Authors of a Castle in the Backyard: The Dream of a House in France to Speak at Paris Bookstore

  NEWS ADVISORY DATE: 2/20/2006 CONTACT: Ronnie Hess, Director of Communications, Division of International Studies, UW–Madison, (608) 262-5590 or rlhess@wisc.edu AUTHORS OF A CASTLE IN THE BACKYARD: THE DREAM OF A HOUSE IN FRANCE TO SPEAK AT PARIS BOOKSTORE Madison, WI — Michael Hinden and Betsy Draine, authors of A Castle in the Backyard: The Dream of a House in France, will speak about their book, just issued in paperback, at Borders West, 3750 University Ave., Madison, on Tuesday, April 4, 2006 at 7 p.m. Part travel memoir and part romance of place, A Castle in the Backyard (University of Wisconsin Press, paperback edition 2005) provides an amusing but also intimate and insightful view of village life in the Dordogne Valley, a place Hinden and Draine made their summer home for 20 years. With verve and affection, the couple, who are husband and wife as well as colleagues, recount their extensive house-hunting and negotiating, eventual moving-in, and getting-to-know the neighbors. The authors also describe their frustrations with increased tourism as the village, Castelnaud-la-Chapelle, and its 13th castle gained in regional prominence. Hinden and Draine are both emeritus professors of English at the University of Wisconsin–Madison who are living in London this year. In addition to their academic publications, they have co-translated and edited The Walnut Cookbook (Ten Speed Press, 1998) by Jean-Luc Toussaint, their neighbor in Castelnaud. The book features a collection of about 100 recipes from the Périgord region. The New York Times’ reviewer called them “marvels of clear writing,” adding that she found it difficult to stop recipe testing after a dozen or so triumphs. XXX