"Such is the life of man - a few joys soon wiped out by unforgettable pain."
"Everyone knew it was impossible. Then along came an idiot who didn't know, and did it."
"We won't discover the secret of a nightingale's song by opening its throat."
The quotes are from Marcel Pagnol, among the best known writers of Provence. There isn't a lot of depth to his work, but it's richly evocative, steeped in the countryside round Aubagne, where he was born in 1895. His later work, autobiographical, was highly successful, as were the cinema adaptations. He himself was an accomplished film-maker, the first to be elected to the Académie Française.
My Father's Glory, My Mother's Castle, Manon of the Spring or Jean de Florette - the films drawn from Pagnol's writing show a Provence that has largely disappeared, quaintly portrayed in rustic, mistrustful villagers and stubborn peasant farmers battling with the harsh conditions of the countryside. In the world of Pagnol, where old loyalties and grudges never die, there's more than a hint of nostalgia.
But why, you might ask, am I so enamoured of Pagol? Well, I'm not really, but it so happens that out of all his quotes, one in particular caught my eye: "You need one-third almonds, one-third fruit confits, one-third sugar – and a quarter savoir faire."
A strange quote to single out, but there he captures all the mystique of calissons, and this world-renowned speciality of Aix en Provence is at the centre of Sophie Kiesser's second murder mystery, the newly released Calisson Calamity.
In a tragic incident near Marseille, two divers die – accident or murder? And how are their deaths connected to calissons, the world-renowned almond and fruit speciality of Aix en Provence? As a bitter feud erupts between two calisson producers, Sophie sets out to investigate – but soon gets out of her depth in a world that’s not as sweet – nor as cozy – as it seems.
To go with the ingredients specified by Pagnol, here you’ll also find a dose of greed, a splash of revenge, and a pinch of thwarted love. Mix all that together and what do you get? A perfect calamity.
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