Home & Dry in Normandy: A Memoir of Eternal Optimism in Rural France

When George and Donella East buy a derelict mill in Normandy with only an overdraft to their names, they know it will take more than luck to realize the dream of living the good life. As they set about renovating the Mill of the Flea, Rene Ribet arrives in his ramshackle caravan to assume squatters’ rights. Their mentor promises to school them in the ways of the French countryside, but what the innocents abroad are yet to learn is that Mr. Ribet is known locally as The Fox of Cotentin. A series of doomed survival schemes ensues, and with financial disaster looming, the couple’s vision of a new life seems to be fading fast. This is a hilarious foray into French country domesticity.