Customer Reviews

Over Here: An American Expat in the South of France

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

"Over Here" is a delightful book about a couple who pulled up stakes and returned to the husband's native France after living in Los Angeles for a number of years. I would have liked to know more about them as people and about how they met, because they sound as though they have some interesting stories to tell about the other facets of their lives. However, Randy's descriptions of the way they made their decision to move, and their adventures while househunting and eventually finding a place and settling in, were fascinating. She has a humorous, somewhat wry style which made it all even more enjoyable. I was very sorry to see the book come to an end; while I was reading it I felt that I was there in Chalabre with them, exploring their new locale and participating in their adjustments and discoveries.

This is a diary-like accounting of a couple's decision to move to a small village in southern France. I purchased it to get a sense of their experience in transitioning from the U.S. to France, with a particular interest in administrative and cultural challenges they faced. To a degree, the book met those interests, but I've downgraded it for the following two reasons:

1. The writing could have been tightened up considerably. Many entries start with apologies for it having been so long since the last entry. On an online blog in real time, this would make sense. In a book, it is merely irritating. The text should have been edited prior to publication to remove extraneous text such as this.

2. The author seems to be one of those people who are absolutely enthralled with his or her dog, and evidently can't fathom the possibility that not everyone else would be, too. Accordingly, w-a-a-a-y too much of the book consists of tiresome accounts of whatever supposedly wonderful thing the dog did that day. Frankly, I couldn't care less what the dog (or the cat or the fish or the bird) did. It's irrelevant.

Granted, if the book had been edited to remove what I've noted as drawbacks, it would be probably only two-thirds its current length. But it would be a much better, concise read.