A STRANGER IN PARIS

Karen Webb (Impress Books)

A Stranger In Paris is the first in Karen Webb’s three-part memoir, A French Life. The novel is a lovely hybrid between memoir and fiction, finding the sweet spot between rigorously sticking to memoir convention and a charming, believable story. It starts in Aberystwyth with a young girl whose life has been laid out in the form of endless Welsh rugby matches, pre-ordered wedding presents and the expectation to settle down and be married as soon as she’s finished wasting her father’s money on a degree. Yet she decides to end all that and chase her French ex-lover to Paris. With her is her English degree, a job lined up looking after the children of a wealthy Parisian family, no knowledge of how to cook or clean as per the job description, and a set of reasonably unrealistic expectations to see her through. What could go wrong?

words Megan Thomas

Price: £12.99. Info: www.impress-books.co.uk