The Memory of Lavender and Sage

Thanks to NetGalley and Harper Muse for a digital advance reader's copy. All comments and opinions are my own. This feel-good novel checked several of my boxes – magical realism, small town in France, a life reboot, found family, romance, food and even a few tantalizing recipes thrown in. After Tempesta’s French mother dies when she is thirteen, she is left living in New York with her workaholic father, younger brother, and vindictive grandmother. Fifteen years later her father dies, and Tempesta decides to take a leave from her newspaper food critic job and visit the small French town her mother came from. This is the beginning of Tempesta’s revival – with her inheritance she buys a fixer-upper manor house in the small town of Sainte-Colombe, in Provence, makes new friends, develops a romance with a hunky carpenter, learns about her French family and heritage from the village elders, and discovers her mystical talent related to growing herbs and preparing food. This may sound typical and predictable, but it’s really so much better than the usual. The novel was well-written, the characters authentic, and I found myself quickly turning the pages to find out what would happen next. Juxtaposed with Tempesta’s personal growth was the story of the small village on the brink of ruin being saved by the villagers using the tools at their disposal, and Tempesta was the catalyst to get the village to see the dire situation they faced while providing a creative solution. After the life-changing decisions Tempesta makes throughout the novel, not only has she blossomed in her new environment and become more assured and confident, but she has made a difference in the life of the village. As another character tells her, “You deserve to feel at home. You deserve to feel like you belong. That you’re valued.” She had spent so many years convinced that she was unlovable and unworthy, that she began to think it was true. It was heartwarming to see Tempesta flourish and to carry on her family’s legacy. I highly recommend this feel-good novel of revitalization (both Tempesta’s and the village’s), family, and realizing that more important than making a living, is to take the time to make a life.