‘Who can resist a book that recommends love and chocolate as part of a balanced diet?’ asked Allison Pearson in the Daily Telegraph about Guiliano’s French Women Don’t Get Fat, a mould-breaking book that unlocked the secrets of ‘The French paradox’ and sold well over a million copies worldwide.By letter, by email, in person, readers have inundated Mireille Guiliano with requests for more advice. Her answer: this buoyant new book full of advice, ideas and fresh, French recipes for each season.

Elaborating on the wise counsel of her first book, but with many more easy-to-make recipes, anecdotes, tips and a wealth of global experience. Guiliano talks us through food and dining, from her childhood in Alsace-Lorraine, renowned for its cuisine, where she learned to cook with her mother and grandmother, to Provence with its richly unusual but healthy dishes, where she expanded her repertoire though not her waistline… and to the present where she cooks and wines and dines for maximum enjoyment, sharing the traditions and secrets she’s gathered along the way.