The joy of Sarah Long's writing is evident throughout this delightful novel - from the playful language of French phrases, to the amusing conversations between Nicola and Dominic, to the eccentric descriptions of French countryside life. "A Year in the Chateau" is the perfect escape to France with plenty of laugh-out-loud moments to bring joy and wonderment to readers everywhere.

This book is a story about friendship ultimately
I enjoyed the storyline. This is a heartwarming, emotional and lighthearted read.
An enjoyable read

I greatly enjoyed this book, thank you for giving me a preview copy. The plot was interesting and fast paced and I sympathised with the characters. This is the first novel I have read by this author but I hope it will not be the last!

.Thank you to Netgalley for a pre publication copy. In return for an honest #ayearatthechateau #netgalley

Four sets of couples are fed up with their habituous London life. As they all retire they decide that moving to a large country house together would allow them the freedom, fun and experience they are craving. The only property they find suitable is in France. This is the story of their life for the first year in their chateau. Will they survive? Or will this test their love?

The title drew me into this beautiful cover design. I love being at the bottom of the drive with the characters looking up the drive to the chateau looming up ahead!, it gives it a real feel for its size.

This story ihas a good plot line. A fun all year round story which warms the cockles and allows you to escape. The subject makes you want to read on.

Their are some emotional subjects included such as infertility, single parenthood, affairs and death amongst many more. However the author very cleverly Incorporated this into being part of the characters lives. However only finding out about these subjects a few per season.

However the writing style is difficult to get into in the beginning. It reads terribly like a high school essay where the author is mixing between French and English. This detracts from the flow whilst making it a flat read. If it wasn't for the storyline you'd give up.

The narrative changes multiple times per chapter eg paragraph for Beth, paragraph for Florida and then next paragraph for Dom. Even though this does slow it down every so often. It gives a rounded story from multiple perspectives.

Furthermore the characters were very 2d. There was very little in the story that you felt alongside the characters. It was just you being told the information. There was potential for this to be a very beautiful emotional read and it did not provide me the emotion I expected particularly during the middle.

I also felt the characters had many problems which we do in present day however these were easily rectified with minimal emotion, thought or heartbreak being felt to the reader. Eg Nicola and finding out about Doms affair. This draws away from the realism of the story.

I really liked this enjoyable read. A lovely idea, nicely written, and with great characters.

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for allowing me to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Please note that this book is not for me - I have read the book, However I had to DNF and because i do not like to give negative reviews I will not review this book fully - there is no specific reason for not liking this book. I found it a struggle to read and did not enjoy trying to force myself to read this book.

Apologies for any inconvenience caused and thank you for the opportunity to read this book

Not read any books by this author before, but won’t be my last! Loved it,.....Thankyou for a lovely read!

I really enjoyed this book. It tells the story of a bunch of elderly friends who decide to chuck in their lives, sell their houses and buy an old run down chateau in France.

There are 3 married couples and 1 single gay man. Things arent as rosy as they appear however, and each couple have their own troubles to deal with. Sad in places, funny in places, but overall very charming.

I love the cover for this book, it is perfect too for the book!

I really enjoyed this story, the pace was good and I thought that the characters were well developed too, it is a great story about friendship and following your dreams.

It was a heart-warming read and I loved the characters and how they worked well together and I loved finding out more about the back stories as the book progressed too.

It was all very well planned out and well developed – and best of all, it was very well written and a book that completely hooked me.

It is 4 stars from me for this one, I thought it was a fabulous story and the author has definitely put herself on my radar now as one to watch! Highly recommended!!

This is my first introduction to the work of Sarah Long and after reading A Year in the Chateau I am keen to catch up with her other books.
I really enjoyed this novel by Sarah Long; maybe it's because the idea of living in a historic chateau in France sounds appealing, maybe it's the small community with the numerous boulangeries, delicatessens and roadside cafes were you can wile away a few hours people watching. Or is it the romantic notion of France having a more relaxed approach to life? I didn't care as I was sold with the dream as soon as the word chateau was mentioned!
Nicola and Dominic are fed-up of the rat-race in London and a dream emerges of escaping to the country and living their very own good life. This dream evolves into clubbing together with close friends and buying a chateau in France. These nine friends were so diverse in character it made for an interesting story as even though the couples had different backgrounds and interests they blended beautifully as a group. When life hit an all time low for one of the friends the group sprang into action to offer support where and when needed.
I loved how the author split the story up into seasons and we got to experience the changing sights, sounds and aromas of chateau life for the first time through the eyes of the characters.
A Year in the Chateau is a story of new beginnings and new adventures albeit at a slower more relaxed pace giving the time for our characters to re-evaluate their lives and learn to appreciate the important aspects of life. But life wasn't all rosy for our intrepid new chateau owners and life's struggles and financial upheavals felt so much easier to handle within such an idyllic setting. But when tragedy strikes life for all of the friends will never be the same again.
I do feel like there's lots more to learn and look forward to about the characters we've grown to love and that the author could run with this storyline for a good few further stories. I also don't want to particularly leave the Chateau yet, maybe I'll be inspired to dream up my own French adventure?!

