I'll Never Be French (no matter what I do)

Ah! I've been dreaming of reading a moving-and-starting-over book for ages and, at last, one arrives. I liked this book, too. Greenside has just the right mix of enchantment and perplexity with the French that makes for a lovely story.

Greenside comes to France with a girlfriend but the trip is not a happy one for the couple; they break up and everyone looks set to go home. Yet something about the village in Brittany makes him fall in love with the place and, before he knows it, he has borrowed money from his mother and bought a disaster of a home in France.

A few annoyances: Greenside is almost fifty, mind you, and he has to borrow money from his mother to buy his first house. Gracious. And, second, a note to Mr. Greenside: Athough we may long to go live in France, be aware that we nevertheless do not all speak French. Occasional translations and assistance from context clues would be helpful to intermingle with long conversations in French.