Blue: A St. Barts Memoir

by David Coggins

He gained instant fans around the world with tales of his family's many years visiting Paris in winter. Now David Coggins brings to curious, travel-loving readers the same degree of enviable stories and charming illustrations, this time from St. Barts--a perfect compliment to the first book in the series.

A St. Barts Memoir by artist and writer David Coggins is an affectionate, poetic account of his family's annual visits to St. Barthelemy in the French West Indies. As in his popular Paris in Winter, the pages of Blue are full of lyrical writing and vivid watercolors and ink drawings.

Coggins and his family have a passion for the simple yet sophisticated pleasures of life on the beautiful French island. That passion is contagious, and the reader is soon caught up in rituals developed and refined over 20 years. Much of it centers around the mountain villa where they stay and the timeless joys of the swimming, reading, sailing, meals overlooking the sea.

Coggins describes the natural world lovingly, and captures it in his drawings--sublime sky and sea, lush tropical gardens, abundant wildlife from iguanas to whales. He writes about social life, about the famous and glamorous but more about people who live on the island, chefs, artists, wine sellers, sailors.

Blue is a delight for the eye and the mind, an antidote to the pressures of urban life. It's a deeply personal telling of one family's experiences in an idyllic setting, but Coggins's gifts as storyteller and illustrator, conveyed with humanity and a love of life, make Blue universally enchanting.

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction, Nature

264 pages, Hardcover

Published October 16, 2018

Reviews

[Amy Prosenjak · Rating 2 out of 5]

I absolutely loved his Paris book, this one I found disjointed and too stream of consciousness. Weird how different I feel about them, this is a later book and maybe nothing can be captured like Paris?? The best passage was … “What’s the word? It’s more than peaceful. Something not often felt that catches you by surprise. It’s contentment. When outside aligns with inside.”

[Paul McBride · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a beautiful book, and yet nothing really happens, and is part of the reason it is so great.
It chronicles the authors yearly trips with his family to the island of St Barts.
They lay in the sun by the pool and the beach, read interesting books, walk all over the island, East well, and hang out with friends old and new.
It perfectly describes how I like to spend time on a vacation. The author is an artist and so every page has these beautiful minimalist watercolor sketches of something related to what is being described.
One takeaway for me was how the the island changed year after year and not really in a good way.
Rich people with money or just greed or a desire to make everything luxurious or the same ruin so many wonderful places.
I feel blessed to have been to a number of places before they became another cookie cutter destination, especially Waikiki beach- back when it retained elements of Hawaii and Polynesia some say it was tacky but I see it as charm and being more in line with what you would expect. Now it is as Polynesian as Dallas.
Maui before money and southern Californians made it look like their state.
Cabo San Lucas in 1986 still a sleepy town known for fishing and 1 bar that catered to Americans.
Now it is nothing but luxury hotels and a billion timeshares and their pesky salespeople. And prices that rival LA or NYC.
This book reminds the reader of the joys of unwinding, relaxing and reflecting.
I loved it.

[Patricia Sanders · Rating 4 out of 5]

Transport yourself to an island with this true story of island life along with lovely illustrations.

[Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

A light-hearted and relaxing read about Coggins' 25 years vacationing on St. Barts with his family. A good replacement for traveling during Coronavirus lockdown.

[Cheryl Carroll · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyable