Customer Reviews: Read 11 more reviews...
 Great recommendation, Amazon! April 28, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Once I ordered "Petite Anglaise" Amazon recommended "Almost French" to me. I was a tiny bit sceptical: I had indeed enjoyed the sublect matter of "Petite Anglaise" but was a bit put off by the self-love and self-righteousness of that book. Still, I tried "Almost French" on their recommendation - and could not have been more pleased. This is a really down to earth book by a woman who came to live in Paris for love, did not find it easy at all, had her battles with the language, the people, the customs - you name it, and mastered them to a degree that in the end she could call herself "Almost French". I really liked it, it is unpretentious, self-deprecating, honest and very very interesting. It doesn't serve up "Oh la la" cliches, it describes modern French people as they are, with their strengths and foibles - and what it's like to make France your home.
Only when you finish it do you see how good it is. January 13, 2008
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
I got this book completely out the blue, reading the title only. When it started off i was a little concerned that it was going to turn into a romance novel and yes a fair section of the book discusses her relationship with her fellow. When reading through chapter by chapter you don't really get a sense of how good the book is. It is only when you finish it and look back on the story you have read do you realise all the little things you have taken in. The stark final fact from the book is that if your weren't born French you never will be French as obvious as that may seem. The book teases out this little things which are those things that will never make you French unless you were born there to good effect. Overall a great read, especially if you are planning to move there.
 Presque Parisienne September 16, 2007
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
These ex-pat books seem ever so formulaic after a while:
1.Go to France
2.Play up differences between the French and Anglo-Saxons
3.Write a Book
4.Profit!!!
Books taking sideswipes at Gallic culture obviously have a market. So far we've had
1.Crafty Provencals bamboozle London Sophisticate (Peter Mayle - A Year in Provence ISBN-13: 978-0140296037) - shades of Pagnol
2.American Chatteratti bonds with Parisian Chic Set (Adam Gopnik - Paris to the Moon - ISBN-13: 978-0375758232)
3.Brit mocks the gin-swilling Dordogneshire ex-pat crowd (Suzy Kelly - Two Steps Backwards - ISBN-13: 978-0553816204)
And of course
4.Uncultured Aussie all at sea with the Paris smart set. - Almost French
One can't help feeling that George Orwell (Down and Out in Paris and London - ISBN-13: 978-0140282566) did it so much better in the 1930s by actually walking the walk rather than just mocking from the sidelines.
Almost French, although as another reviewer said, Almost Parisienne would be a better title falls into a class of books you could dub "journo-lit". Rather than having a strong central theme this kind of writing is a series of articles that could have been churned out for aircraft in-flight travel magazines. While each article is well crafted and somewhat informative a 320 page book feels a bit much and Almost French was quite plodding at the end. It seems most of Sarah's adventures had happened in here first 12 months in Paris.
I've given the book 4/5 because, apart from the last chapters which are not that engaging and a bit rushed (maybe she could have cut the waffle about the dog) the book is well written and there are some funny passages and I think people who like these kinds of books will find this pretty good fayre. Having done the whole Paris thing (I lived 5 years in the French capital) I must say I have trouble identifying with the experiences of Sarah (and I'm also married to a lawyer) and feel that she had played up some of the problems and I don't really agree with some of her critics. People have to understand that France is different but that doesn't necessarily mean it is bad. In the end Sarah seemed to have acquired some of the worst traits of a certain crown of Parisiennes - the BCBGs - without becoming as French as she perhaps thought.
Some bits that jarred were the bit where the Green mayor of the 4ieme district that married her and Frederic saying they were the future of marriages - well if having the carbon footprint of Portugal (with all the cheap flights to Oz) is a Green mayor's idea of viable future well then... Bonjour!
The piffle about Jospin's talented female ministerial team - Aubry and Royal were pretty useless and prattling on about the sisterhood - really does make her sound like some sub Germaine Greer lecturing the non-PC Europeans.
Fabulous April 30, 2007
4 out of 6 found this review helpful
I bought this book after goin to paris myself and falling in love with the place and i must say it was a great book to remember paris with. Also if you like fashion as i do there are some fabulous bits about parissienne fashion. Its insightful, light and witty
Just a great read really
Learn how to get on in Paris... April 19, 2006
22 out of 24 found this review helpful
On her backpacking travels around Europe, 20 something Australian, Sarah Turnbull, meets Frenchman, Frederic, who invites her to Paris for a week. A week turns into eight years as she finds herself married to Frederic and throwing out her beloved tracksuit bottoms in a bid to look more sophisticated in one of the most fashion conscious capitals of the world!
Relocating to another country proves to be quite a trial for Sarah Turnbull as she comes across inevitable differences in culture and a different way of life which are at first testing, but which she comes to embrace.
This non-fiction novel offers an insightful and often witty account from an expat's point of view. We follow her on her journey as she commits faux pas ranging from being too gregarious at swank parties and not pampering her pooch to the Parisian standard to wearing her "pantaloons de jogging" on her early morning run to the bakery (wrong, wrong, wrong!) and laughing too loudly! Things that she takes for granted in Sydney are not quite so acceptable in Paris, but she comes to learn, understand and accept how things work.
Over the years, she gets work as a freelance journalist, learns how to conduct herself at Parisian dinner parties and how to evade strict planning permission laws. She also gets used to the heavy bureaucracy and waiting her turn in the cheese shop. Eventually, Sarah becomes accustomed to the French way of life and overcomes her difficulties to become almost French.
This book would appeal to anyone who has an interest in France, and in particular, Paris. It is educational, without being patronising or disrespectful towards the French. Each chapter is informative, and I for one learnt a number of things that I wasn't aware of before, such as why in many cases it takes time to befriend the Parisians and how attached the French are to the region they grew up in. Sarah Turnbull presents a fair, and warm story, dispelling some French stereotypes, and proving others.
I thoroughly enjoyed the whole book, particularly the sections on fashion (namely haute couture), Parisian women, food and the general descriptions of Paris and it's many "arrondissements", or neighbourhoods. There is a lot of attention to detail, with every place, person and object described to paint a vivid picture in the mind of the reader.
"Almost French, a New Life in Paris" is an easy read, and if you plan to visit France, or Paris for a prolonged period of time, then definitely give this book a read, after all, you never know, a week's stay might just turn into eight years...
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