Almost French

A delightful, fresh twist on the travel memoir, Almost French takes us on a tour that is fraught with culture clashes but rife with deadpan humor.

Sarah Turnbul‛s stint in Paris was only supposed to last a week. Chance had brought Sarah and Frédéric together in Bucharest, and on impulse she decides to take him up on his offer to visit him in the worl‛s most romantic city. Sacrificing Vegemite for vichyssoise, the feisty journalist does her best to fit in, although her conversation, her laugh, and even her wardrobe advertise her foreign status.

But as she navigates the highs and lows of this strange new world, from life in a bustling quartier and surviving Parisian dinner parties to covering haute couture fashion shows and discovering the paradoxes of French culture, little by little Sarah falls under its spell: maddening, mysterious, and charged with that French specialty—seduction.

“Â…a love song to Paris and France, yes, but a love song in a minor keyÂ…Sarah Turnbull seems to have gotten a lot closer to the real thing than most of us who will always be on the outside looking in..”

--Jonathan Yardley, The Washington Post Book World

“Â…jewels of insight—and the book shines with them—make Almost French a worthy read. Turnbul‛s story will entertain, and edify, both armchair travelers and those of us nutty enough to try living here”

--Joe Ray, The Boston Globe

“Turnbul‛s memoir is a charming, insightful meditation”

--USA Today

“Â…full of honest ups and downsÂ…its explorations of the“cultural quicksan” Turnbull gradually adapts to are fascinating. I hope to visit Paris one day, and am grateful to learn so many ways to avoid being an ugly American”

--Seattle Times/Post Intelligencer

“Yo‛ll love this true story of a woman who left her life behind for a sexy foreigner”

--Cosmopolitan

“Anyone who finds herself in a situation like Turnbul‛sÂ…will be luckier; sh‛ll have Turnbul‛s warm, clear prose to soothe frayed nerves”

–Newsday

"[A]n engaging, endearing view of the people and places of France." Publishers Weekly

"In an unpretentious manner, the strong yet empathetic Turnbull relates the transition from her Australian home to a new life with her French fiance, adding a good twist of dry, self-deprecating humor." Library Journal

"An engaging story of a sometimes rocky but ultimately affectionate relationship with another culture." Kirkus Reviews

Journalist Sarah Turnbull moved to France from Sydney in the mid 1990s. Her articles appear regularly in a variety of magazines, such as Marie Claire, for which she is a contributing editor. She lives in Paris with her husband, Frédéric.