Expat by way of Australia, Sarah Turnbull, writes an engaging and Francophile gem with her memoir Almost French: Love and a New Life in Paris. While not  new, the book was new to me as I discovered it while stopping into a used bookstore in Bend, Oregon, last month that was as lovely as the page-turner I have devoured and share with you today.

One aspect of a simple luxury is being able to lose track of time, get lost in one’s dreams and be tickled by the experience. Such was the case upon reading Almost French.

As a journalist, Turnbull meets Frédéric in Bucharest, and the rest really is a lovely, honest tale of how their relationship blossomed as she moved to Paris to first get to know him, then start a life together. Her acclimation into a city that she has always fancied is eye-opening, but ultimately a deepened affection occurs as she begins to see Paris  more clearly and objectively. Through her trials and wise hindsight, she allows the readers to travel through the frustrations, revel in the pinch-me-moments and delight in her life in Paris.

Normally, during the school year, I very rarely find time to enjoy a leisurely pleasure read, but upon finding this book, I made time. After all, Paris through the eyes of an expat, perhaps someday . . .

Read Turnbull’s most recent memoir All Good Things: From Paris to Tahiti: Life and Longing in which she and her husband relocate to Tahiti. (Click here for The New York Times review.)

Happy reading!

~PETIT PLAISIRS FROM THE ARCHIVES:

~No. 16 . . . The Confidence Code

~No. 14 . . . Cooking for One

~No.3 . . . Julia Child’s Life Lessons