There is plenty to love about Debra Ollivier’s Entre Nous: A Woman’s Guide to Finding Her Inner French Girl, but you have to take is with a grain of sel. French women are justifiably famous for their poise, style, and general savoir-faire, so there is appeal in a book that sets out to teach American women how to emulate their Gallic sisters.

But the sisterhood Ollivier holds up as a model is laughably elite. The ‘French girl’ she describes lives in Paris, works at some chi chi job like ‘restor[ing] the muted shades of an eighteenth century fresco,’ and has a family chateau in a medieval village in Dordogne. That would be like saying a typical ‘American girl’ is a San Francisco magazine editor with a family vineyard in Napa, or a handbag designer in Manhattan who escapes to the 25-room family ‘cottage’ Down East for the summer.

But if you can accept Ollivier’s idealized vision of the emblematic French female – which spills over to a generally romanticized view of all things French, especially its socialized economy – you can appreciate her suggestions on how to attain the je ne sais quoi French women do seem to enjoy.

Full review posted on Rose City Reader.

I initially bought this for a friend a few years ago, but ended up reading it myself before giving it to her! It is a cute book and is one I tend to reread every year or so. It’s a nice reminder to slow down, respect yourself and enjoy life, especially since I often read material focused on self-help and productivity.

I love the way the author points out how in-a-hurry Americans usually are, in contrast to the French women, who relish the good things in life and take their time enjoying them. It’s also very amusing to see the French women’s reactions to normal things in the U.S.A., like drinking coffee in one’s car or throwing baby showers.