Joy Morton

How to Move a Chateau Joy Morton

In the sleepy village of Firmin-sur-Roche in south-west France, Célestine LaFargue has had enough of out-dated traditionalist Ambrose Abélard. Deciding to run the small commune herself she embarks on a feverish election campaign to supplant Ambrose. Against a backdrop of wheat fields, sun-flowers, moules frites soirées and wild-boar hunts, the tight-knit community watch on in bemusement whilst Célestine's bumbling tactics lead to theft, adultery and bribery as she schemes to win the election. Not to be underestimated, the wily Ambrose Abélard is galvanised to fight back but in the process he is forced to compromise his own integrity and commit a crime for the benefit of the whole village. A humourous romp through rural village life in France, the book is full of local characters: Arnaud the busy retired farmer who does all he can to avoid spending time with his wife; Jean-Paul Sancerre director of the museum in Bordeaux racked by scandal; and the colourful group of huntsmen who, throughout the book, are renovating an old stone barn turning it into a new hunters' lodge. The book is light-hearted and reveals how gentle country philosophies contrast against the naked ambition of modern life.