Carol Drinkwater

The author describes how she and her husband purchased an abandoned olive farm in the south of France and how their hard work transformed it into a thriving, productive farm, bringing new peace and meaning into their lives.

A Memoir of Life, Love, and Olive Oil in the South of France

The Olive Farm

Phyllis McCormack'sdiary reveals the horror and trauma suffered by the Irish people during the potato famine years. Read about Phylly and her family and their struggle for survival during the hungry years.

The Diary of Phyllis McCormack, Ireland, 1845-1847

The Hunger

18Th June, 1910 We Marched From The Embankment To The Albert Hall. It Was A Glorious Day. The Sun Shone Warmly. Everyone Was In Good Spirits. There Were Aristocrats, Artists, Even My Mother Looked Happy. She Who Has Been So Opposed To My Work With The Wspu. More Than 10,000 People Had Rallied and There Were Dozens of Bands Playing. It Was Quite Incredible. We Waved Banners, Carried Flowers, Sang Along With The Tunes. Hundreds Who Have Been Imprisoned For Our Cause Marched Together In A Powerful Band. It Was All Very Rousing of Spirit. I Felt Proud To Be A Woman, Proud To Be Alive, Proud To Be A Part of A Movement That Is Fighting To Make A Difference.

The Diary of Dollie Baxter, London 1909-1913

Suffragette

22 December 1899 Time is marching forward, carrying us over the threshold and pitching us willy nilly, into a new century. The prospect of growing up in that unexplored territory is so thrilling that I fancy, if I close my eyes tight, I can almost see the process taking place A day slips away like sand in a sand glass and then another day dawns and so we are caught up in this inevitable passage towards 1900. I bought a journal and have begun to transfer all my scribblings of the last few days into it. I shall call it 'Twentieth Century Girl', for that is what I intend to be.

Twentieth Century Girl (My Story)

Set in the south of France during WWII. A young girl gets involved in helping Jewish children escape to safety abroad.

Nowhere to Run

Autobiografisch relaas over hoe een Britse actrice en een Franse filmproducer proberen een olijfgaard in Zuid-Frankrijk weer rendabel te maken. Vervolg op 'De olijfgaard'.

De olijventijd

THE HUNGER is the exciting tale of a girl swept up in the fight for a free and fair Ireland, set at the time of the Potato Famine. It's 1845, and blight has destroyed the precious potato crop leaving Ireland starving. Phyllis works hard to support her struggling family, but when her mother's health deteriorates she sets off in search of her rebel brother and is soon swept up in Ireland's fight for freedom...

My Story

"I scan the terraces, planted with row upon row of ancient olive trees. It is April, late spring. Here in the hills behind the Cote d'Azur the olive groves are delicately blossomed, with their tiny, white-forked flowers. Beyond them, perched halfway up the slope of the hill, our belle epoque villa comes into view. Abounding in balustrade terraces, nestling among cedars and palms, facing out at a south-westerly angle, overlooking the bay of Cannes towards the sun-kissed Mediterranean, there it is, Appassionata, awaiting us..." THE OLIVE FARM told how Carol Drinkwater and partner Michel fell in love with and bought an abandoned Provencal olive farm. Now, in THE OLIVE SEASON, Carol is pregnant and their ever-loyal gardener is leaving to oversee the marriage of his son. Often unassisted, and with new challenges to face, Carol takes on the bulk of the farm work alone. Water is, as ever, a costly problem, and she goes in search of a diviner who promises almost magical results. But, as the harvest season approaches, dramatic events cast dark shadows of their olive farm.

Amour, a New Life and Olives Too

The Olive Season

It's 1909. Dollie is swept up in the thrill of the campaign for Votes for Women. Against her guardian's wishes, she marches against Parliament with Emmeline Pankhurst and fellow suffragettes. Things turn violent, women are imprisoned and endanger their lives with hunger strikes. Dollie must decide how far she will go for 'Deeds, not words'...

My Story: Suffragette

Fourth volume in the bestselling olive series by writer and actress Carol Drinkwater Since Carol Drinkwater moved to an olive farm in France she has developed a passion for the olive tree and the culture that has grown up around it. From the eastern shores of the shimmering Mediterranean to its western coast this fruit is farmed. Its silvery-green branches have inspired painters and poets, but who first pressed its 'bitter berry' and transformed it into liquid gold? In quest of its secrets and traditions, Carol embarked on a solo adventure round the Mediterranean basin. Transporting readers across the olive's ancient paths, celebrating its venerable past, tracking trade routes, unearthing unlikely stories, encountering peoples of today and bygone times, Carol comes full circle, back to her farm in the sun-baked Provençal hills.

A Personal Journey to the Heart of the Mediterranean

The Olive Route

THE OLIVE TREE charts Carol Drinkwater's colourful and often dangerous journey in search of the routes that olive cultivation has taken over the centuries. Set during a springtime Mediterranean that is evocative and perennial, it is above all a tale of our time. Troubled by challenges her own South of France farm is experiencing, Carol realises new approaches to farming are becoming essential. Her quest takes her south through Spain, Morocco, Algeria and Italy before she finally returns to her farm. Through her travels and vivid encounters, Carol confronts some of the critical issues of our time - land-care and the harsh realities of diminishing water reserves - and ends her momentous journey in the company of olive growers whose vision for the future is remarkable and ingenious.

