Book description
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. Best known for her role as Helen Herriot in BBC
Television's All Creatures Great and Small (for which she was awarded
The Variety Club Television Personality of the Year Award), Carol
Drinkwater has enjoyed a long and distinguished career as both an
actress and writer. During her acting career, she has worked in film,
television and theatre. Her credits include working with Laurence
Olivier at the National Theatre, Stanley Kubrick on A Clockwork Orange
and Max Von Sydow, whom she played opposite in the film Father, for
which she won the Critics Circle Award for Best Film Actress. Carol
Drinkwater has written novels for both adults and children, including
Abundance of Rain, Akin to Love and Mapping the Heart. Her bestselling
children's novel, The Haunted School, has sold more than 170,000 copies
and was made into a film and television series which won the Chicago
Film Festival Award for children's films. She is also the author of the
bestselling memoirs The Olive Farm, The Olive Season, The Olive Harvest,
The Olive Route and The Olive Tree. Visit her website at www.
caroldrinkwater. com
