A review by ctheodoru
French Lessons by Ellen Sussman

3.0

I received French Lessons in the mail and finished it the same day. I became enamored with Sussman's description of Paris life and quickly transported myself into the city of love. The novel is separated into four separate stories: the tutors and the stories between the tutors and the Americans they are tutoring. The tutors kick off the novel and I became intrigued because I wanted to know how these three radically different people tutored. I think the first story between Nico and Josie is by far the best of the bunch. Josie is suffering from a loss and Nico is able to give her the gift of happiness, if only for a second. I identified the most with Josie and felt instantly bad for her. She's not a perfect character, in fact none of the characters are, and that's why I love her. I'm sick of reading novels with protagonists who are supposedly perfect. I like my protagonists to have a few flaws. The next story is of Phillipe and an American woman whose name escapes me, which is not a good sign. This was the shortest story in the book and my least favorite. I kind of hated Phillipe and therefore didn't care about his story. Next is the story of Jeremy and Chantal, much better than the previous story yet I still didn't love it. The characters seemed to be the most disconnected of the three. Finally, the tutors gather again and it brings the novel full circle. All in all I was glad to have a fun piece of fluffy escapism to spend my day with. The book isn't thought provoking but it sure was fun.