M.F.K. Fisher's Provence

by M.F.K. Fisher, Aileen Ah-Tye (Photographs)

The book highlights her strong sense of place - Fisher’s Celtic eye for detail - with a comparison of Aix-en-Provence, a university town, the site of an international music festival and the former capital of Provence, and Marseille, the port town.

Fisher’s description of the sights and smells belonging to an Aix bakery shop window is her Platonic ideal of a bakery shop to be found anywhere in France, for example, with its “delicately layered” scents of “fresh eggs, fresh sweet butter, grated butter, vanilla beans, old kirsch and newly ground almonds.”

Then, there is her portrayal of the sounds of Aix’s fountains mixed with the music of Mozart during the town’s festival, leaving her bedazzled. She would return again and again to stroll the narrow streets of Aix with two young daughters who “seemed to grow like water-flowers under the greening buds of the plane trees.”

It is the quality of Fisher’s writing that inspired photographer Aileen Ah-Tye to look for her Provence. In a letter to Fisher, Aileen would report back from “The eels and the prickly rascasse were exotique to my San Francisco eyes, the smells as pungent as you can get, and . . . miracle of all miracles . . . the men and women on the docks were exactly as you described them.”

Thus, began a collaboration that illustrates Fisher’s passion for life and all its sensual pleasures that nourish the soul.

Genres: Nonfiction, Food, Travel, France

192 pages, Hardcover

First published November 10, 2015

About the author

Mary Frances Kennedy Fisher was a prolific and well-respected writer, writing more than 20 books during her lifetime and also publishing two volumes of journals and correspondence shortly before her death in 1992. Her first book, Serve it Forth, was published in 1937. Her books deal primarily with food, considering it from many aspects: preparation, natural history, culture, and philosophy. Fisher believed that eating well was just one of the "arts of life" and explored the art of living as a secondary theme in her writing. Her style and pacing are noted elements of her short stories and essays.

Reviews

[Soph · Rating 3 out of 5]

i would like to go on holiday to provence please, if someone could arrange it

[Garnette · Rating 2 out of 5]

This very short book excerpted little essays from M.F.K. Fisher’s writings on Aix-en-Provence and Marseille, combining them with photographs by Aileen Ah-Tye. I chose it because I enjoyed Provence, 1970 by Luke Barr, Fisher’s grand-nephew. I was looking for a book by Fisher rather than about Fisher. This offered a fast read, but it didn’t work for me, perhaps because I read it on Kindle which detracted considerably from the photographs. The text was too choppy, too disconnected, quick impressions.

[Luisa Nims · Rating 5 out of 5]

Like Elizabeth David, M.F.K. Fisher wrote about the beautiful simplicity of eating and cooking with the freshest ingredients. You cannot go wrong if you love good food and French philosophy around cooking.

[Colleen Mertens · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book combines Fisher's writings on parts of France where she lived with photographs taken by a relative years later of the areas in those writings. The book is good way to be introduced to Fisher and the photographs are beautiful.

[Jen]

Mostly looked at the photos - found the photos of women (often in the middle of their work) and the photos of doorways or windows to be the most interesting

[Steven Lazen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought I should mention this in my invisible notes on the secret map . . .

[Diem · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm glad I only paid $3.00 for this. The photography was nice but the formatting was too small to have any impact. It became tedious trying to scrutinize it for interesting elements and the text was too fragmented and seemed arbitrary. I think there was a good concept here that just didn't get realized.

[patty · Rating 4 out of 5]

More photographs than M.F.K.F text but *gorgeous* photographs I should add. This is a perfect companion to Barr's book "Provence, 1970," as well as Fisher's "Map of Another Town" (Aix) and "A Considerable Town" (Marseille).

[Jeanine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a gorgeous book - so glad I picked this up at the library. I am inspired to go to Aix right now.

[Cary Steward]

Way too short!