It all begins with Nicola and Dominic when they take the plunge to retire with a life plan rather than waiting around passing days and just getting old. They are both still very much full of life. They live in a rather influential area just outside London with their two grown-up children who have no intention of moving out and moving on. I mean why would they, they live rent-free with mum doing everything for them. Time to grow up kids.
Nicola and Dominic come up with a plan to ask their close friends if they would like to buy a property together with separate living areas for each couple and a single friend, with shared communal areas where they can enjoy each others company. They are all pretty well off so when they can't find just the right place in Britain, they look over the Channel in Normandy. The rose-coloured spectacles come out and they buy with their hearts, not common sense, a chateau which an old lady owned and passed on like a hot potato.
The nine friends soon became fixed firmly in my mind as they faced the reality of the true cost to make the place liveable. The plans of grandeur having to take second place to leaking roofs and plumbing issues. Sarah Long's writing conjuring images of the views from the house and the transformations that were taking place not just with the chateau but with the friends too. I loved getting to know them. Adored Fizz and her Insta posts and blog, smiled at pictures they created and laughed at some of the situations they found themselves in and how they overcome them.
It isn't all perfect but you need it to read it not be told. There are some fabulous French characters too, which I let myself swoon over a couple of times. I really wanted to be one of this tight group (sighs). I loved how at even their age they still matured and changed, found what was important and took their chances for themselves.
A brilliant book, one that I feel I will read again.
I wish to thank NetGalley and the publisher for an e-copy of this book which I have reviewed honestly.

4☆ A Heart Warming Story about Friendship and Following Your Dreams!

A Year in the Château is a Story about Friendship, moving on to a new chapter in life, taking chances, Drama, discovery and following your dreams.

Nicola and Dominic are fed up with there life and want to retire to enjoy the finer things in life.
So the decide to retire to France where they move into what appears to be a delightful Château with a few of their closest friends.
Leaving everything behind.
The idea sounds crazy, but each of the friends have their own private space in the Château, so although they live together they can have some me time.

Oh and did I mention that the so called delightful Château might just need some TLC when things start to go wrong, with leaks, dodgy plumbing, power issues... what are they letting themselves in for!

But as always when you put a group of friends together things are going to come out, things will fester, friendships will be put to the test, things will go wrong and is their so called retirement really all it's cracked up to be! Or have they made one of their biggest mistakes?

The Characters are certainly an eclectic bunch, which I always enjoy, especially with multiple characters in books. They fit together brilliantly and make up a quirky and endearing bunch of friends.

I enjoyed the story line, I'm not too sure I would want to move in with several of my friends, to a place I barely knew, but then again I guess some risks are worth taking aren't they!
A Year in the Château is a heart warming, light hearted, fun read that kept me entertained, I enjoyed the lil twists and turns, It had me giggling and wondering what was going to happen next!
Overall an enjoyable read I would recommend reading.

Thank you to Compulsive Readers Tours and Zaffre Books for this copy which I reviewed honestly and voluntarily.

