Book of the week–Paris Letters

I must admit I bought this book because it’s from my publisher, Sourcebooks. I’ve read most of their memoirs and have loved them all, including another titled Paris, My Sweet.

Although I’ve never been to Paris, I feel like I know it better than any other city I’ve never visited. After eight years of French lessons and reading books like Paris, My Sweet, I can visualize many of the tourist spots as well as the pastries and sidewalk cafes!

When Paris Letters by Janice MacLeod arrived in the mail last week, I could tell it was a full contact book. The fibrous texture of the cover, the colorful drawings on the cover and inside the book, and the lovely story throughout the pages make for a lovely keepsake. This is one book I’m glad I didn’t buy on Kindle. The cover is that amazing!

Janice MacLeod was born and raised in Canada, and makes her way to southern California to work in advertising. She’s very successful in her job, although it’s starting to burn her out when she’s just in her early thirties. So she looks into saving enough money to quit her job and travel for a year.

But when she arrives in Paris, the city of love, she falls hard for a Daniel Craig lookalike who happens to work in the butcher stall across from her favorite cafe. Christophe is nicer than any man she’s dated and continues to call and write after she leaves Paris to continue on to Scotland and England.

Janice isn’t sure she should return to Paris and Christophe. What if it doesn’t work out? But her friend convinces her that she owes it to herself to try.

When she returns to Paris, she starts to support herself by writing letters on pictures she’s sketched of Paris. She sells subscriptions to these letters, so people around the world can receive her beautiful paintings and read about different places in Paris.

I love the creativity behind the actual Paris letters as well as the story in her memoir. It’s refreshing to read about someone who gives up a stable income to follow her dream.