Book Review - Summer at the French Bakery by Jo Thomas

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Title: Summer at the French Bakery

Author: Jo Thomas

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Netgalley

Publisher: MacMillan

Publication Date: 4th June 2026

Rating: 5 Stars

A new adventure is on the menu . . .

Juliet has learnt that life is too short not to chase your dreams. But when she buys an old watermill in France, her tranquil new start is quickly kneaded into something far more ambitious when the local mayor offers her a deal she can’t refuse: reopen the village’s derelict boulangerie.

With a formidable rival – the owner of the local bread vending machine – determined to crush her, Juliet faces disgruntled villagers, her own lack of baking skills, and hidden secrets within the mill itself.

But with help from her outspoken neighbour and the charming Tabac owner, Juliet battles to bring back the aroma of freshly baked bread – and with it, the heart of the community.

Can she prove that even the biggest dreams start with just a little pinch of courage?

Will definitely make you crave a proper French baguette. It's literally all I could think of while I was reading this, well that and the story being told I was thinking about that, but mainly about how nice it would have been to have a fresh baguette (or more than one) to munch on while reading this.   So consider yourself warned. 

As you may have guessed there is definitely French bread in this book. Julie dreams of opening up a tea shop in an old watermill in a small village in Brittany, but she is having issues with her visa (personally I blame Brexit!) and the pretty much told she will only get a more permanent one, if she can get the old village boulangerie up and running and turning a profit within three months. 

Julie has left her husband amicably in order to follow her dreams, and to discover who she really is when not being a wife, mother or survivor.  But it soon becomes apparent that she stands out in this village, and is making errors of judgement. 

There is a rival baker in a nearby village that supplies all local villages without a boulangerie of it's own, baguettes each day in vending machines.  He is arrogant, sleazy, and downright horrible, and a bully but it's hard to see how to stop him. 

After a very shaky start Juliet manages to make friends with Laurent the local Tabac owner, and the woman who lives above the bakery who is adamant she doesn't want the bakery to re-open. 

This is a lovely story of French bread, of French food in general, plenty of descriptions that had my mouth watering, and above all of community. It's a chance to revitalise an area that is close to becoming wiped out, and it's a story of how you should never under-estimate a middle aged woman! 

This is Jo Thomas at her foodie best, introducing us to a lovely area of France, to how to make flour, to some kingfishers, and to a few secrets too.  It's just totally absorbing reading, even if I am now famished.  I can't wait to see where this author will transport us next. 

Thank you to MacMillan and Netgalley for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily.