaier’s novel A Feast at the Beach continues to receive wonderful reviews, accolades and kudos.

“I adore his book. He shares the most significantly notable times of his life with a sentimental passion that releases the joy of living in each one of us. I have not been to France but felt I was transported there with his remarkable gift of writing.”
Kaye Cloutman
San Francisco Book Review

“Like a warm summer evening, rocking on the front porch listening to family memories and tales, this nostalgic read is a real pleasure.”
Anne Woodyard
Bonjour PARIS

“A delight. The book is filled with powerful flavors, scents, images and traditions…things you’ll recognize immediately if you’ve spent time in Provence or on the Cote d’Azur. You know a book has grabbed you when it leaves you wanting to know more.”
Julie Mautner
The Provence Post

“With a clever pen and sincere style, Widmaier is brilliant at wiping away all the cliché’s you’ve seen all too often on TV about life in St. Tropez. In A Feast at the Beach, you’ll find yourself immersed in the Provence of the 60s, a universe that evokes both the novels of Marcel Pagnol and the photographs of Robert Doisneau.“
Sophie Fung
French Morning magazine

“If there was an ideal book to introduce you to the slow life in Rural France, this just might be the one. Each chapter ends in recipes that are a joy to read, as they are more than a list of ingredients and procedures, as a good recipe should be. Widmaier’s characters are precisely drawn, and unlike those of Peter Mayle you never get the feeling that the little quirks in their character are being embellished for your amusement.”
James Martin
About.com Europe Travel Editor/Guide

“In every jewel-like chapter William captures the essence of what it was to be a child in a Provence that is passing from memory. In A Feast at the Beach I find our own summer memories of beach and gouter, of bouilliabaise and aioli reflected in his evocative writing. A lovely book.”
Georgeanne Brennan
Author of A Pig in Provence and The Food and Flavors of Haute Provence.

“A delicious read. If you wish to be transported to a St Tropez of long ago then A Feast at the Beach is the perfect interlude.”
Vivki Archer
Author of My French Life and French Essence.

“All of you who live to eat, not just eat to live, will enjoy. My late Mother, Rebecca, a teacher of haute cuisine, used to say that food and memory go together. This book is proof of that.”
Alan Caruba
Charter member of the National Book Critics Circle

“I love your book, and I love you.”
Sharon Stone

“A beautiful adventure that both captures your senses and the Spirit of Provence while awakening, inspiring and enticing a sleeping palette.”
Kelly Preston

“For a trip to St. Tropez of yesterday, pick up this book. You’ll not only be tempted to book a plane ticket, but you’ll also be forced to recall simpler times and places, where memories of people you love are peppered with laughter and good food. “
Kimberley Lovato
Travel writer and author of the award winning cookbook Walnut Wine and Truffle Groves

“Wonderful descriptions not only of the place, but the culture, the cuisine and the lovely wines of Provence. Lovingly written.”
Kari Moran
Book Radio, KFWB Los Angeles

“Supremely well-written… The first few sentences of just about every chapter draw you in, connect you with Widmaier’s Provencal childhood memories, but in their disarming terseness remain blessedly free of any hint of cloying, saccharine wistfulness.
“I’m pleased to have stumbled upon a memoir that is well-written enough to be romantically reflective without losing its edginess. Which makes A Feast at the Beach such a rare book – it’s one that can be equally at home on your grandmother’s beach house coffee table as well as your own nightstand.”
Joe Roberts
1 Wine Dude

“His memoir abounds with stories inspired by boyhood trips in his grandfather’s homemade boat, picnicking on the beach, and bicycling through the countryside. Each chapter ends with a local recipe. ‘I wanted to inspire people to search for their own joie de vivre, the non material pleasures of life,’ Widmaier says. ‘So much of that is found in good food enjoyed around the table with friends; that always seems to be one of the great things. If we can just slow down and do that a little bit more we’d all be happier. Food for the body and the soul.’”
Elizabeth Khuri Chandler
C Magazine

“ I highly recommend William Widmaier’s book A Feast at the Beach. This memoir of life in Provence in the slower ’60s will make you want to experience it all before you’ve reached the end of the book, I’m telling you. And if you can’t, it has recipes so you can taste what you’re missing while you stir the pots in your very own kitchen.”
WM
WanderingFrance.com

“A charming book.”
Connie Martinson
Connie Martinson Talks Books