When Nicola's husband, Dominic, retires they decide not to spend their days finding hobbies to fill the time until Countdown is on. Instead, they fulfil their life-long fantasy of buying a country house and filling it with their dearest friends.
Sarah Long Books
Sarah Long's work often delves into the complexities of everyday life and personal discovery, inspired by a significant period of expatriate living. After years in publishing, she embraced a new chapter, relocating to Paris with her family to explore different facets of existence. Her writing captures the essence of transition and the search for meaning, offering readers a reflective and engaging narrative. Now based in London, her literary voice continues to resonate with the profound experiences gained from her time abroad.
The next best thing
- 400 pages
- 14 hours of reading
At the age of 35, Jane has realised that the life she has created for herself isn't quite working out the way she had intended. When she meets Rupert - also feeling the pressure of modern life - they both begin to wonder whether it is such a good idea to settle for 'the next best thing'. Originally published: London: Century, 2005.
In this robust, insightful and hitherto only privately available handbook, Parisian wife and mother Hortense de Monplaisir shares with us the secrets of her survival amongst the English. Exiled to London for the sake of her husband's career, pioneer Hortense delves into the many aspects of la perfide Albion that have long puzzled its closest neighbour and oldest enemy. No one and nothing is safe from Hortense's penetrating eye as she discusses a diverse range of topics from the inability of the English to speak their mind, their bizarre love of rituals such as the stag party and the country fete and their passion for long muddy walks, to their obsession with World War II, estate agents and incomprehensible fondness for the traditional English pantomime. The result is a double-edged comedy: here are the foibles of the English, seen through the jaundiced gaze of a sophisticated Parisienne. Hortense's confident interpretations of some of our best-loved national habits (jam with meat, anyone?) will only confirm our long-held view that the French are, indeed, very different.
And What Do You Do?
- 400 pages
- 14 hours of reading
"Meet Laura: the woman who puts the 'je ne sais quoi' into the question: And What Do You Do? Laura has it all. A gorgeous husband, two beautiful children and an idyllic lady-of-leisure Parisian lifestyle. She spends her mornings sharing croissants and a grand creme with her friends, her afternoons in the Louvre and her evenings attending sophisticated soirees. It's the perfect life, isn't it? But hard as Laura's trying to enjoy her perfect life, it just doesn't seem to feel as perfect as it should. It's hard to stretch 'meeting for coffee' to last the entire morning, the Scandinavian au pair is driving her to distraction, her husband's hardly ever in their beautiful home, and Parisian society doesn't exactly embrace the femme inactive. So when her husband embarks on an affair with the irritatingly petite Flavia, Laura decides it's time to review her life -"
