review – tout sweet: hanging up my high heels for a new life in rural france
11 Sep 2009 1 Comment
in books Tags: book review, france, karen wheeler, tout sweet, travel writing
Karen Wheeler and I share more than just a similar-sounding moniker. The truth is, this woman is living my dream life in some kind of parallel universe, and she has the audacity to flaunt her fabulous la vie francaise in a book that I just devoured.
Nearly two weeks ago I came across this article in the Sunday Times and promptly logged on to read Karen’s blog. A few days later, I ordered her book, Tout Sweet: Hanging up my High Heels for a New Life in Rural France, which I finished reading last night.
I know lots of people who dream about moving to a small village in France, doing up a maison and living off baguettes and red wine. But how many people actually ever take that step, especially before retirement age? And how many of those that do take the plunge actually go on to embrace the stereotypical French life to such an extent that their lives start to smell of freshly-baked baguettes, lavender and herbs de Provence?
I’ve never met Karen Wheeler, let alone sniffed her, but by all accounts she has done just that. Woman alone, she bought a bit of a dump in a tiny village in France and worked hard to create a home – and life for herself – with all the Gallic clichés: shutters, a wood burner, lavender in terracotta pots, fresh croissants from the boulangerie for breakfast and long, jasmine-scented evenings sipping rosé with friends.
That’s what I want! Fine, in my dream life my husband comes with me and there is less hardcore DIY and camping involved, but all the other elements tick the boxes of my ambitions.
What is more is that Karen is able to do her job – which sounds pretty perfect to me – from this rural idyll… Not only has she written this great book, but she is also a freelance journalist who pitches fashion and luxury goods articles and ends up meeting famous parfumiers and staying in five-star penthouse suites in Paris. Nothing like an injection of glamour to make even muddy walks with her dog sound fabulous.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and highly recommend it to all Francophiles. It ends perfectly poised for a sequel to pick up where it left its readers, but in the meantime of course there is the blog to let me live vicariously through the other Karen W.
