Conversation with my Gardener (hard cover)

A painter returns from Paris to his childhood home in rural France. The painter notices that the house's once-impressive vegetable garden has fallen into neglect, and he advertises for a gardener to put it back into shape. The gardener who responds is a former schoolmate. The painter discovers the bucolic side of life and its beauty. Over the next several months, the two different men become friends through long conversations. Through the eyes of each other, they experience the world in a new light. The gardener's occasional stomach cramps is identified as cancer and soon he passes away. The painter takes the insights his friend has given him and shares them through an art exhibition.