Perfume from Provence, Blackwoods first edition 1935

Perfume from Provence 2000 edition

Perfume from Provence artwork by Brian Sanders

Sunset House, Blaclwoods first edition 1937

Sunset House 1993 edition

THANK YOU

The help and contributions from Lady Fortescue's relatives, Transworld Publishing, Society of Authors, and visitors to the site is much appreciated.

 BOOK PAGE

Synopsis of all her books.

BOOK SALES

Find copies of your missing editions. Second hand copies of books are available from the site.

DUST JACKETS

Scan or photograph a dust wrapper and e-mail it to the site to have it included on the book page. There are still some missing editions.

VISITORS BOOK

Leave a message in the Visitor Book

Please sign the visitors book or just have a look at what other people have left.

PICTURE
GALLERY

View the pictures in the gallery pages

Photo's of people & places of interest connected with Winifred.

CONTENTS

View the whole site contents, over 100 pages, listed at a glance and go directly to a particular page by clicking on the hyperlinks.

SEARCH

Enter a word  or words to search the whole site.

RECIPE

Traditional Provencal Recipe.

USEFUL LINKS

Links to related sites of interest.

NEWS & UPDATES

2007 Archive

2006 Archive

2005 Archive

2004 Archive

2003 Archive

FEATURES

Magazine Feature

THE DOMAINE WEB SITE

Valerie de Courcel - The Domaine, Art & The Garden

Click here to visit the site. Garden, Art & 2008 open days.

Dmaine Slide Show

Click here to see the slide show of The Domaine garden.

Lady Fortescue's original garden at the Villa Fort France has been awarded the label 'jardin remarquable'

OTHER INTERESTING BOOKS

Escape to Provence by Maureen Emerson, published July 2008

Escape to Provence by
Maureen Emerson.
Available now.

Two Vagabonds in languedoc by Jan & Cora Gordon

Two Vagabonds in Languedoc by Jan & Cora Gordon.
Available now.

The Good Straight Englishwoman by Amanda Davies

The Good Straight Englishwoman by Amanda Davies. Available now.

 

Abebooks

and a very warm welcome!

  • Thank you for visiting the site which has developed from a love of Lady Winifred Fortescue's books, France, and in particular, Provence and the Alpes-Maritimes. At the height of their popularity, in the 1930's - 40's, her books sold many thousands of copies making Winifred Fortescue a best selling author and bringing overnight fame. I was a little concerned that interest in her work and amazing life might fade with the march of time so it was very pleasing to find that when Black Swan re-published some of the books in the 1990's they became best sellers once again. I firmly believe Winifred Fortescue was a woman well ahead of her time who, faced with various forms of adversity, would turn her hand to anything, make a go of it and generally succeed - usually but not always with a touch of laughter. I hope the web site will help to keep her work alive and allow you to enjoy some of the locations and personalities that Winifred new and, in addition, introduce new generations to the delights of Perfume from Provence.

Sunset House artwork by Brian Sanders

  • The Provence that Winifred & John Fortescue moved to in the 1930's has changed almost beyond recognition. Her view down the mountain from 'Sunset House' now reveals a golf course resort, out of town shopping centre and many developments and roads although Opio village is largely unchanged. Grasse & Cannes have grown considerably and Nice, of course, is a very busy cosmopolitan city and resort. That said, many of the buildings in the books remain including the 'Domaine' and 'Sunset House', both in private ownership. Please browse through the pages, there are currently over 100. More photographs of locations that feature in her books will be added from time to time.

There's Rosemary There's Rue Artwork by Brian Sanders

  • Comments, contributions, photographs, information & suggestions are welcomed. Please do use the visitors book or send an email via the email link. The site is not commercial but second hand copies of books are sometimes available. Any income from the sale of spare books is put towards the cost of running expenses such as web hosting etc.

Trampled Lilies artwork by Brian Sanders

 

  • Winifred Fortescue was born in a Suffolk rectory on 7th February 1888, the third child of a country rector and connected, on her mother's side, to the Fighting Battyes of India. When she was seventeen - in order to ease the strain on family finances - she decided to try to earn her own living and went on the stage, performing in Sir Herbert Tree's company, and later starring in Jerome K. Jerome's The Passing of the Third Floor Back. In 1914 she married John Fortescue, the King's Librarian and Archivist and famous historian of the British Army. The marriage, in spite of a huge disparity of age between them, (some 28yrs),was a uniquely happy one, and although Winifred Fortescue gave up her career on the stage, she later began a successful interior decorating and dress designing business until illness forced her to close her business down. It was at that point that she began writing, for Punch, the Daily Chronicle, the Evening News, finally inaugurating and editing a Woman's Page for the Morning Post.

