
Provence
Ford Madox Ford(Author)
NYRB Classics (Publisher)
Will be published approx. on 21. July 2026
Book
Paperback/Softback
400 pages
979-8-89623-042-7 (ISBN)
Description
Now considered a cult classic, this dreamy portrait of Provence before World War II brings the storied region in vivid color. From one of the great British authors of the twentieth century, this whimsical, personal, and sensual overview of Provençal life, culture, architecture, and history will transport you straight to the south of France.
Ford Madox Ford wrote Provence in the 1930s, in the midst of the Great Depression and escalating conflicts all around the world, which would come to a head in World War Il. At the time, Provence might have appealed as a refuge from a world gone wrong—the appeal remains—but in this book Ford, as the exploratory novelist and masterful critic that he was, had something bigger in view. Of course he describes, and delightfully, the natural splendor and the daily pleasures of his and his companion Janice Biala's life in this beautiful region of ancient renown. At the same time, however, he delves into its history, poetry, and art, depicting Provence as a great crossroads between civilizations that is the definition of civilization itself. Provence, Ford writes, is "not a country nor the home of a race, but a frame of mind."
With a new introduction by Nicholas Delbanco and illustrations by Biala, Provence is not so much a travel narrative as an invocation. As Eudora Welty has said, "The expansiveness and exuberance of spirit, the embracing knowledge of the place, that show forth in Ford's long love affair with Provence will always give this book a joyous life of its own."
Ford Madox Ford wrote Provence in the 1930s, in the midst of the Great Depression and escalating conflicts all around the world, which would come to a head in World War Il. At the time, Provence might have appealed as a refuge from a world gone wrong—the appeal remains—but in this book Ford, as the exploratory novelist and masterful critic that he was, had something bigger in view. Of course he describes, and delightfully, the natural splendor and the daily pleasures of his and his companion Janice Biala's life in this beautiful region of ancient renown. At the same time, however, he delves into its history, poetry, and art, depicting Provence as a great crossroads between civilizations that is the definition of civilization itself. Provence, Ford writes, is "not a country nor the home of a race, but a frame of mind."
With a new introduction by Nicholas Delbanco and illustrations by Biala, Provence is not so much a travel narrative as an invocation. As Eudora Welty has said, "The expansiveness and exuberance of spirit, the embracing knowledge of the place, that show forth in Ford's long love affair with Provence will always give this book a joyous life of its own."
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Publishing group
New York Review Books
Dimensions
Height: 203 mm
Width: 127 mm
Weight
369 gr
ISBN-13
979-8-89623-042-7 (9798896230427)
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Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Ford Madox Ford (1873–1939) was a prolific novelist and critic. Also an influential editor, he created the literary journals The English Review and The Transatlantic Review, in whose pages he published work by authors such as Henry James, Joseph Conrad, Ernest Hemingway, Ezra Pound, D. H. Lawrence, Jean Rhys, James Joyce, Gertrude Stein, and many more. He is best remembered for The Good Soldier, regarded as one of the greatest novels of the twentieth century, and the tetralogy, Parade's End.
Nicholas Delbanco is the author of more than thirty books of fiction and nonfiction, including Reprise: The Collected Stories of Nicholas Delbanco, Still Life at Eighty: A Memoir, and Running in Place: Scenes from the South of France. He is the Robert Frost Distinguished University Professor Emeritus of English Language and Literature at the University of Michigan. He lives in New York City and Cape Cod.
Janice Biala (1903-2000) was a Polish-born American artist. She illustrated several of Ford Madox Ford's books and was his partner for the last years of his life.
Nicholas Delbanco is the author of more than thirty books of fiction and nonfiction, including Reprise: The Collected Stories of Nicholas Delbanco, Still Life at Eighty: A Memoir, and Running in Place: Scenes from the South of France. He is the Robert Frost Distinguished University Professor Emeritus of English Language and Literature at the University of Michigan. He lives in New York City and Cape Cod.
Janice Biala (1903-2000) was a Polish-born American artist. She illustrated several of Ford Madox Ford's books and was his partner for the last years of his life.