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Books Related to C'Est La Vie Suzy Gershman - ISBN: 0143035509
Good but for an older audience - Rated
As a twenty-something, this book was a little 'old' for me. It is essentially the story of a 50-something widow who escapes her sorrows and old life in the US to start again in the city she loves - Paris. I did enjoy her descriptions of the city and it's people, but after a while, all the name-dropping and elitist activities she claims to have done gets to you ("coffee at the Ritz with Les Girls", etc). She comes across as a snob (even as she tries to say that about others around her) and experiences Paris as a cashed up socialite, even claimed through out the book about how much on a budget she is (then writes about spending thousands of dollars on flea market furniture, food, limosines, fancy restaurants, flights back and forth between the US, etc and how she isn't on the 'Forbes500 list of Richest Women' anymore?!?)
She also repeats herself a few times (i.e. name someone with an small description, then does it all over again a few chapters later) which breaks up the smooth flow of the book and in my mind I could only think "bad editing". A small gripe, but still one worthy of mention.
All in all, it is a story about a woman coming to terms with the death of her husband and finding a new life for herself in Paris. The description on the back cover of the book understates her husbands death as she does spend a lot of time talking about her late husband (almost every chapter right until the end) and her obsession to establish herself in French society. Don't get me wrong - This is an entertaining book for over 40's, who have a similar lifestyle (i.e. money and social standing), otherwise to everyone else, it comes across as a tad boastful and shallow by the end. I'm sure she is a lovely lady (and you do tend to sympathise during her 'dark' moments, but by the end you become a bit resentful towards her constant talk of money).
For people who want a more realistic (in the sense of someone living in Paris without a wad of cash funded by her husband's life insurance money) narrative about Paris life, I would probably recommend 'Almost French' by Sarah Turnbull or even 'La Vie Parisienne' by Janelle McCulloch.
