Almost French
Sarah Turnbull
Bantam
There is plenty we can learn from the French - appreciation of all things beautiful and how to avoid looking like a slob (someone who has not made an effort in dressing well is an assault to the French sensability). There is also a lot the French can learn from the rest of us -how to be inclusive and less hung up on all things French.
Light and fluffy like a soufle, Almost French documents the entertaining recollections of a young Sydney girl who falls in love with a 'very French Frenchman' and moves to Paris. Yes, a trite cliche, and one can be forgiven in assuming the book will descend into lots of lovely moments motoring through the city of Love, and reminiscences of sharing 'Eclair de chocolat' and flaky croissants. Thankfully Turnball avoids this well-trodden path and instead chooses to recount how she navigates the highs and lows of Parisian life as an outsider.
Initially puzzled by the cool rebuffing from her partner's friends and appalled by the strict adherence to everything from the order of food at mealtimes, to the manner of one's dress, Turnball struggles to fit into her new life. But like many expats around the world, she eventually grows to understand and appreciate the differences. Living within the peripherals of both cultures, the notion of home becomes confused as one culture fuses into the other to create its own identity.
Acutely insightful and filled with laugh-out loud observations, Almost French is about what it means to be a foreigner etching a life in the adopted homeland. 4 stars.
