Please join me in welcoming Marjorie Price, author of A Gift from Brittany: A Memoir of Love and Loss in the French Countryside, to Peeking Between the Pages. I really enjoyed A Gift from Brittany (my review here). I loved the story and the descriptions of the time and place – it takes you to another world for a while. Marjorie has joined us today with a guest post entitled Fields of Hesitation…
Although I have written children’s books, short stories, poetry and most recently a memoir (A Gift from Brittany), I have always been a painter. Long before Women’s Lib, when most young women’s aspirations were zeroed in on finding a husband, I worked as a secretary in television, got up at 5:00 in the morning to go sketching, attended art classes in the evenings, and dreamed of going to France to paint. No one in my family had encouraged me in either painting or writing; I had no mentor to guide me.
In my early twenties, while dealing with the disappointment of galleries rejecting my paintings, my father, whom I dearly loved, offered well-meaning advice. For my own good, he said, I should give up trying to be a painter. I was wasting my time submitting work that was so personal; unless I studied the marketplace and created work that fit into what galleries were selling, I would never be successful. Somehow, much as I respected him, I knew these words were not for me.
But other words came across my path from time to time, words that struck my fancy, words like lighthouses in a stormy sea as I struggled to navigate my way through life. I encountered one of the most powerful phrases when, near the end of a speech, Adlai Stevenson quoted the following words:
I stopped everything. I scribbled them down. I repeated them over and over as they etched an indelible image in my mind of endless fields rendered pale and lifeless by strewn about remnants of abandoned dreams. Were they my dreams?
In 1960, I saved my money and went to France. There, I met and married an exciting French painter, reinforcing my belief that my destiny was to become a painter. But several years later, my seemingly idyllic marriage unraveled, especially when my husband ordered me to stop painting and devote myself entirely to his career. I was devastated. Not only had my family, but also the man I loved opposed my becoming a painter. The day I left him, I brought my painting materials and my dreams back into the light of day.
Several years ago, when I was submitting A Gift from Brittany, my very personal memoir about those pivotal years in France, I found myself again dealing with rejection — this time, by literary agents. Around that time, although I don’t remember where, I came across these words:
My book found a literary agent who loved it and shortly after, a publisher, and when a show of my very personal paintings, the Bathers, was well-received and successful, I gratefully came across another phrase in a beautiful book, Twenty-Eight Artists and Two Saints, by Joan Acocella. To paraphrase, it read:
These words immediately joined the other beacons of light. Not that they have led me to safe and secure paths, but they’ve helped me to weather the true paths —those that were mine alone to follow.
_________
Marjorie, thank you so much for sharing that very heartfelt and personal guest post with us. I, for one, am very glad your memoir was published and wish you every success in the future whether it be in your painting or in writing another novel!
__________
About the Book (from Marjorie Price’s website)
This is Midge’s story—A young and footloose artist from Chicago travels to Paris in 1960 to paint. Dazzled by everything French, she falls in love and marries Yves, a handsome and volatile French painter. What happens next gives her adventure a deeper meaning.
Midge and Yves buy half of a remote hamlet, deep in the French countryside, called La Salle, where they plan to spend their summers and where the peasants (whose lives have changed little since the Middle Ages) still speak an ancient language named Gallo. There, Midge encounters a world she never knew existed. Stepping back in time, she finds herself surrounded by people who are more like her ancestors than her contemporaries. As Midge’s seemingly idyllic marriage begins to unravel, she turns to Jeanne Montrelay, an elderly peasant woman, who lives in the nearest farm across the road. Jeanne is 68, illiterate, and has three cows to her name. She dresses in black, wears the low, white lace coif of the Morbihan, and has never left the village. Midge’s and Jeanne’s differences are staggering, yet they forge a friendship and transform each others’ life.
A Gift from Brittany is about two memorable relationships: one that tests strength; another that restores it. It takes the reader into a world that was once the heart of rural France – a world that has disappeared – and brings it to life again.
