A Grove Of Olives

the long version

A grove of olives surrounds the old farmhouse in Provence where Philippa’s mother Elizabeth, lives and works. Philippa goes to the South of France to help Elizabeth with the ever-present problem of their young but autocratic lawyer, Jean-Paul. He is a family friend, but behaves, Philippa believes, more and more like a grand seigneur, taking charge of their lives and making their decisions for them. Philippa is impulsive and independent, and feels strong enough to resist Jean-Paul’s influence, but she fails. The story has a dramatic twist when she discovers there is a secret about herself which Jean-Paul refuses to explain. During the days that follow the relationship between Philippa and Jean-Paul, like the extremes of the Mediterranean climate, changes violently between sun and storm. In a Grove of Olives, Suzanne Ebel, who lives for a part of each year in Provence, has written a vivid, moving and intensely readable novel.