FranceBookTours -- Drawing Lessons by Patricia Sands

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Drawing Lessons by Patricia Sands is a lovely, romantic meander down a river with stops in all the nooks and crannies of French villages that people long to explore. Arianna's life as she knows it ends when her husband is diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimers. She devotes herself to caring for him, but as he reaches a point where he has no idea if she is there or not, her grown children convince her to travel to France and attend an art class, hoping to spark her earlier life interests. Of course, France does reignite Arianna's love for life and art. Sands is a connoisseur of France, carefully taking us along on the sensory journeys in France, from the Roman ruins in Arles to the delicate taste of wine and each scrumptious meal. 

"Wooden doors with enormous and ornate keyholes, handcrafted lifetimes before, bore witness to the centuries of history that had crossed their portals. They fascinated Arianna, and she was surprised to feel the urge to sketch them. Perhaps something was stirring in her after all, she mused."

And later in Arles she comes upon a woman singing and playing the guitar:

"The ambiance of the moment floated like a cloud around her: the history and redolent beauty of the surroundings, the setting sun painting the sky and washing the stone in shades of pink, the absence of others, and the emotional power of the song. Arianna promised herself this would be the beginning of moving forward. She closed her eyes and made a silent vow. Peace comes from within." 

Even as Sands' main character deals with her emotional challenges, there is a peacefulness that fills her while she explores France and opens herself to the possibilities. 

I enjoyed this novel and felt refreshed afterward, as I had gone on a journey of my own. I even made a few notes of places to visit when next we visit France. 
Scroll down to enter the contest to win a copy of this book too.

Patricia Sands

on Tour October 2-13 with

Drawing Lessons

(women’s fiction) Release date: October 1, 2017 at Lake Union Publishing ISBN: 978-1542045872 352 pages Author’s page | Goodreads  

SYNOPSIS

The author of the Love in Provence series returns to the South of France with a poignant portrait of a woman who must learn how to create a new life for herself… Sixty-two-year-old Arianna arrives in the South of France for a two-week artists’ workshop full of anticipation but burdened by guilt. Back home in Toronto, she has been living with the devastating diagnosis of her husband’s dementia and the heartbreak of watching the man she has loved for decades slip away before her eyes. What does her future hold without Ben? Before her is a blank canvas. Encouraged by her family to take some time for herself, she has traveled to Arles to set up her easel in the same fields of poppies and sunflowers that inspired Van Gogh. Gradually, she rediscovers the inner artist she abandoned long ago. Drawing strength from the warm companionship and gentle wisdom of her fellow artists at the retreat—as well as the vitality of guest lecturer Jacques de Villeneuve, an artist and a cowboy—Arianna searches her heart for permission to embrace the life in front of her and, like the sunflowers, once again face the light.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Patricia Sands lives in Toronto, but her heart’s other home is the South of France. An avid traveler, she spends part of each year on the Côte d’Azur and occasionally leads groups of women on tours of the Riviera and Provence. Her award-winning 2010 debut novel, The Bridge Club, is a book-group favorite, and The Promise of Provence, which launched her three-part Love in Provence series (followed by Promises to Keep and I Promise You This), was a finalist for a 2013 USA Best Book Award and a 2014 National Indie Excellence Award, was an Amazon Hot New Release in April 2013, and was a 2015 nominee for a #RBRT Golden Rose award in the category of romance. Sands also contributes to such Francophile websites as The Good Life France and Perfectly Provence, and she appears as a public speaker for women’s groups. Find Patricia on Facebook, on Twitter on Instagram at her Amazon Author Page or her website Subscribe to her mailing list and get information about new releases. Buy the book on Amazon.com

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GIVEAWAY

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Visit each blogger on the tour: tweeting about the giveaway everyday of the Tour will give you 5 extra entries each time! [just follow the directions on the entry-form]

Global giveaway open to all 2 winners

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