French Lessons
A Novel
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3.4 • 175 Ratings
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- $13.99
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
A single day in Paris changes the lives of three Americans as they each set off to explore the city with a French tutor, learning about language, love, and loss as their lives intersect in surprising ways.
Josie, Riley, and Jeremy have come to the City of Light for different reasons: Josie, a young high school teacher, arrives in hopes of healing a broken heart. Riley, a spirited but lonely expat housewife, struggles to feel connected to her husband and her new country. And Jeremy, the reserved husband of a renowned actress, is accompanying his wife on a film shoot, yet he feels distant from her world.
As they meet with their tutors—Josie with Nico, a sensitive poet; Riley with Phillippe, a shameless flirt; and Jeremy with the consummately beautiful Chantal—each succumbs to unexpected passion and unpredictable adventures. Yet as they traverse Paris’s grand boulevards and intimate, winding streets, they uncover surprising secrets about one another—and come to understand long-buried truths about themselves.
BONUS: This edition includes an excerpt from Ellen Sussman's Paradise Guest House.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Three Americans explore Paris alongside their attractive French tutors and find themselves caught up in a delightful day of desire in Sussman's second novel (after On a Night Like This), beginning with an emotionally fraught coffee date shared by the tutors that reveals a love-triangle that must be set aside for the workday. Nico, who has just slept with his fellow tutor, Chantal, is assigned to a pregnant, grieving San Franciscan woman; Philippe continues his lessons with a lonely ex-pat with no French skills, two children, and a workaholic husband; and Chantal, in love with Philippe, has her last session with the insecure husband of an actress in town for a shoot. They visit gardens, the Louvre, and several beds. Granted, it's not exactly trailblazing material, but Sussman keeps things fresh with a strong supporting cast and some unexpected insights into the characters' pasts, embracing a soup on of mystery to go with the scenic strolls and flights of passion.
Customer Reviews
Kinda racy!
I recommended this for book club having only read a very brief review. I didn't know how sexually explicit parts of the book would be, but what the hell, we're all adults (in the club). I liked the book, it was a frothy confection...nothing too deep or quoteworthy.
Transported
While reading this book, I felt transported from my country cottage to Paris during a summer's day. Sights, smells,sound all whirled in my imagination! Thank you for helping me escape the hot, dry July doldrums.
Waste of time
Boring book