Petite Anglaise

Title: Petite Anglaise

Author: Catherine Sanderson

Publication: Spiegel & Grau, New York, 2008

Genre: Autobiography, Memoir, Nonfiction

Number of Pages: 304

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/5b/Petiteusbookcover.jpg

Introduction:

We have a lovely second-hand bookstore, McKay's, in our city.  I don't go there enough!  Actually, I refrain from going there much, or I'd have my own library at home.  Last time I allowed myself the pleasure to go, I stumbled upon Petite Anglaise.  After skimming through a couple pages and the cover, I was hooked.  

Plot:

The Kindness of Strangers follows the time-span of about four months (the Summer and a bit of school time).  During this time, a family take in a boy and they all must reflect on their situation and come to terms with accepting everything that has happened to them, knowing they must do this to move on.  The family, a recent widow and her two boys, are friends with another family, a couple and their one boy.  The two women are best friends, as are their pre-teen sons.  Through a rolling chain of events, it comes to light that the couple is not who they say they are.  Their son, now living with the widow's family, faces choices about how to move on from his past.  The widow and her boys must figure out how to stabilize their own quickly disintegrating family.  They all must "discover the power of love necessary to forgive and to heal."

Review:

I had chosen to read this book because of similarities I saw between myself and the author.  I wanted to see how she handled some similar situations.  I was impressed; not necessarily with how she handled some situations, but her reflections on what had happened.  I also like that the notes this book is based off of, is in public view on her (very rarely updated) website.  They are, of course, embellished, as well as explained further, in the book.

This is a well laid-out book, using chronological time to its advantage.  I'm sure this was quite easy, considering the blog was the biggest reference, as well as a penned diary (that was hardly mentioned in the book).

I was very impressed by the honesty, as well as the humor, regarding the depressing situations.  Sanderson made herself extremely vulnerable in this book.  That takes a lot of courage.  It is one thing to be an anonymous blogger, quite another to label your real name with a photograph in the bio to boot.

My only uncertainty is her use of vocabulary.  It is a personal preference, but I prefer to read autobiographical text as if the person is actually talking.  If Sanderson has such high vocabulary in real life, I will be duly impressed.  As for everyone else, they seem to give her high praise for her writing; something which she seems to take deep pride in.

Summary:

I thoroughly enjoyed Petite Anglaise.  I also had a bit of fun skimming through her blog as well.  :-)

If you find anything similar with her, I highly suggest you read, if nothing more than to find a soulmate.

Where To Buy:

I purchased my copy from McKay's.

Barnes&Noble: about $0.15

Alibris: about $1.00

Ebay: upwards of about $1.00

Amazon: upwards of about $1.60