A Personal Journey Through Mediterranean Olive Groves

The Olive Tree

The Only Girl in the World is a gripping romance set during the First World War. Dennis is an English soldier fighting in the trenches of the Western Front. When he is on leave he meets Hélène, and it's love at first sight. But the shadow of the trenches hangs over him. His leave is over in a mere two weeks. When this battle is won; when this war is over, he says he will come back for her. Dare Hélène fall in love with this foreigner? Will she ever see him again? Will he survive the trenches? The world can be ending around you, but if you're in love nothing else matters...

The Only Girl in the World

**Available to pre-order now - the stunning new novel from the author of The Lost Girl and The House on the Edge of the Cliff** It was an idyllic summer. Until they had to escape. France, 1943 Forced to flee war ravaged Poland, Sara and her parents are offered refuge in a beautiful but dilapidated house in the French alps. It seems the perfect hideaway, despite haunting traces of the previous occupants who left in haste. But shadows soon fall over Sara's blissful summer, and her blossoming romance with local villager Alain. As the Nazis close in, the family is forced to make a harrowing choice that could drive them apart forever, while Sara's own bid for freedom risks several lives. Will Sara be reunited with those she loves? And can she ever find her way back to Alain? By turns poignant and atmospheric, this is the compelling new novel from Sunday Times bestselling author Carol Drinkwater about the power of first love and courage in our darkest hours. Praise for Carol Drinkwater: 'I was hooked from the start' Dinah Jefferies 'Carol Drinkwater's writing is like taking an amazing holiday in book form' Jenny Colgan 'Beautifully woven and compelling' Rowan Coleman 'Secrets, tragedy, hidden pasts and family secrets - I loved this' Santa Montefiore

An Act of Love

De vergeten zomer

After sixteen months of travelling round the Mediterranean in search of the ancient secrets of the olive tree, Carol returns to her beloved olive farm in the south of France, to her husband Michel and his burgeoning family. However, the homecoming celebrations are overshadowed by disturbing discoveries. The plight of the honey bee has become an international crisis and Carol is faced with unsettling news about the hives on her own olive farm. While the multinational companies are pushing for 'bigger, better, bumper' crops, a small band of farmers and ecologists are calling for a halt to many of the modern farming malpractices that are endangering the planet. Carol is amongst them. But it puts her own farm, her idyll, under threat. At what point do you turn your back on all that you believe in and all that you have been fighting for? This is the story of how Carol and Michel struggle with some difficult choices, and how they decide to deal with the unavoidable disappointments and inevitable responsibilities that come with running an organic farm.

Return to the Olive Farm

From the bestselling author behind Channel 5's Carol Drinkwater's Secret Provence comes an epic story of enduring love and betrayal, from Paris in the 1960s, to the present day 'One to get lost in' Woman & Home - Best Books of Summer ________ No one else knows what happened that summer. Or so she believes . . . Grace first came to France a lifetime ago. Young and full of dreams of adventure, she met two very different men. She fell under the spell of one. The other fell under hers. Until one summer night shattered everything . . . Now, Grace is living an idyllic life with her husband, sheltered from the world in a magnificent Provençal villa, perched atop a windswept cliff. Every day she looks out over the sea - the only witness to that fateful night years ago. Until a stranger arrives at the house. A stranger who knows everything, and won't leave until he gets what he wants. The past and present spectacularly collide in this gripping story of love and betrayal echoing across the decades. ________ 'I was hooked from a start threaded with mystery and menace, and it kept me gripped' Dinah Jefferies, author of The Missing Sister 'A beautifully woven and compelling tale of passion, love and intrigue' Rowan Coleman, author of The Summer of Impossible Things 'Carol Drinkwater's writing is like taking an amazing holiday in book form' Jenny Colgan, author of The Bookshop on the Shore 'Given extra resonance by the beautifully drawn French landscape. Emotional and tenderly written' Elizabeth Buchan, author of The New Mrs Clifton

The House on the Edge of the Cliff

18th June, 1910 We marched from the Embankment to the Albert Hall. It was a glorious day. The sun shone warmly. Everyone was in good spirits. There were aristocrats, artists, even my mother looked happy. She who has been so opposed to my work with the WSPU. More than 10,000 people had rallied and there were dozens of bands playing. It was quite incredible. We waved banners, carried flowers, sang along with the tunes. Hundreds who have been imprisoned for our Cause marched together in a powerful band. It was all very rousing of spirit. I felt proud to be a woman, proud to be alive, proud to be a part of a movement that is fighting to make a difference.

NOW A MAJOR NEW TV SERIES: CAROL DRINKWATER'S SECRET PROVENCE The first in Carol Drinkwater's bestselling series set on a Provencal olive farm. 'She writes so well you can almost smell the sun-baked countryside' BELLA 'Spellbinding' CHOICE 'Vibrant, intoxicating and heart-warming' SUNDAY EXPRESS 'All my life, I have dreamed of acquiring a crumbling, shabby-chic house overlooking the sea. In my mind's eye, I have pictured a corner of paradise where friends can gather to swim, relax, debate, eat fresh fruits picked directly from the garden and great steaming plates of food served from an al fresco kitchen and dished up on to a candlelit table the length of a railway sleeper...' When Carol Drinkwater and her partner Michel have the opportunity to buy 10 acres of disused olive farm in Provence, the idea seems absurd. After all, they don't have a lot of money, and they've only been together a little while. THE OLIVE FARM is the story of the highs and lows of purchasing the farm and life in Provence: the local customs and cuisine; the threats of fire and adoption of a menagerie of animals; the potential financial ruin and the thrill of harvesting their own olives - especially when they are discovered to produce the finest extra-virgin olive oil...

Carol Drinkwater

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