Petite Anglaise: A True Story: In Paris. in Love. in Trouble.

Catherine Sanderson's love affair with France began as a girl. This memoir begins with this thirty-something American expat living and working in France, and living with her long-term boyfriend Mr. Frog and their young daughter, Tadpole. These cutesy names are those used in Catherine's (Petite Anglaise's) blog which she begins one day at work to ward off the boredom of a secretarial job. The blog becomes a place for Petite Anglaise to complain about the difficulties and pleasures of living in Paris, and the awfulness of Mr. Frog and their stagnating relationship as well as the difficulties and pleasures of new motherhood. One day a man comes into her life via the blog - The Lover. They set up a meeting and The Lover sweeps her off her feet. After a second meeting Petite Anglaise decides to give Mr. Frog the boot, setting into motion much pain in the lives of Mr. Frog, Catherine and poor Tadpole who must now witness the splitting up of her family. Of course a relationship begun with so little actual knowledge between two people as Catherine and The Lover can't come to a good end. This memoir poignantly portrays the terrible pain engendered when a long term relationship ends. Additionally it demonstrates the false sense of intimacy that exists in a relationship that is begun on the Internet. It is clear that Catherine gets involved in relationships for all the wrong reasons. Her relationship with Mr. Frog takes shape because it is only through a relationship with a real Frenchman that Catherine can feel that she 'really' belongs in Paris. Similiarly her relationship with the Lover is a way to feel good about herself and fortify her in order to end the relationship with Mr. Frog. Catherine annoyingly comes off as immature and a narcissist, but she does come to realize this about herself. Unfortunately her daughter Tadpole is the one who pays the ultimate price for this immaturity.

Even though I've never been to Paris it seems that I was there while reading this book!!! The best thing is that it is not fiction and as a new mother myself, it makes you think about the relationships problems and also to be pleased with what you have, as long as it makes you happy!!!!

I've been reading Catherine's blog since she first published that she was sacked from her job. I wasn't sure if I was going to buy the book, but I'm really glad that I did! I enjoyed the honesty with which this was written and her sense of humor. I purposely did not dig into the archives of her blog so as not to ruin the suspense. Even though I don't have a child or a blog (or live in France!), I could relate to many other things in the book. I'm looking forward to reading her next book! :)

I normally despise chick lit, but I found this book to be a highly entertaining, quick read for my train commute. The characters are more three-dimensional and complex than you would typically find in this genre. I also enjoyed all of the background details about the different neighborhoods in Paris where the main character lived. For the most part these aren't the sort of places tourists visit, which is a freshing change. She doesn't romanticize Paris too much and shows that even the "most romantic city in the world" you can get stuck in a rut and your life can be boring an mundane. Ultimately the story isn't particularly French or English or European, even. It's about a couple who grows apart and the aftermath of the separation. Also, the balancing act many separated couples face in doing what's best for their child while ending a relationship that's not working anymore. The blog thing does come into play, but it doesn't read like a blog.

Having followed Petite's blog off and on over a couple years, I actually had no intention of purchasing the book. Only because I thought perhaps it would be redundant of all her blog posts that I'd read. Wanting to support a fellow author, and because I'd always enjoyed her style of writing, I did pre-order this book.....and I was happily pleased. First of all, I was impressed with the way Sanderson combined her blog postings effortlessly into a woven piece of work that read like fiction. I did recall a few of the incidents I'd previously read on her blog, but now written in a different way. This is a delightful debut of a story that just happens to be true. The reader is allowed a glimpse behind the scenes, so to speak. I felt the depth of this author's writing was even stronger in her book than on her blog....and her writing on Petite Anglaise was excellent. But somehow I detected more emotion here than on her blog pages. So I was quite wrong to assume "it'll be identical to her blog." Like the previous reader, I read this in two days. Much like her blog, I found myself setting the book down, only to be compelled to quickly resume reading. Wishing much success to this author and looking forward to her fiction release.