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A review by robin_go
Almost French: Love and a New Life in Paris by Sarah Turnbull
4.0
A revealing insight. All the more refreshing for not being in the 'Year in Provence' mould. Don't fall under the illusion that this is anecdotes of "we woke up and there were goats in the veg patch"! Rather, this is a memoir of adjusting to French manners, mores and etiquette in mid-90s Paris. And how differences in culture do genuinely affect relationships and personal well-being.
If I'm making it sound scholarly, well, it's not - it is written with a light-touch - but these aren't anecdotes set in 'tourist Paris' but rather in dinner-party Paris, grocery-shopping Paris, administrative Paris. Too many books about adapting to a new culture focus on wilder extremes - "Brooklyn Woman moves to Turkmenistan" - that sort of premise. But this is reassuringly and realistically more subtle and I think, all the better for it.
It's likely that French culture has softened or changed in the decades since (this book predates social-media) and, if "un cocktail" operates along different lines now, well, so be it. This is a snapshot of how society ticked back then and it still makes for an absorbing read.
If I'm making it sound scholarly, well, it's not - it is written with a light-touch - but these aren't anecdotes set in 'tourist Paris' but rather in dinner-party Paris, grocery-shopping Paris, administrative Paris. Too many books about adapting to a new culture focus on wilder extremes - "Brooklyn Woman moves to Turkmenistan" - that sort of premise. But this is reassuringly and realistically more subtle and I think, all the better for it.
It's likely that French culture has softened or changed in the decades since (this book predates social-media) and, if "un cocktail" operates along different lines now, well, so be it. This is a snapshot of how society ticked back then and it still makes for an absorbing read.