What French Women Know by Debra Ollivier
What French Women Know by Debra Ollivier
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Wednesday, 16, Sep 2009 11:57
Published by Piatkus, out now, 244pp, £10.99.
In a nutshell...
A revealing look at what makes the French female so alluring.
What's it all about?
What makes the French woman such an enigma? Having lived in France for ten years, Debra Ollivier has the answers. With her unique perspective, she offers a fresh outlook, revisits old ideas and challenges the stereotypes of the French femme fatale.
"Nowhere do we Anglos differ more dramatically than when it comes to attitudes about love and sex," Ollivier tells us. French women do not understand the concept of dating, they enjoy sex and don't expect men to understand them.
Anglo-Saxon girls grow up with an all or nothing attitude when it comes to relationships. They pick petals over the familiar refrain: "He loves me, he loves me not." French girls pick petals to the refrain: "He loves me a little, a lot, passionately, madly, not at all."
Ambiguity, spontaneity, mystery and rule-breaking is what defines the French woman.
Who's it by?
Debra Ollivier is a bilingual American with French citizenship. She currently lives with her French husband and two children in Los Angeles. She is also the author of Entre Nous: A Woman's Guide to Finding Her Inner French Girl. Ollivier's work has appeared in the Guardian, Playboy, Le Monde and Salmon.com.
As an example...
"It's not their shoes, scarves, or lipstick. It's this: French women don't give a damn."
Likelihood of becoming a Hollywood blockbuster
A book about the blasé attitude of French women will not set the world alight. French stereotypes however are alive and well in popular culture. As Ollivier points out: "The bad guy is often French. The mistress is always French. The bitch and the bastard are usually French."
So is it any good?
French women have an accent to die for, dress impeccably and have an innate sophistication that Anglo-Saxon women can only aspire too. That's how it looks from our end anyway. Ollivier's expose of what makes a French woman tick draws the reader into the French psyche.
Why don't French women get fat? "French women don't get fat because it is undeniably, unequivocally not okay to be fat in France."
Why is even the most ordinary French woman incredibly sexy? Ollivier reminds us that French women coined the concept of jolie-laide - beauty is unconventional.
As interesting as this all is, Ollivier manages to paint French women as shallow and lacking substance at times. This can be quite off-putting if the reader is after a more substantial read.
Ollivier does not put the French on a pedestal. Instead through their values, Anglos are reminded of the importance of living for the moment, to age gracefully and that being different is intriguing.
What French Women Know is light-hearted, fun, with a few secrets revealed along the way. It will appeal to anyone with a French fascination.
7/10
Natasha Meeajane