La Vie: A year in rural France

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La Vie, According to Rose, Lauren Parvizi’s debut novel, is a compelling tale of grief, self-discovery, and new beginnings. There were times when I really enjoyed the book but there were moments when Rose's insecurities and family issues (and family) got on my nerves. I really enjoyed this book and recommend it as a perfect summer read that will immerse and transport you to Paris and beyond. Being a foreign observer carries definite advantages; becoming a foreigner distorts interpretation – as we shall see in a moment.

I generally love books that take the main character out of their comfort zone (in this case, to the sunny streets of LA), and I found the book tackled some interesting topics through the various storylines. There wasn’t much chemistry nor tension between the two of them, but if the plot were indeed changed so that their relationship was a centric narrative, there would’ve been plenty. This story is a journey of learning to listen to your own heart, standing up for yourself, and caring less about what others think. We are experiencing delays with deliveries to many countries, but in most cases local services have now resumed. I read SO many inspiring, gripping, thought-provoking and charming books this year, some of these are amongst the best books I’ve ever read so I’m excited to share my full list with you.A tricky one to get through at times, but one I’d recommend to anyone wishing to take on the subject of mental health. Slightly Foxed introduces its readers to books that are no longer new and fashionable but have lasting appeal. The film won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, and Simone Signoret won the César Award for Best Actress for her performance as Madame Rosa. I actually hadn’t read anything by Ian McEwan before this but I liked the sound of it, it’s absolutely nothing like anything I’ve read before.

It’s set in the 80s, although technology is more advanced than it is now and Britain has just lost the Falklands war. In their apartment building, Madame Rosa made a small hideout in a cellar, where she keeps artifacts of her Jewish heritage. He is the only person to have won the Wainwright Prize for Nature Writing twice, with Meadowland and Where Poppies Blow. Momo, a Muslim orphan boy who is about 10 years old, lives under the care of an old Jewish woman named Madame Rosa, who was a prisoner at Auschwitz and later became a prostitute in Paris. Rose acted so dumb and naïve while in Paris, yet in America is this extremely responsible and heavily relied upon person.

A charming and wise novel about what we do because we want to and what we do because we feel like we have to, and how easy it can be to confuse those two things. Allow yourself to be angry, be tired, be silly, be passionate – to give yourself a break, and just simply be. The young boy tells the story of his life in the orphanage and of his relationship with Madame Rosa as she becomes increasingly sick, culminating with her death, after she had expressed her desire to not die in hospital on life support, saying that she does not want to be a vegetable being forced to live.

Fabrice Midal offers us a new solution to the perennial problem of our too-much, too-fast modern life. A young-ish woman, the eldest daughter of an Iranian immigrant, is the go to for her mother and sisters and seems to have been so busy taking responsibility for them that after her father's untimely passing, she failed to make an identity for herself. I wasn’t sure how I felt about this book, it was perhaps a bit wild for me – but definitely something to look in to if you’re up for some science fiction with a twist! She’s written as the older wiser reliable sister, but once her feet touch French soil she turns into a simpering, naive, dolt.The book follows Rose, an over-obedient daughter, sister, and employee who, when her acquiescence in all three areas combusts at once, takes an impulsive opportunity to reinvent herself in Paris. What happens when these ideals have been so ingrained that even the shadows and whispers of your long lost father haunts your every day life? Although it began as a practical enterprise, it quickly became an affair of the heart: of learning to bite the end off the morning baguette; taking two hours for lunch; in short, living the good life - or as the French say, La Vie. La Vie Parisienne was a magical name which proclaimed itself proudly as the masthead of a way of life in which frivolity, wit and satire were as important and as relevant as literary and political intellectualism. I loved this book and I think the difficult subject matter was handled well – definitely a must read.