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A review by silver_valkyrie_reads
Home Sweet Maison: The French Art of Making a Home by Danielle Postel-Vinay
informative
reflective
slow-paced
2.25
I probably went into this book with unreasonable expectations. I appreciated the author's explanation in the introduction that she didn't support either tearing down French culture just because it's French, or the kind of Francophile worship that happens in some circles, and her goal was just to present French culture as it is so Americans can glean some ideas from what the French do well. However, the point of this book was still really to hold up the French culture as an example, and that frequently irritated me.
I loved a couple of the sections, specifically the ones on the entry as an introduction to your home and the people who live there, and the library as a curated representation of yourself and your interests, and was intrigued by the explanation of the boudoir. Everything else I found either insipid (the suggestion to organize your kitchen drawers was hardly revolutionary) or genuinely offensive (the implication that you can't have an intentional, well lived life without a large traditional house with many rooms for specific purposes).
In most cases I really wanted a little more worldview analysis (which is, of course, where my expectations were unreasonable for a book not even written by a Christian), because I found in the comparison of French and American cultures that NEITHER lived up to my personal values and aspirations well.
I would only recommend this book for people who really love France and are intrigued by learning more about their day to day lifestyle, or for those who are doing deep research on homemaking and decorating styles. In either case, be prepared to wrestle with the information to apply your own discernment and worldview applications.
I loved a couple of the sections, specifically the ones on the entry as an introduction to your home and the people who live there, and the library as a curated representation of yourself and your interests, and was intrigued by the explanation of the boudoir. Everything else I found either insipid (the suggestion to organize your kitchen drawers was hardly revolutionary) or genuinely offensive (the implication that you can't have an intentional, well lived life without a large traditional house with many rooms for specific purposes).
In most cases I really wanted a little more worldview analysis (which is, of course, where my expectations were unreasonable for a book not even written by a Christian), because I found in the comparison of French and American cultures that NEITHER lived up to my personal values and aspirations well.
I would only recommend this book for people who really love France and are intrigued by learning more about their day to day lifestyle, or for those who are doing deep research on homemaking and decorating styles. In either case, be prepared to wrestle with the information to apply your own discernment and worldview applications.