Penguin Michael Joseph acquires ex-publisher Dolby’s ‘moving’ debut

Penguin Michael Joseph has acquired ex-publisher Trevor Dolby’s first book, One Place de l’Eglise: A Year or Two in a French Village, for publication on 21st July.

Dan Bunyard, non-fiction publishing director at PMJ, acquired world all language rights directly from Dolby, who spent 35 years publishing and editing books. 

He most recently worked at Preface, an imprint of Random House, as well as previously holding roles at HarperCollins, where he was m.d. of non-fiction, and Orion, where he was editorial director. 

Likened to Peter Mayle’s A Year in Provence (Penguin) and J L Carr’s A Month in the Country (Penguin Classics), One Place de l’Eglise tells Dolby’s story of buying and renovating a dilapidated 11th-century house in the small village of Causses-et-Veyran in the south of France. He now lives in Languedoc and London.

On turning his experience into a book, Dolby said: “Nearly 20 years ago my wife Kaz and I bought a wreck of an 11th-century stone house in a village in the south of France. I often told stories about the people and the place and how life enhancing it is.

“When Dan Bunyard suggested I should write a few of the stories down I thought that it was about time to see if the gamekeeper could turn poacher. I was astonished and delighted when Dan said he loved it. And when he offered the advance in wine, how could I refuse?”

Bunyard added that when he received the first draft of the book in the midst of the second national lockdown he was “lifted away to a sun-baked village square and an ancient house, where memory and adventure mingled”. 

He said: “It offered a welcome escape to somewhere sunnier and more hopeful. What starts out as a light, witty jaunt becomes suffused with other, subtler shades. It’s a moving, clever, funny and evocative book from a very talented writer – a delight to read and a privilege to work on."