About the Author (from Marjorie Price’s website)
Marjorie Price was born in Chicago, Illinois. After receiving a B.A. in Speech and Drama (1951) from Stanford University, she returned to Chicago and studied painting and design at the Chicago Art Institute. In 1953 she made her first trip to Europe. She remained there for six months, attending art classes at the Grande Chaumiére in Paris. On her return to the United States, she settled in San Francisco and studied painting at the San Francisco Art League. From 1953 to 1960, she worked in television, continued to paint, and indulged her love of theater by acting in regional theater. In 1960, she again left America for France, living first in Paris and then on a farm in Brittany which she restored and where she created an art center called the “Centre d’Art de la Salle” where painters, sculptors and ceramists came from various parts of France to exhibit their work. In 1970, she moved to Rome, Italy with her daughter Danielle. In 1978, after eighteen years in Europe, she returned to the United States and settled in New York. Her work is represented in numerous private and public collections in the United States and Europe. Marjorie Price lives and works as a painter and author in New York City.
__________
GIVEAWAY DETAILS
I have 1 copy of A Gift from Brittany by Marjorie Price courtesy of the publisher Gotham Books to share with one of my readers. To enter…
- For 1 entry leave me a comment with a way to contact you.
- For 2 entries follow my blog. If you already do, thank you, and let me know in your comment.
- For 3 entries blog or tweet this giveaway.
This giveaway is open to US & Canadian residents only (no PO boxes) as the book will be shipped to you directly from the publisher. I will draw for the winner on Saturday, May 15, 2010. Good luck everyone!
Please count me in for this giveaway.
I follow.
mystica123athotmaildotcom
Sounds wonderful.
Please count me in!
I follow
fmlj94[at]yahoo[dot]com
How sad that she never found success as a painter when that was her ultimate dream. I hope she is still pursuing it.
I would love to be entered in your giveaway for the book, so please count me in!!
zibilee(at)figearo.net
I also follow your blog!
Thanks for this giveaway. The review was great. saubleb(at)gmail(dot)com
Thank you for the giveaway and for sharing the interview. I have put this book on my wish list.
jgoffice(at) cox dot net
I follow
Sounds like a beautifully written story.
freda.mans[at]sympatico.ca
Faithful follower.
freda.mans[at]sympatico.ca
tweet; http://twitter.com/fredalicious/status/12705869891
freda.mans[at]sympatico.ca
I can't wait to read this one. It definitely sounds wonderful. I'd love to win!
Oh, and I follow!
Please enter me!
I follow.
Tweet: http://twitter.com/squiggles87/status/12709051333
xxsquigglesxx(at)gmail(dot)com
Please enter me.
I follow.
thank you
kaiminani at gmail dot com
It doesn't seem fair that she has so much talent and I have none! LOL I'm really looking forward to this book. No need to enter me.
No need to enter me, babe. I'm letting you know that, as promised, I got this up at Win a Book for you.
Thanks for the giveaway.
** I follow
mtakala1 AT yahoo DOT com
I would LOVE a chance to win this book.
fizzybeevarge at gmail dot com
Hi Marjorie, I really would love to win your book. I am a little older than you but I know how you felt in this book and I am so glad you did write a book. You can still enjoy painting and you can also write. lol Thanks for stopping by so we could learn more about you.
I am a follower via google
Follow twitter(@misskallie2000)
tweet:
Latest: http://peekingbetweenthepages.blogspot.com/2010/04/guest-post-with-marjorie-price-author.html, A Gift from Brittany giveaway 6 minutes ago
misskallie2000 at yahoo dot com
Count me in!
billiondollarprincesss@hotmail.com
The title hints at a good story.
Please enter my name in the giveaway for the book. Thanks!
pboylecharley AT hotmail DOT com
Would like to read this – please enter me
adrianecoros(at)gmail.com
** yes, I follow!
Thanks for the giveaway!!
