This tantalising travel memoir from R J ODonnell will have readers yearning to visit this much desired destination. Told with humour and literary flourish, France, the Soul of a Journey is a novel-style account of the author’s holiday with some carefully researched history and culture of the country thrown in.

“My imagination was fed from an early age growing up on a farm in a countryside steeped in folk literature and history,” explains ODonnell. “Later when I studied French Literature and Modern History those sentiments were formalised. From teaching both subjects I learned just how gripping students found them and I was able to blend both into my writing.”

From the chain of spires in medieval Normandy, south to the Loire Valley where Renaissance France and the ideas of the great civilisation first began, the mood of ODonnell’s memoir is laden with what makes France so loved. With three travelling companions, she shares great moments: at a church concert, sampling the local cuisine or seizing a moment of nostalgia in a salon de thé. Anecdotes of the people met along the way enliven the journey with passing humour, while conversational tones of friendship and fun are never far off.

While this book carries the substance of careful research, facts do not weigh down the narrative but are presented in an engaging style. France’s myths and legends weave subtly into the story and historical figures are taken off textbook pedestals and introduced in a light and personalised way.