Karen Wheeler

A true story of love and loss in France. This gripping tale will make you laugh and cry in equal measure, and is guaranteed to leave a lasting impression as you turn the final page. Having quit her fast-paced life as a fashion editor in London, the author is living the French rural dream... until she makes a discovery that changes everything. Nothing could have prepared her for the tragedy to come. Unable to deal with the overwhelming grief, help arrives unexpectedly in the form of a charismatic guru that she meets in a friend's garden. He tells her three simple things to do every morning in order to combat the grief and pull herself out of depression. The result is a glorious, life-affirming tale about surviving loss, sadness and life's ups and downs.

There is so much to look forward to in the months ahead - to lengthening evenings, bike rides past fields of sunflowers or wild meadows of bluebells and poppies (just like the seventies Flake ad) and several months of fetes, vide greniers (car boot sales) and barbecues in friends' gardens. And I cannot wait to get back to see if Andy Lawton has called...After reaching the heights as a successful fashion editor, Karen said goodbye to all that and set about renovating a run-down house in rural Poitou-Charentes, in central western France, and living a simpler life. Her idyll is almost complete when she is blissfully ensconced in her fully plumbed, tiled, floored and 'warm as the hug of a pashmina' Maison Coquelicot - until, that is, a gang of macho Portuguese builders, a procession of Brits behaving badly and the ghosts of boyfriends past begin to arrive on her doorstep. Karen soon finds her (dancing) feet in the small rural community when she discovers the key to acceptance is le danse country. And after a few shuffles and twirls she meets the love of her life - he has dark, shaggy hair, four paws and a wet nose...

In her mid-thirties Karen has it all: a career as a fashion editor, a handsome boyfriend, a fab flat in west London and an array of gorgeous shoes. But when her 'plus one' leaves, she wonders if there is more to life than high fashion. So, she hangs up her Manolos and waves goodbye to her city lifestyle, deciding to go it alone in a run-down house in rural Poitou-Charentes, western France. Once there, she encounters a host of new friends and unsuitable suitors, soon learning that true happiness can be found in the simplest of things - a bike ride through the countryside on a summer evening, or six glasses of Pinot in a neighbour's garden. If you've ever dreamed of chucking away your BlackBerry and downshifting, "Tout Sweet" is perfect summer reading.