cover image Four Seasons in a Day: Travel, Transitions, and Letting Go of the Place We Call Home

Four Seasons in a Day: Travel, Transitions, and Letting Go of the Place We Call Home

Deborah L. Jacobs. DJWorking Unlimited, $14.95 trade paper (296p) ISBN 978-0-9836970-4-6

Jacobs, a former editor at Forbes, recounts the story of a three-month trip to France, using short-term rental services to lease her three-story Brooklyn town house and rent homes in four different regions of France. Having just seen her son off to college, Jacobs planned the trip as a way to mark the beginning of the next chapter of her life. She and her husband arrive at their first rental in the Loire Valley only to encounter the first of many frustrations and disappointments with their lodgings at a small, untidy cottage owned by a winemaker. They flee to a new rental, finding only moderately better conditions. As the journey (and lodgings) gradually improve, the narrative shifts toward a more traditional travelogue with details about French culture and history—including Jacobs’s recounting of a spirited exchange with the village cheese monger and anecdotes from Ernest Hemingway’s time in France. Ultimately, however, the book’s narrative mainstay—Jacobs’s experiences with short-term rental services—is overridden by frequent, detailed complaints. There is a great deal to appreciate in Jacobs’s account, but what’s missing is essential: a sense of the author’s growth—and growing self-awareness—throughout her journey. (BookLife)