Max Skinner has a decision to make. He can stay in rainy, gray London and try to recover from his damaged financial career by looking for a new job. Or he can roll the dice and start anew in Provencal France, where he has just inherited his late uncle's vineyard.

This no-brainer decision provides the basis for expatriate extraordinaire Peter Mayle's new novel, A Good Year, a witty lighthearted tale. The plot may not be the most complex, but Mayle's descriptive and fluid writing style make for a delightful story.

Max, a 30-something Londoner, believes his financial career is finally on the up and up. That is, until his boss steals his biggest client, forcing Max to save what little pride he has left and resign.

His once hopeful thoughts of furnishing his apartment, traveling to Saint-Tropez and climbing out of his bottomless hole of debt have all but disappeared when a mysteriously marked letter from France arrives informing Max that he's hit the jackpot in a very big way.

As a boy, Max used to spend his summer holidays at his uncle's estate. Memories of the quaint hillside villages, warm weather and lush vineyards come flooding back as he's recounting his turbulent day at dinner with his close friend and ex-brother-in-law Charlie Willis, who's just made partner at his real estate firm and fancies himself a budding wine connoisseur.

Charlie has Max all but on the plane to "a new career among the vines" when Max remembers he's broke. How will he take care of the rent for his London flat? What about that mountain of credit card debt?

Fortunately for Max, Charlie cuts him a check or "bridging loan" as Charlie puts it, just to buy Max enough time to decide whether to keep the property and try his hand at winemaking or sell it.

When Max gets to his new digs, he finds that the wine produced on the estate, Le Griffon, tastes like the house itself looks - shabby. No matter, Max has his mind on more important things: the breathtaking landscape, sunshine and the gorgeous notaire handling his estate.

Then, just as Max is settling into his new life, complications threaten to take it all away. Out of nowhere his uncle's long-lost daughter from California shows up, and the vineyard caretaker seems overly zealous in his bid to take over the land, especially because the wine is so dreadful.

Mayle knows a thing or two about chucking the rat race for the simple life. His book A Year in Provence details his own foray into Provencal life, so the reader can trust that his rich descriptions of the land and the lifestyle are authentic.

He also manages to weave a fast-moving and fun story line. Mayle further enhances the story by giving readers a sense of the lucrative but highly competitive boutique winemaking business.

A Good Year is a deliciously light-hearted tale, perfect for those looking to escape reality for a while. Plus, you never know: The unexpected call to travel down a new path could come at anytime.

One can only hope that it leads to somewhere as scrumptious as southern France.

The Provencal life never tasted so good.

Kim Castleberry is an entertainment clerk at the Rocky Mountain News.