I think that the author was brave to apply for a job as an Au Pair in France espeically when she did not speak French. Then to have a job for a woman who to say it politely is not a nice person. What a great adventure in life this job gave her as well as the experience of traveling to a country that most of us dream of getting to go to. The author did such a good job in her writing that you felt as if you were right there along for the ride with her. I like the way this book was written as I felt as if a friend was sharing her diary with me so I can see how all the things happened while she was learning her job and secretly learning how to speak better French. It was also nice to read about her relationship with Adam. I have to say be sure to have the second book handy when you are reading this as the author leaves you wanting more of her story when you come to the end. ( )

Interesting read and fantastic details about life in 1979 in an aristocratic family's château told by their adventurous American au pair... Linda Kovic-Skow recreates the delicious meals and domestic drudgery with great aplomb.

This was a time when au pairs couldn't find new friends on facebook groups and have an instant life - we can feel Linda's isolation and the icy chill of her unheated garret room as well as Madame's relentless grudge against her. It's just as well that she didn't take up with Marcel! But I do wonder if adult Antoine might have a thing for pretty blondes having had such a lovely au pair but no closure to their close relationship. As for Colette, oh la la, she's probably in therapy as I write.

Very entertaining and I loved the descriptions of the meals and other daily details. The '80s American youth vocab was also "Right on!" It made me want to go find a bottle of Tabu perfume on ebay to evoke an early childhood sensory memory! ( )

Interesting read and fantastic details about life in 1979 in an aristocratic family's château told by their adventurous American au pair... Linda Kovic-Skow recreates the delicious meals and domestic drudgery with great aplomb. This was a time when au pairs couldn't find new friends on facebook groups and have an instant life - we can feel Linda's isolation and the icy chill of her unheated garret room as well as Madame's relentless grudge against her. It's just as well that she didn't take up with Marcel! But I do wonder if adult Antoine might have a thing for pretty blondes having had such a lovely au pair but no closure to their close relationship. As for Colette, oh la la, she's probably in therapy as I write.
Very entertaining and I loved the descriptions of the meals and other daily details. The '80s American youth vocab was also "Right on!" It made me want to go find a bottle of Tabu perfume on ebay to take me back to my childhood! ( )

When I was 14 years old, my parents sent me to Ireland for 3 weeks so that I could practice the English language I was learning in school. This was a full immersion trip which meant I would stay with an Irish family for the whole duration of my stay with no contact with other French speaking students. The family who hosted me lived in the suburbs of Dublin, and they had a girl my age who had decided before I even arrived that she didn’t like me. She went out with her friends, and left me at home with nothing to do. With virtually no money and very little experience due to my age, I couldn’t very well go exploring Ireland on my own! Let me tell you that these were the longest 3 weeks of my life! I felt all alone in the world.

But this was nothing compared to what Linda Kovic-Skow went through when she went to France to be an au pair. Her plan was to spend a year there in order to learn the language. When she applied for the job, she lied about already speaking French but she thought she would learn quickly once immersed in day-to-day life. She arrived in the Loire Valley in the summer of 1979, and the Dubois family welcomed her in the Château de Montclair despite her not speaking French. Linda started taking care of Colette, 7, and Antoine, 4, while pregnant Mme Dubois was getting more and more demanding, treating her like a servant.

Based on the author’s diary while she lived in France, French Illusions is a delightful read, and I couldn’t put it down. Needless to say, I identified strongly with Linda due to our shared bad travelling experiences, but I think most readers would do so too. Unfortunately, I wasn’t surprised by Mme Dubois’ behavior since she belonged to an aristocratic family, and she probably considered the au pair as paid help. I must stress though that not all French natives are like that, and I think the author was successful at showing it. After all, she bonded with several French people while she was staying at the Château de Montclair. However, I thought that the story kind of had an abrupt ending that could have been smoothed over. There will be a second book though that will come out in late 2014, French Illusions: From Tours to Paris, so maybe when the 2 volumes are read back-to-back this won’t stand out as much… I can’t wait to read the sequel to Linda’s adventures!

French Illusions was sent to me for free in exchange for an honest review.

To read the full review, please go to my blog (Cecile Sune - Book Obsessed). ( )

French Illusions is an interesting true story of Linda Kovic-Skow and her dreams of becoming an international stewardess. In order to do this she is told she needs to be bilingual. She decides to become an au pair in France so she can learn the language, the only problem is that she took the job knowing that she could not speak the language. She figured she could learn as she went along. Once she had the position she did come clean with Madame Dubois, who was not too happy but decided to keep Linda as her employee. Between Madame, her husband and the two of the children (the youngest just a baby) Linda did learn some of the language and culture.

As Linda settles into her job, she comes to love the children especially the little boy in her charge. The daughter on the other hand does not seem to care for her but Linda perseveres. She wants to become more fluent and signs up for classes but Madame is not real happy with Linda and often makes Linda feel useless and is demeaning to her

I think being an au pair would be a fun and challenging position to have especially in another country and I think, even though things weren't ideal for Linda, I would imagine that it was a rewarding experience for her. I enjoyed reading this book and was tickled when Linda finally told Madame how she felt. The one thing I would ask Linda is, 'Did you ever become a stewardess'? ( )