THE PROVENCE CURE FOR THE BROKENHEARTED
Posted in Info on 03/28/2011 09:38 pm by Melissa Senate
I have long been aware of bestselling, acclaimed, outspoken (and seriously beautiful) author Julianna Baggott, who also writes under the pen name Bridget Asher. I read her terrific debut, GIRL TALK, her essays and poetry, and subsequent novels under the names Julianna Baggott and Bridget Asher and I just love her voice. Smart, observant, sharp-funny, honest, and always touching. You start reading and you can't stop. From the moment I saw the cover of her new novel, THE PROVENCE CURE FOR THE BROKENHEARTED, which launches today, I fell in love. Is this not the prettiest cover? I immediately pre-ordered it months ago without having any idea what it was about, though that lovely title gives a big clue.
I asked Bridget Asher (aka Julianna Bagott) to tell me a few things about THE PROVENCE CURE FOR THE BROKENHEARTED and herself…
Q: The title and cover of your new novel not only made me pre-order it, but make me want to get on a plane to Provence NOW. Tell us a little (or a lot) about the book:
"Grief is a love story told backwards." That's how the novel begins. Heidi was completely in love with her husband. Two years ago, she was shattered by his unexpected death. She's still not over him. Her eight-year-old son, Abbot, has started washing his hands — an obsessive-compulsive tic. When there's a kitchen fire in the old family house in Provence — the place where Heidi spent summers with her mother and sister, the house that her mother claims has had the power to cure broken hearts for generations — she's forced to go. She also brings her jaded 16-year-old niece, Charlotte, who's driving her parents crazy. Once there, things shift — for Abbot who tends an injured swallow, for Charlotte who's harboring a secret, and for Heidi herself who needs to come back to herself again. It's a foodie novel, a travel novel … It's a lot of things. (And, coming from the reigning queen of brilliant titles and sumptuous covers, I take this as a huge compliment!)
Q: What drew you to tell this story?
My husband and I have been together for over 18 years. I've recently started referring to myself as having been a child bride (not true but it takes a few years off). In fiction, we play out our darkest fears. That's where the first half comes from. We also play out our natural obsessions — I love French cooking and certain romantic aspects of French culture. Okay, okay, okay. I wanted research I could eat.
Q: What do you think women will most relate to about the novel?:
It's about motherhood and sisterhood and daughterhood. It's about marriage, loss, and, moreover, the loss of the self. It's about opening back up to the world after shutting down to it. I think those things are universal.
How little I go out. I wouldn't use the word hermit — a little too dark. But I'm really home a lot. Days sometimes pass and then someone tells me the weather and I think: Oh, right. There's an outside. My husband is a stay at home dad and when I'm up against deadline, I'm at my desk. (And then we travel — the research trip to France was on a shoestring budget — and I fill up my sense with all that the world has to throw at me.)
Now that we've heard from the lovely author herself, how about what People magazine, Library Journal, and Kirkus have to say:
"Fans of Under the Tuscan Sun will adore this impossibly romantic read."
— People magazine
"Readers who enjoy … Lolly Winston's Good Grief and Jane Green's The Beach House or travel-induced transformation books like Frances Mayes's Under the Tuscan Sun and Elizabeth Gilbert's Eat, Pray, Love will find common themes … and become quickly invested in the lives of the deftly drawn characters."
– Library Journal
"Unabashedly romantic … a real charmer about a Provencal house that casts spells over the lovelorn."
– Kirkus Reviews
About the author: Julianna Baggott is the author of seventeen books, most recently THE PROVENCE CURE FOR THE BROKENHEARTED under her pen name Bridget Asher, as well as THE PRETEND WIFE and MY HUSBAND’S SWEETHEARTS. She’s the bestselling author of GIRL TALK and, as N.E. Bode, THE ANYBODIES TRILOGY for younger readers. Her essays have appeared widely in such publications as The New York Times Modern Love column, Washington Post, NPR.org, and Real Simple. You can visit her blog at http://bridgetasher.blogspot.com/ and her website at www.juliannabaggott.com.
You can find her on Facebook too.
Can't wait until THE PROVENCE CURE FOR THE BROKENHEARTED arrives today or tomorrow!
I'm the author of ten novels, including my debut, SEE JANE DATE (called "cheeky" by Newsweek magazine and made into a very cute 
An Italian cooking class, with special recipes that call for adding wishes and memories to every pot and pan, changes the lives of its new teacher–heartbroken Holly Maguire–and her four students: a twelve-year-old girl; a grieving woman; a serial dater, and a newly separated single father. (Click on Adult Fiction tab for link to bigger pic of cover and more info about the book.) 