An interesting read for anyone contemplating a move to France and a complete change of lifestyle. The ups and downs and challenges of living abroad are told with real honesty by the author. Some of the subject matter that unfolds in the book may not be for everyone but the narrative seemed true to life and as such, it remained authentic. Full of wit and charm but also very personal challenges and heartache. Recommended.

Amusing but unusual

This is not ;your usual move to France book. It is a bit gritty, probably realistic and sometime unevenly written. I especially enjoyed the first chapters. The chapter on helping migrants, while very important, was a bit long for those of us who weren't there. I also found the chapters on the landlord a bit frustrating -- I wanted to tell the author -- you shouldn't/should have done that....

Be that as it may, this is a very different but amusing book and well worth your reading it!

Thank you to the author who provided me with a time-constrained e-arc via Netgalley with no obligation. This review is optional and my own opinion.

"Seriously, whose trousers fall down while blowing glass?"- From Blown Out of Proportion

2 stars.

Warnings: Sexual assault of a child, murder, depression, loss of a child, assault, kidnapping, loss of sibling, loss of mother

This review will contain some spoilers

I went into this thinking it was a lighthearted book about a family making a go of it in France. That wasn't really the case.

I started to have problems about 30 percent in with the really casual tone describing a sexual assault that happened to their daughter. The "It could have been worse" comment, when it wasn't even her experience to evaluate, coupled with "I always thought she recovered well" is extremely problamatic. Additionally there wasn't any statement made that she had permission to even share this story by the daughter. The text continues to explain how they had to see this man--that the author routinely cavalierly describes as a "dirty old man"--and the fear the daughter went through because of it. It was summed up in the same sentence as "psycho teachers" like it was just another little road bump like having scorpions infest the house. Then we get the LONG saga of the landlord, and legal battles, to which we do hear that permission was granted by the childen to tell this part-the absence of this consent being there before becoming more jarring- to which I too, was wondering why are you putting your family through seven years of this? Again the affects of this seemed brushed aside mentioning they all experienced depression from this, but hey; they survived. Then we get to the Xavier thing. What?! The responce to the assault was beyond shocking, Chris' immediate, "he didn't mean to hurt you" and having an effing beer with him made my head spin. The jovial prose of this texts burries so many different traumas in such glaringly damaging ways, it was far from an enjoyable read. The last half was better, but the lack of introspection in so many events (including her brother's death in which she wouldn't even write on it other than, it was bad) make me not want to recommend this to others.

I received an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review; though there was enough formating errors in my copy that I just obtained the free kindle unlimited copy.