Rachelhwallen@gmail.com
What a lovely post and true inspiration. I would love to read her book.
I'm a follower!
Wow, this sounds good. Would love to read it. Count me in, please! :0)
I follow.
Thanks!
librarygrinch at gmail dot com
This sounds like an amazing and touching read. Please enter me. 😀
I'm a follower.
Marie
utah91960[at]yahoo[dot]com
I'd like to be entered. +1
Chirth7@yahoo.com
I'm a follower +2
I tweeted the giveaway: +3
http://twitter.com/?status=Guest+Author%3A+Marjorie+Price+http%3A%2F%2Fnetworkedblogs.com%2F3cnnQ
Please include me in your giveaway.
I am a follower.
Thanks
Debbie
debdesk9(at)verizon.net
Please enter me in the giveaway 🙂 This looks like a great read!
baileythebookworm at gmail dot com
I would love to win a copy of this book.
Kelly Bookend Diaries
Please enter me.
caliblue7@gmail.com
Follower via google.
caliblue7@gmail.com
Ok, I originally had to turn this book down due to other commitments, but I'm going to enter your giveaway and hope I win. I love paintings and artists and this story just sounds more fascinating with each review and guest post.
savvyverseandwit at gmail
i follow.
This sounds excellent from your review. I would love to win it. I follow you on bloglines.
Sounds like another good one to read.
Please enter me.
RJB
loki304[at]tds[dot]net
need some spring reading for a rainy day & thx…
thehighflyer3(at)hotmail(dot)com
Sounds like a great book club pick!
ruthiekb72@yahoo.com
I would love to be entered into your giveaway for the book A Gift from Brittany.
Thank you,
Christine
womackcm@sbcglobal.net
Entry 1
I am a follower of your blog.
Thank you,
Christine
womackcm@sbcglobal.net
Entry 2
I am a follower of your blog.
Thank you,
Christine
womackcm@sbcglobal.net
Entry 1
I tweeted about this giveaway http://twitter.com/ossmcalc/status/13114713759
Thank you,
Christine
womackcm@sbcglobal.net
Entry 2
I tweeted about this giveaway http://twitter.com/ossmcalc/status/13114713759
Thank you,
Christine
womackcm@sbcglobal.net
Entry 3
I tweeted about this giveaway http://twitter.com/ossmcalc/status/13114713759
Thank you,
Christine
womackcm@sbcglobal.net
I would love to win this book, please enter me!
Thanks,
candc320@gmail.com
I am a GFC follower.
Thanks,
candc320@gmail.com
Ooo! Please enter me. I'm a follower as well.
whitreidsmama at yahoo dot com
Please enter me and thanks for hosting!
I am a follower
leenbeen2001 (At) yahoo (dot) com
I just saw this on Beth Fish Reads and it caught my eye. Thanks for the giveaway!
New Follower
Tweeted: http://twitter.com/IntrovertedJen/status/13297341501
theintrovertedreader [at] gmail [dot] com
Please enter me
hawkes(at)citlink.net
I follow your blog
hawkes(at)citlink.net
Wonderful guest post. I just love Marjorie! (no need to enter me in the giveaway, I already have the book!)
Thank You For This Giveaway!
I am also a follower :]
Tanya_Starpower at yahoo dot com
This sounds like a wonderful and interesting book. And Marjorie sounds like such an intelligent and amazing woman. I would love to win "A Gift from Brittany".
Thank you for this giveaway and for bringing this book to my attention!
Aimala127@gmail.com
I'm a follower!
~ Amy
Aimala127@gmail.com
Love to read this one.
New follower
CarolNWong@aol.com
I would love to win this – thanks for the giveaway!
winnieayala at yahoo dot com
I follow on GFC #1
winnieayala at yahoo dot com
I follow on GFC #2
winnieayala at yahoo dot com
I follow on Google.
JHS
Colloquium
admin at jhsiess dot com