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French Illusions My Story as an American Au Pair in the Loire Valley Linda KovicSkow 9781457514579 Books

Download As PDF : French Illusions My Story as an American Au Pair in the Loire Valley Linda KovicSkow 9781457514579 Books

French Illusions My Story as an American Au Pair in the Loire Valley Linda KovicSkow 9781457514579 Books

I loved this book all the way until the end. I have recently discovered that the author is intending to release another book, and from what I understand it will continue where this one left off. I am thankful for this, as the way this book ended was definitely a negative for me. I wanted to know more! What happened to the author, did she learn what she came to learn? Did she get the job she was hoping for? So many questions.

From the beginning of Linda's book, it is easy to love her. She is open, honest and definitely has the type of personality you want your heroine to have, whether the book is fiction or reality. I couldn't help but root for Linda throughout her trials with her host family, even when I thought she acted as a bit of a brat herself. Listening to her internal thoughts about what she went through and her desire to achieve her goals made this book feel close to my heart.

I applaud the adventurous spirit of the author and her decision to keep journal entries from that chapter of her life. What great material to have later to inspire a book! While I enjoyed the entire memoir, my favourite part of this book would have to be the author's descriptions of the many places she visited and the people she met along the way. While I think she could definitely have made a better impression on the family she worked for if she had been honest about her lack of French language skills from the beginning, she is a pioneer. Her drive and desire to learn the language from those in the actual country was inspiring. Not many people would have been gutsy enough to do what Linda did.

I also particularly enjoyed the relationship between Linda and Antoine. The Kind heart of the author was apparent in her actions toward the children, even when she struggled with them.

There is some romance, and I appreciated the way the author handled it. While sex scenes are not necessarily automatically offensive, there is something about memoirs that makes me uncomfortable if they are filled with them. This author manages to hint at her experiences without going into too much detail, leaving the reader to decide exactly what happened. Great writing.

When you step into reading this book, you learn a lot about French customs, French cuisine and wine. You also get the opportunity to brush up on your French skills a bit and get to step outside yourself and live an adventure through the eyes of the author. I read this book in one sitting with very few breaks in between and found myself enthralled in the sights, sounds and atmosphere of this memoir.

In the end, I was disappointed that the book ended. I could have kept reading about Linda's experiences without stopping anytime in the foreseeable future. The end of the book leaves many unanswered questions, that I am assuming the author will be answering in her next book. Were this a standalone, I would be very disappointed with the way the book ended, but with the knowledge that she is writing another book to continue with her story, I can't fault this one. One thing is for sure, if you read this book, you will be anxiously awaiting the next.

I would recommend this to anyone who likes books about travel, memoirs or just a good story that came from the recollections and heart of the author. Read it, you will be glad you did. Overall, this was a VERY enjoyable read that gave me many reasons to wish I could drop everything and head off to France!


Tags : French Illusions: My Story as an American Au Pair in the Loire Valley [Linda Kovic-Skow] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. <div><b><span>Praise for  My Story as an American Au Pair in the Loire Valley</i>:</span></b><b><span></span></b><br /><span> </span><br /><span>Linda's narrative pulls you into her world and takes you along with her on her journey."</span></div><div><br /><span>"Hard to put down! I should be asleep right now but I had to keep reading."</span></div><div><br /><span>"...a fun read,Linda Kovic-Skow,French Illusions: My Story as an American Au Pair in the Loire Valley,Dog Ear Publishing, LLC,1457514575,Autobiography: General,Biography & Autobiography Personal Memoirs,Biography Autobiography,Memoirs,Personal Memoirs

French Illusions My Story as an American Au Pair in the Loire Valley Linda KovicSkow 9781457514579 Books Reviews

Linda goes to work as an au pair in France, lying about the fact that she cannot speak French. Her French "family" accepts this (rather important) shortcoming nonetheless, and Linda honestly try to overcome this by searching for decent French lessons. However, in a sense, the book should not rate 4 stars!! Linda misleads her employers by being unable to speak a word of French (2 small kids and a baby which arrives while she is in residence). So the attitude of the little elder daughter is understandable -- an au pair with whom she cannot easily communicate!