 

 

  • Winifred Fortescue died in Opio, Provence, in April 1951. A fuller biography can be found on the Lady Fortescue page.

 

July 2008

'ESCAPE TO PROVENCE'
by
Maureen Emerson

Escape to Provence by Maureen Emerson, published July 2008

Now available at price £9.99 plus £2 p&p (U.K.)
CLICK HERE FOR DETAILS OF HOW TO ORDER

 

June 2008


  • In Winfred's last book 'Laughter in Provence' she recounts a tale of a niece and her husband arriving for a visit to Opio in a superb Healey Silverstone sports car which aroused great interest. The car is still in use and the present owner recently traced a son of Winifred's niece and the actual car turned up on his doorstep whilst visiting the UK from South Africa! He has kindly supplied photo's and there is a memoir from Winifred's companion secretary at the time who is featured in the story. Click here.


  • Escape to Provence by Maureen Emerson was officially launched on Saturday 14th June 2008 at the English Book Centre, Valbonne, France, courtesy of the proprietor Jill Shepperd who had provided an excellent backdrop for the event. Maureen gave a short talk of about 15 minutes covering firstly the writing of the book and then a brief description of the contents. Speaking perfectly, despite claiming she had never done it before, the audience in the packed bookshop were enthralled. Afterwards she happily chatted with the visitors outside and signed numerous copies. Maureen has to be congratulated on a splendid publication. The depth of her research and the ends to which she has gone, (and places), to obtain it is quite staggering. Congratulations Maureen, a well deserved success. Click here to see some photo's of the event.


  • Howard Grattan has kindly provided two new dust jackets from editions of Perfume from Provence and Sunset House that were published by Cedric Chivers of Bath in 1974. Click here to go direct to the book page for the thumbnail pictures which have links to their respective pages. These editions appear to have been published in conjunction with the Library Association.
     - Howard has supplied two more un-seen covers from a Japanese edition of Sunset House and a Swedish edition of Perfume from Provence.


  • Escape to Provence by Maureen Emerson - Update.
    This exciting new publication, the culmination of approximately 7 years work, is now being printed. The book will be available for order direct from the publisher, Chapter & Verse, at £9.99 (post free the U.K.) in July 2008.  An order form will be available to download and print in due course.

May 2008


  • The CDP narrow gauge railway, part of which used to run through The Domaine olive groves, will be operating its steam hauled service again in 2008. It will operate on Sunday only between Puget-Theniers and Annot until from 11th May until the 19th October. You can connect with the steam train by using the ordinary service from Nice CDP station. For further information click here.


  • 'Race for Life 2008' - Update. Fiona & Jane completed the 5k run at Stratford upon Avon Race Course on Sunday 18th May in great times. It was a fresh and windy morning but fortunately dry. So far they have raised nearly £700 in sponsorship and, as their employer operates a £1 for £1 scheme, this will bring the total to £1400! A fantastic effort and a huge thank you for your support. There were 2000 women runners and the day will have raised about £1 million in total for this worthy cause. Click here to see some pictures.


  • Escape to Provence by Maureen Emerson. The story of the fascinating lives of Winifred Fortescue & Elisabeth Starr. The book will be launched at a signing by the author, in France, on Saturday 14th June 2008. It should be available, to order, in the UK in July 2008. You can see the finished cover design, read the notes and get full details of the launch by clicking on the picture below.


  • A page of photographs taken in and around Opio village submitted by P. Martin, a visitor to the site, has now been added. Click here to view them.

April 2008


  • Mac Users - if you are viewing the site on an Apple Mac or using the Safari browser on a PC please note that there are a few strange anomalies! Certain text appears misplaced or may even be missing where Word Art was used to create it. The site is constructed on a PC but I will try and synchronize it for Mac users in due course.


  • 1908 First Night Programme from Pinkie and the Fairies at His Majesty's Theatre added. Winifred the actress appeared in this production. Click here.


  • Another early aerial photo of Opio & Chateauneuf has come into my collection and is now available to view. Click here.


