Almost French

An irresistible travel memoir set in the world's most enigmatic and seductive city, ALMOST FRENCH is the new book by Australian writer Sarah Turnbull.

'This isn't like me. I'm not the sort of girl who crosses continents to meet up with a man she hardly knows. Paris hadn't even been part of my travel plan...'

One night in Bucharest, a chance meeting with a charming Frenchman changes journalist Sarah Turnbull's travel plans forever. Acting on impulse, she agrees to visit Frederic for a week in Paris, a city Sarah thinks she knows well. That is, until she falls in love.

Put a very French Frenchman together with a strong-willed Australian woman and the result is some spectacular and often hilarious cultural clashes. Sarah's clothes, her laugh, her conversation even how much she drinks set her apart. Language is a minefield of misunderstanding and the simple act of buying a baguette at the local boulangerie is fraught with social danger.

But as she navigates the highs and lows of this strange new world, from life in a bustling inner city quartier and surviving Parisian dinner parties to covering the haute couture fashion shows and discovering the hard way the paradoxes of France today, little by little Sarah falls under its spell: maddening, mysterious and charged with that French specialty seduction.

Funny, perceptive and poignant, this is a charming story of an adventurous heart from a delightful Australian writer who finds herself becoming almost French.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Sarah Turnbull is a freelance features writer who regularly contributes to "The Australian" and the "Australian Gourmet Traveller". She is also a contributing editor to Australian marie claire. Her stories range from hard-hitting investigative stories to travel pieces and coverage of the Paris Fashion Shows. She has profiled people including French tennis player, Yannick Noah, the actor John Malkovich and the six-star Michelin chef Alain Ducasse.

At the 1998 MPA Awards, where Sarah won Feature Writer of the Year, judges wrote: "Sarah Turnbull has the edge over many other excellent feature writers in the category with her ability to handle diverse subjects brilliantly, sustaining readers complete interest to the last word."

Before turning freelance, Sarah worked in Sydney for SBS as a television current affairs reporter. She now lives in Paris with her husband, Frederic and their dog, Maddie.