Strangely enough, this clash between cultures is what makes one go on reading the book. On the one hand, an aristocratic, refined and wealthy French lady, and on the other hand our author, a rather typical touchy American woman of twenty-two. She has a certain sense of entitlement ... And it is this clash of cultures which makes the story interesting, although I doubt that the author saw it that way.

Often when she describes what her employer and her attitude say, one gets the uncomfortable idea that she is exaggerating, After all, Madame of the chateau seems to do all the major cooking, and boy, can she cook, while Linda gives her no compliments for the many delicious meals. And life with two smallies and a baby is no joke. So, okay, she gives Linda too many chores (I have no idea what an au pair is supposed to do or not do). But I really felt that Linda was not totally honest about her employer's nastiness towards her. I might be wrong. After all, this story comes from the 70's.

Purely subjective I felt that if Linda approached her madame in a more humble manner (given that she mislead the family in her application and could not speak a word of French) she might have won her over. As it is, her sense of "entitlement" stays to the fore.

So, a reluctant 4 stars, because I wanted to see how this culture clash would end and therefore found the story very interesting. Unfortunately, the end is a damp squid. No matter, Linda, I read on an on ... You're a good writer.
In this first of two books, Kovic-Skow retells her months in France's Loire valley working as an au pair for a wealthy French couple. A slight lie led her there, and she recounts the troubles she encounters while trying make up for that lie.

I was thrilled when I realized that part of Linda's time was spent in the city of Tours. With a heroine of my own from the city, it was great fun to hear of Linda's experiences in the city "after electricity came to France." Reading her account was kind of like watching a horror film. I kept yelling, "Don't do it, Linda!" when I realized she was headed towards a disaster. Since she was in her early twenties and it was the 1980s, it was easy to get into trouble.

I devoured the book and its sequel, and I hated for them to end. They're a firsthand account of the often maddening process of trying to learn the French language, and the patience of the French people during the process.
I loved this book all the way until the end. I have recently discovered that the author is intending to release another book, and from what I understand it will continue where this one left off. I am thankful for this, as the way this book ended was definitely a negative for me. I wanted to know more! What happened to the author, did she learn what she came to learn? Did she get the job she was hoping for? So many questions.

From the beginning of Linda's book, it is easy to love her. She is open, honest and definitely has the type of personality you want your heroine to have, whether the book is fiction or reality. I couldn't help but root for Linda throughout her trials with her host family, even when I thought she acted as a bit of a brat herself. Listening to her internal thoughts about what she went through and her desire to achieve her goals made this book feel close to my heart.

I applaud the adventurous spirit of the author and her decision to keep journal entries from that chapter of her life. What great material to have later to inspire a book! While I enjoyed the entire memoir, my favourite part of this book would have to be the author's descriptions of the many places she visited and the people she met along the way. While I think she could definitely have made a better impression on the family she worked for if she had been honest about her lack of French language skills from the beginning, she is a pioneer. Her drive and desire to learn the language from those in the actual country was inspiring. Not many people would have been gutsy enough to do what Linda did.

I also particularly enjoyed the relationship between Linda and Antoine. The Kind heart of the author was apparent in her actions toward the children, even when she struggled with them.

There is some romance, and I appreciated the way the author handled it. While sex scenes are not necessarily automatically offensive, there is something about memoirs that makes me uncomfortable if they are filled with them. This author manages to hint at her experiences without going into too much detail, leaving the reader to decide exactly what happened. Great writing.

When you step into reading this book, you learn a lot about French customs, French cuisine and wine. You also get the opportunity to brush up on your French skills a bit and get to step outside yourself and live an adventure through the eyes of the author. I read this book in one sitting with very few breaks in between and found myself enthralled in the sights, sounds and atmosphere of this memoir.

In the end, I was disappointed that the book ended. I could have kept reading about Linda's experiences without stopping anytime in the foreseeable future. The end of the book leaves many unanswered questions, that I am assuming the author will be answering in her next book. Were this a standalone, I would be very disappointed with the way the book ended, but with the knowledge that she is writing another book to continue with her story, I can't fault this one. One thing is for sure, if you read this book, you will be anxiously awaiting the next.

I would recommend this to anyone who likes books about travel, memoirs or just a good story that came from the recollections and heart of the author. Read it, you will be glad you did. Overall, this was a VERY enjoyable read that gave me many reasons to wish I could drop everything and head off to France!