AU PARIS: A MEMOIR
RACHEL SPENCER
ISBN# 0-8065-2797-8
December 2006
Citadel Press/Kensington Publishing Corporation
850 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10022
Paperback
$12.95
231 Pages
Non-Fiction, Memoir
Rating: 4 Cups

Au Paris: A Memoir is a recounting of the experiences of Rachel Spencer as an inexperienced au pair in Paris. It chronicles the day-to-day failures, and the triumphs of your typical American in a foreign land, equipped with a high school education in French, and null and void experience with babysitting. Throughout her time in France, she naively holds on to the fairy tale images of what Paris and its outlying countryside should look like, smell like and feel like. Reality holds a far different image.

During her experiences, she has little time to reflect upon what she is trying to achieve, but she hopes it will become clear as time progresses. When she does have a little time to herself, she gains a new appreciation for the every day rituals of life, and so also gains some new insight into who she is or at least the beginnings of what she wants to become.

Au Paris: A Memoir is a great look into the mind of a young woman looking for meaning in her life. With her impetuousness in full steam ahead mode, she charges through her experiences with youthful exuberance and faith. What is acquired is a newfound appreciation for what she left behind.

Ms. Rachel Spencer has chronicled a poignant and funny chapter in her life. I could feel her weariness and trepidation when faced with two French children she knew only through her older sister, Sarah. She felt she could never compete with Sarah in the children’s eyes. I thoroughly enjoyed her descriptions of Paris, with its confusing streets and names. Along with these I also enjoyed the colorful characters she meets throughout her journey towards herself. Thank you Ms. Spencer for this glimpse into the life of an Au Pair.

Kathy
Reviewer for Coffee Time Romance
Reviewer for Karen Find Out About New Books