  • My
    wife, Fiona, will be running in the Cancer Research UK 'Race for Life 2008' at Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire on May 18th for the 5th year running. She is joined this year by a friend and colleague, Jane Hudson-Evans, who is taking part for the first time. If you would like to support them you will be very welcome, just double click on the donate button below. Than you very much indeed for your support.

 

March 2008


  • Better quality scans of the press reviews and pictures from Winifred's days as an actress. (You can now read them!). Click here.


  • Better quality scans of the remaining 'Cintra' documents have now been added to the appropriate page, you can also enlarge them and view in Adobe.pdf format. Click here.


  • New photographs of the Opio graves taken in February 2008, by regular visitor Rhona Wells, have been added to the site.


  • Lady Fortescue's original garden at The Domaine, near Grasse, (now Villa Fort France), will be open to the public a number of times in 2008. If you are in the area it is an opportunity not to be missed. For times and dates click here. The garden has recently been awarded the label 'Jardin Remarquable'. To read more about this, in French, click on the logo below. I will add a translation shortly.

Lady Fortescue's original garden at the Villa Fort France has been awarded the label 'jardin remarquable'


  • I apologise for the delay in updates to the site during early 2008, this has been brought about by health problems. However, I have not been idle! A number of the sites original photo's have been replaced with better quality images, continuing the programme started last year. If you look carefully you will see there is now a small photo of 'L.O.' or Little Orchard, the cottage occupied by Winifred & John in Hertfordshire after leaving London but before moving to France. There are some new pages planned for 2008, hopefully some spare books for sale and the possibility of a book of photographs, taken from the originals used on the web site.


  • Winter is almost over in the south and the carnival season is in full swing in Nice & Menton. The Mimosa is in bloom and the sun is getting warmer each day, although you can still pop up to the Alpes-Maritime and ski at places like Auron, having enjoyed the morning down at the sea! I hope to be enjoying the sea half very soon!

  Nice at Night

February 2008


  • Escape to Provence by Maureen Emerson. This exciting new publication, the culmination of approximately 7 years work by Maureen, is now entering its final stages with the designers, printers and indexers. The book should be available in Summer of this year and
    Jill Shepperd of the English Book Centre in Valbonne has kindly arranged a book signing (with a short introductory talk) for Saturday, 14 June 2008. If you find yourself in the area at that time you will be very welcome to attend. I hope to be able to add an order form to the website in due course to enable visitors  to obtain a copy. More information when available.

Escape to Provence by Maureen Emerson, published July 2008

January 2008


  • In December 2007 a new book titled The Good Straight Englishwoman, written by Amanda Davies was published.  In the 1920s and 30s
    Clare Hedley-Peek ran the highly successful ‘Sunshine Clinic’ for children with bone disease – she and her partner Winifred Morris were part of the ex-pat community which included Lady Fortescue and Elisabeth Starr living on the Opio hillside renamed by the locals as ‘La Colline des Anglaises’. Click here for more information.

The Good Straight Englishwoman by Amanda Davies

Links to Archives are at bottom of page

 I hope you enjoy browsing the pages, there are now over 100! Remember to bookmark the site and come back often.


Click here to visit website

Click for Nice, France Forecast


Visit the publishers web site

 


Random House Books

 

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For Perfume from Grasse

 

Opio Village Site
Opio Village

 

Grasse Ville Site
Grasse Ville

 

 
Live Webcam
at Grasse

 

Tour de France 2004
Visit the Tour de France 2004

 

Tour de France 2005
Visit the Tour de France 2005

 


Visit the Tour de France 2006

 


Visit the Tour de France 2007

 

Tour de France
Visit the Tour de France 2008

 

villOrama
Find a town or village

 

LINKS TO OUR FAVOURITE CHARITIES

Cancer Research UK Site
Cancer Research UK


Fiona's Race for Life Page

 

Christian Aid Site
Christian Aid

 

Children's Society Site
The Children’s
Society

The Children's Society

 

 

 Discount Hotel Reservation - HotelClub

 

 

Vieux Ville, Grasse

 

La Cascade du Chateau, Vieux Nice. (Atelier Contre-Jour, Peinture sur bois, aquarelles, Vieux Nice)

 

Vieux Ville, Nice

Cote d'Azur
en fete events all year round

 


     Cypress tress at the entrance to The Domaine, by E H Shepard    

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 Please e-mail any enquiries about this site to: enquiries@perfumefromprovence.com
Copyright © 2001-2008 P. Riley - All rights reserved.
Updated - 08 Jul 2008 23:12