The 10 best books to read in March
Hitchcockian thrillers, Francophile memoirs and classic Kings Cross’ crime tales feature in Helen Trinca’s books to buy this month.
Helen Trinca
Weekend Australian
March 7-8, 2026
Letter from Provence: A Memoir
by Sheryle Bagwell
Allen & Unwin, memoir, $34.99
The memoir of the Francophile is a genre all its own, so it may be that journalist Sheryle Bagwell had to add something extra to get this one over the line. She’s opted for a book that links her own life (she and her husband divide their time between Sydney and a house in Provence) to the world of Louis X1V, via a book of 17th century letters she discovers in said house. And there’s more, as Bagwell, a former ABC broadcaster, journeys into her own past and her relationship with a mother whose dreams of travelling to France were never fulfilled. There are some lovely chapters on the French customs we rarely read about - like how one should behave at the local swimming pool.
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