French Lessons: A Review and Giveaway

Ellen Sussman - French Lessons

When Was It Released?: 5th July 2011
Where Did I Get It From?: From the library
Who Published it?: Ballantine Books

From the minute French Lessons by Ellen Sussman was released last month this has been at the top of my to-read pile and as soon as a copy came in at my local library I had to grab it. Once I arrived home I had to start reading this delectable novel, and I could not put it down. French Lessons is as inviting as the smell of fresh espresso and pain au chocolat wafting out of a French café in Paris. I delved into this novel and couldn’t stop reading, feeling almost as if I was right there on the river Seine along with the characters.

French lessons takes a look at the lives of three American’s exploring Paris with their respective French tutors. Along the way they will learn about not only language but also love and loss. The storyline is split into sections focusing on each character separately. First up is Josie with her tutor Nico, who desperately wants to heal her broken heart. Then there is Riley with her tutor Philippe, who feels lost and alone in her own city, and even more lonely with her husband. And last but not least Jeremy with his tutor Chantal, who is accompanying his wife while she is shooting a film, yet he struggles to feel connected with her. As the three American’s take their respective journeys through the winding streets of Paris they succumb to passion, romance and may even find a hidden truths about themselves along the way.

I have always had a love affair with France and Paris in particular, being fascinated by its elegance, romance, and language. I have always wanted to be able to speak French, and lets be honest who hasn’t? (If you tell me you haven't I will either think you are lying or don't know enough about France to want to!)  Well French Lessons brought all this back to me and much more. I am now desperate to return to Paris! I loved the descriptions of the landmarks, food and wine, and the city itself whitch are described in enticing detail. The novel is split into five sections, which I really liked as well, making it easy to read this novel savouring each story on their own. It is hard to choose which story I enjoyed the most, as each made me care about the characters in such a way, that I was wondering about what had happened to them all long after I had finished the novel . The character of Josie and her heartbreak will draw you in and have you feeling along with her through her entire story, while the character of Riley will have you laughing along with her charming wit and humour. And lets not forget Jeremy who you will grow to love too. Ellen Sussman deftly manages to change the tone and mood for each of these stories meaning there is no chance of you getting bored along the way.

French Lessons is a sexy and at times erotic novel, with an explicit sex scene around half way through the novel, which may not be to some readers tastes. If you are in any way offended by this, then maybe this is not the novel for you. Aside from this the only other thing I didn’t like about the novel was there was no real closure with any of the characters. Even though there is an ending with the tutors,  I was left wondering what had happened with Josie, Riley and Jeremey's lives. An epilogue for each was perhaps needed to really close out the story.

French Lessons is a luscious, charming, romantic novel, with sexual tension rife with every turn of the page. Ellen succeeds in bringing each of her characters to life with her joie de vivre, French Lessons should be savoured and is a real treat for any reader.

Giveaway

Giveaway has now ended

Thanks to the wonderful Leah Johanson from Ballantine Publishing, a section of Random House Publishing I have two copies of French Lessons to giveaway to my lucky readers. So what do you have to do to win? Well for this one you need to be a GFC follower. Once you are just leave me a nice comment with your email address and you will be entered into the giveaway.

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Giveaway ends August 25th at 11.59PM