I have a little confession to make- yes yet another one. Although I have Sarah's previous book ('Invisible Women') on my ever increasing 'to be read' pile, I haven't actually read it yet. What a mistake to make. Having enjoyed reading 'A Year In The Chateau' as much as I did, I can guarantee that 'Invisible Women' will not be on the 'to be read' mountain for very much longer. I thoroughly enjoyed reading 'A Year In The Chateau' but more about that in a bit.
The main characters are a set of friends, who have reached a certain age and they want to take things a bit easier, so they decide to all chip in and buy a property in the country. Although they were going to have separate living quarters, I did wonder if perhaps they would end up falling out or living in such close quarters would be a step too far for some of the characters. I can't say that I particularly warmed to any of the characters but at the same time I didn't particularly dislike any of them.
It didn't take me all that long to get into this story. As soon as I started reading, I knew that this was one book, which would prove extremely difficult to put to one side for any length of time and so it proved to be. Whilst reading this book I became totally wrapped up in the lives and stories of the people, who were all moving to the country. I had an inkling of how the story was going to develop and of course I had to keep reading to see if I was going to be proved right or not. My need to know what happened in the story meant that I read this book in under 48 hours, which is pretty good going for me. Usually I have the attention span of a gnat and I am easily distracted but not in this case. For the duration of the story, I was able to shut out all other distractions and focus solely on this book.
'A Year In The Chateau' is well written. Sarah has one of those writing styles that is easy to get used to and easy to get along with. Reading this book felt more like a chat or gossip among a group of friends than reading an actual book. I hope that makes sense. I loved being a fly on the wall to all the shenanigans that the group of friends in the book got up to. Sarah writes so convincingly and realistically that I did feel as though I was an actual part of the story. I loved this charming and witty read, which served as a distraction from the pain I was in and it was the tonic I needed at that moment in time.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading 'A Year In The Chateau' and I would recommend it to other readers. I will certainly be reading more of Sarah's work in the future. The score on the Ginger Book Geek board is a very well deserved 5* out of 5*.

One of the things I look for in any book featuring rather older characters is that feeling of identification – and I must admit that I did struggle a little with this book at the start. They’re all from professional backgrounds, distinctly selfish and self-obsessed, and I really didn’t particularly like any of them – had I identified with any of them I’d really have had serious cause for concern. But don’t worry, that didn’t last!

The whole idea of buying a home they could all share – four couples and one singleton, living separately but supporting each other – is a fascinating concept that inexorably draws you in. And of course, their relationships are further complicated by some dangerous undercurrents – former relationships, a touch or two of jealousy, the new partner that none of them really like (“useful to have one person who annoys everyone: it gives the others someone to bond against”).

After an abortive UK search for a suitable property, as the characters become more identifiable individuals and some of their “differences” become clear, they find and buy a dilapidated château – with potential – in Normandy. And they buy it without having a survey done – it seems they learned little from their professional lives. At first, they live the dream – enjoying all the period touches (other than the run-down bathrooms and the neglected kitchen), delighting in restoring the walled garden, planning for a croquet lawn and a cricket pitch, drinking the wine, eating the cheese. And then the dream becomes a rather increasing nightmare – a few tensions, some pretty major secrets – and they realise that their purchase is something of a money pit when the tiles fall off the roof and the scaffolding goes up.

Although I did perhaps find them rather an amorphous mass at first, there were actually some excellent characters in this book. The considerably younger Fizz isn’t the nightmare she first appears – and is the source of much of the gentle humour as she captures the adventure for her Mademoiselle Bovary blog and insta posts. I warmed to both Nicola and Beth after a slightly shaky start, enjoying their friendship despite Simon’s sometimes embarrassing and inappropriate attentions, and particularly after the story takes a more dramatic turn. Leo’s perhaps the only one of the group who’s likeable from first encounter – an interior designer, with an eye for decor, a slightly outlandish dress sense, moving on from a broken relationship with particular aplomb. And the cast of characters in the French part of the story – particularly the wonderful ex-chatelaine who continues to treat the place as her own – are excellent.

This book might not have been entirely what I was expecting, but there was a lot I very much enjoyed. Go on, give it a try, see what you think…

(Review copied to Amazon UK, but link not yet available.)

A sweet tale about a group of older people - and one younger- who decide to follow their dreams and move to a beautiful but dilapidated château in Normandy. The group of nine includes Nicola and Dominic, the driving forces behind the plan, the looking for love Leo, Will and his new bride Fizz, the studious Dougie and Mary and to round out the group Beth and Stephen – who seems to still be in love with Nicola.
This is an amusing story about settling into life in a different country as this eclectic group confront life, love and family issues. I wanted to like this book and to be honest, there is little to dislike – simply put, the story just did not hold my interest. It is a well-written tale and there are several laugh out loud moments. It is just not to my taste.
I am grateful though for the opportunity to read this story and discover a new author. I received an ARC of ‘A Year in the Château’ from Zaffre via Netgalley in return for an honest review.
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Who hasn't dreamed of giving up the rat race and humdrum of everyday life, and moving to the French countryside to retire in style? Well, in A YEAR IN THE CHÂTEAU by Sarah Long you don't have to dream as you get to experience it all with some cracking characters along the way to keep you entertained.

