Présentation de l'éditeur
A single day in Paris changes the lives of three Americans as they each set off to explore the city with a French tutor, learning about language, love, and loss as their lives intersect in surprising ways.
Josie, Riley, and Jeremy have come to the City of Light for different reasons: Josie, a young high school teacher, arrives in hopes of healing a broken heart. Riley, a spirited but lonely expat housewife, struggles to feel connected to her husband and her new country. And Jeremy, the reserved husband of a renowned actress, is accompanying his wife on a film shoot, yet he feels distant from her world.
As they meet with their tutors—Josie with Nico, a sensitive poet; Riley with Phillippe, a shameless flirt; and Jeremy with the consummately beautiful Chantal—each succumbs to unexpected passion and unpredictable adventures. Yet as they traverse Paris’s grand boulevards and intimate, winding streets, they uncover surprising secrets about one another—and come to understand long-buried truths about themselves.
Extrait
Brilliant sunlight spills through the windows of the Vivre a la Française language school. It has been raining for days--for weeks--and the sudden flash of sun through a break in the clouds causes everyone in the dreary office to stop for a moment and turn their faces toward the light. It's early morning and no one is quite awake--one young woman murmurs, "Bonjour, soleil." Nico smiles. Then the door slams and everyone stirs, suddenly alert. Nico blinks and looks around, hoping for a sign of what he already knows: Something's different. It's not just the sun. It's the day, new and promising. Every corner of the office looks sun-washed and bright. Even the ghostly girl behind the desk offers Nico a half smile when she hands him his daily work sheet.
Sure enough, today's teaching assignment promises something new--Josie Felton. He likes the name. It's so very American, and he imagines a blond, ponytailed girl, ready to conquer Paris. His Paris. He'll show her the way. He tucks the computer printout with her name and the details of their lesson--meeting time, duration, level of French, areas of concentration--into his back pocket.
It's time to meet Chantal at the cafe.
Nico walks out of the language school onto rue de Paradis. Before he turns to the corner restaurant, he looks down the street in the other direction. Something has caught his attention--a gasp, the rustle of fabric, a bare arm. He squints in the sun and sees two people at the end of the street. A woman pushes a man up against the wall of the building. Her arms, bare and tattooed, a lightning flash zigzagging across tan flesh, pin the man's shoulders. She leans in for a kiss that takes a long time. Someone pushes through the door behind Nico and bumps into him.
"Sorry," he says and steps away.
Nico looks back. The woman saunters away. The man runs his hand through his hair and walks toward Nico. It's Philippe. Nico's first thought is of Chantal--did she see the kiss? He looks toward the cafe and Chantal is there, sitting at a table outside, reading a book. Nico takes a breath.
Philippe reaches him in a second and smacks his arm.
"I'm late, man," Philippe says in French. "Order me an espresso."
"Got it," Nico says.
Philippe heads into the language school and the door swings closed behind him.
Nico, Philippe, and Chantal have coffee together on Monday and Friday mornings after they get their assignments at the school. There are other French instructors--who teach regular classes rather than individual sessions, mostly older men and women who seem to have nothing in common with these three--though sometimes Nico wonders what he has in common with Philippe. Maybe they only really share one thing: an attraction to Chantal.
Nico hurries to the cafe. He can see the curve of Chantal's neck as she peers at her novel, her umbrella perched at her side, her cardigan neatly buttoned. He thinks of her in bed last we
