A Wild Herb Soup

Born in 1900 into the rigidly conservative patriarchal world of a poor and isolated peasant community in the High Alps of south-eastern France, Emilie Carles became a staunch pacifist, educator, mother, farmer and fierce campaigner to protect her landscape and environment. In this autobiography she draws on all these ingredients of her invigorating life story from the mountain country around Briancon. As a close observer of her community, she reveals a sensitivity to the comedy of everyday life, telling a story which is moving, grim and often tragic, but never sentimental. The book reflects the turbulent history of the 20th century, yet also the ferocious pride of a rural community.