Fed up of the constant go, go, go of life, Nicola and Dominic hatch the perfect plan for their retirement now that their children are all grown up and shouldn't need them as much - they will move to France and buy a château with a group of their closest friends, where they will each have their own apartment but a communal area for socialising, and they can live off the land and truly relax for the first time. Paradise, right? But what happens when old crushes resurface alongside some secrets that were never meant to see the light of day? Or when their historical home starts to look more like a crumbling ruin as time goes on?

I loved the premise of this story from the very beginning and that didn't change by the end of the story - the idea that a group of friends could live together, with their own space too, and enjoy each other's company even though they all have very different personalities, tickled me throughout and was a unique take on the retiring abroad dynamic. The characters are all fresh, unique, and likeable (some more likeable than others), and I enjoyed getting to know each one. The setting is excellently depicted and I could picture the château in my head with great detail which I always enjoy, and there are some surprises along the way to keep you entertained.

A YEAR IN THE CHÂTEAU by Sarah Long is not a fast-paced story but rather a story that slowly unfurls at a relaxed pace and I found it to be an enjoyable tale of growing older but still wanting to follow new dreams and have an exciting future. An enjoyable story from start to finish.

A sweet book about 9 semi retired friends moving to a French Chateau in the countryside for a gap year, expecting it to be a bed of roses, but it turned out to be quite a welcome back to reality.

My first book by author Sarah Long, the prose kept me amused with the different scenes of the crumbling house as managed by the eclectic group. The plumbing and the former owner provided their own entertainment. The story moved sedately with a few twists and turns.

The author was quite nifty in showing the group dynamics as the rocky stay escalated their tensions, and it was fun to see the characters come onto their own. Secrets were revealed down the story which captured my interest.

Overall, a sweet beach read.

Onto my thrillers...

A Year in the Chateau is a lighthearted and entertaining tale following 9 friends as they move to a run down chateau in the French countryside, looking for a new pace of life as they reach/approach retirement age. As you can imagine, their adventure is not all wine, Camembert and roses. Not only do they have dodgy plumbing and a leaky roof to contend with, there's also the elderly former owner of the chateau who has no qualms in pinching anything that isn't nailed down! As the friends come to terms with mounting expenses and simmering tensions, they can't help but ponder whether their plan of an idyllic French life was too good to be true...

The author has provided a great cast for the story. From fusty academics, Dougie and Mary, to flamboyant designed Leo and social-media wannabe Fizz, they certainly are an eclectic mix and it is great fun getting to know each of the characters in turn. As the story flows, there are interesting changes in dynamic within the group as those characters find their place within their new household.

There are a few twists and turns within the plot which held my attention as the story meandered gently along. If I'm being completely honest, there were a few points within the story where something struck me as being somewhat unrealistic (such as whether the characters would really have bought a crumbling chateau in foreign lands without a full survey), however those issues were few and far between, and did not affect my overall enjoyment of the book.

A Year in the Chateau was the perfect choice for a lazy Sunday morning and I think it would make a great holiday read, particularly if vacationing in France. It is an easy and enjoyable read, which left me glued to my computer as I googled "French chateaus for sale"!!

Living The Dream.....?
A Chateau in Normandy, nine friends and the retirement dream that will keep them young at heart or will it? Hugely enjoyable tale, the ups and downs of living the dream. Perceptive, amusing and well drawn with rounded characters and a beautiful backdrop. An enjoyable and entertaining read.

When a group of retired or semi-retired friends mostly in their fifties decide they are fed up with city life, they have the idea of buying a big country house and living together. After not quite finding what they are looking for in Britain, they buy a chateau in Normandy and head off excitedly to begin their new life. Well as you can imagine whenever a large group start to live together, however friendly they have been, it's not quite la vie en rose. Problems arise almost immediately and it's not all wine and roses.

As the friends settle into the French way of life before long old niggles, old jealousies, old attractions and old insecurities rear their heads. Very quickly there are unexpected difficulties and expenses, with plumbing issues, power cuts, roof repairs. Their French idyll is not quite as easy and laid back as they expected and the strain begins to show.

This was a really diverse group of characters to get to know. Interior designer Leo was a sweetheart and definitely my favourite. The only singleton of the group, he did make me smile with his way of talking and his love of beautiful (expensive!) things. It was interesting getting to know the group, finding out what made them tick and observing the changing dynamic of the group in their new surroundings.

Although you can guess at some of the things which will happen there are more a few surprises along the way too. A Year in the Chateau is a light and entertaining read. It would be perfect holiday reading especially if you are going to France or have dreams yourself of living 'la vie en rose'.