A Review of 'Paris in Love: A Memoir' by Eloisa James

"In 2009, New York Times bestselling author Eloisa James took a leap that many people dream about: she sold her house, took a sabbatical from her job as a Shakespeare professor, and moved her family to Paris.  Paris in Love: A Memoir chronicles her joyful year in one of the most beautiful cities in the world.

With no classes to teach, no committee meetings to attend, no lawn to mow or cars to park, Eloisa revels in the ordinary pleasures of life-- discovering corner museums that tourists overlook, chronicling Frenchwomen's sartorial triumphs, walking from one end of Paris to another.  She copes with her Italian husband's notions of quality time; her two hilarious children, ages eleven and fifteen, as they navigate schools-- not to mention puberty-- in a foreign language; and her mother-in-law Marina's raised eyebrow in the kitchen (even as Marina overfeeds Milo, the family dog).

Paris in Love invites the reader into the life of a most enchanting family, framed by la ville de l'amour."

After all the sad, depressing, and the recent disappointing read, this was a great book to bounce back with!

As mentioned in the blurb above, Eloisa James and her family moved to Paris for a year for sabbatical and this was one of the books that came out of that wonderful year abroad.  It's filled with short essays and posts from her social media sites (although, you couldn't really tell if she didn't inform us... no hash-tags, to @replies...).  It was a wonderful and very well-broken up book.

This book made me nostalgic for the two weeks that I spent in France a little over a year and a half ago.  But it also made me jealous because Eloisa's family stayed there for longer and ducked into far more restaurants and museums that I wasn't even aware of.  I can't wait to visit again sometime in the next year and a half.  Friends to visit, new places to see, family to show around... all of this after an attempt to learn Dutch when I study abroad in the Netherlands!

I love how Eloisa captured the feel of Paris in general.  The small streets, the fashion, the food... it was all so very wonderful and quaint feeling, despite Paris being quite a large and historical city.

This was an amusing read, heartfelt, sarcastic at times (which I loved), and honest.  I would recommend this book to anyone who has even the smallest desire to visit France (particularly Paris).

I give 'Paris in Love':

Thanks for Reading!

--Jude