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WORK TITLE: My (Part-Time) Paris Life
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: http://www.lisaanselmo.com/
CITY:
STATE:
COUNTRY:
NATIONALITY: American
https://myparttimeparislife.com/ * https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisaanselmo/ * https://bonjourparis.com/books/interview-with-lisa-anselmo-author-of-my-part-time-paris-life/
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Born Buffalo, NY.
EDUCATION:Parsons School of Design, B.F.A.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer, blogger, and creative director. Previously worked in magazine publishing, including on the brands for Allure, Mademoiselle, InStyle, and People. Cofounder of No Love Locks, 2014; also creator of the Web video series titled My (Part-Time) Paris Life—The Series.
WRITINGS
Author of My Part-Time Paris Life blog.
SIDELIGHTS
A writer and creative director, Lisa Anselmo worked primarily in publishing, branding for periodicals such as Allure, Mademoiselle, InStyle, and People. She is the author of the memoir My (Part-Time) Paris Life: How Running Away Brought Me Home, which recounts her decision to start a career as a writer and buy and live part-time in an apartment in Paris. Prior to the memoir, Anselmo had previously begun a blog in 2012 titled My (Part-Time) Paris Life and has created a video Web series of the same name. Anselmo is also cofounder of No Love Locks, which focuses on educating tourists about the impact of the “love Locks” trend to attach locks to bridges and other structures in Paris as a sign of commitment between couples. The problem was that the locks were defacing Paris landmarks and keys were polluting the Seine river. Paris outlawed love locks in 2016.
In an interview with Bonjour Paris Web site contributor Janet Hulstrand, Anselmo noted that she initially began writing a very different memoir about coping with her mother’s illness and death “because I needed to exorcise those demons.” Anselmo went on to remark that she incorporated her Paris apartment search into the story as a device “to move the story forward, culminating in my finding the apartment (and hope) as the happy ending,” as she told Hulstrand. However, Anselmo received an offer of a book deal from a publisher after an article about Anselmo appeared in New York magazine. The editor who began working with Anselmo wanted the author to focus more on her Paris experiences, leading Anselmo to rework the manuscript that eventually became My (Part-Time) Paris Life.
Anselmo writes in her memoir that she was not impressed with Paris the first time she traveled there with her French class as a sixteen-year-old high school student. Many years later, Anselmo made another trip to Paris and was enchanted with the city. As a result, she began traveling back and forth between New York City and Paris on a regular basis. Meanwhile, Anselmo’s mother had developed breast cancer and was gravely ill. Anselmo had always considered her mother a guiding force in her life. When her mother died, Anselmo felt lost, admitting that her own fears had impacted her life heavily. She eventually decided to buy an apartment in Paris, in 2012, to rejuvenate and find her purpose in life.
Anselmo goes on to recount her life living part-time in Paris. However, a contributor to the French Village Diaries Web site noted that “there is a real air of sadness every time Ma is mentioned” and went on to point out that for all her discussions of her good times in Paris “there is a dark place and difficult time that Lisa shares with the reader.” Anselmo writes that Paris does have its own challenges, which she highlights in the chapter she calls “The Story of the Great (Terrible) Leak,” about how a leak in her apartment due to her upstairs neighbor led to the appearance of dangerous mold and a frustrating encounter with the French legal system. As a result, she could not live in her apartment for nearly two years as the mold issue was addressed and the apartment renovated, something Anselmo already had done previously when she bought the apartment. “The funny thing is, every time I tell my leak story, I get five others in return,” Anselmo noted in her interview with Bonjour Paris Web site contributor Janet Hulstrand, adding: “Parisians bond over their leaks.”
In covering many aspects of her life in Paris, Anselmo also addresses romance and dating. In a chapter titled “Le Dating Game,” Anselmo discusses the difficulties of dating in a different society and culture. However, before embarking on a serious romance, Anselmo realizes that she has to come to better terms with herself first. My (Part-Time) Life in Paris “is a sweet and inspiring account of one woman’s taxing yet rewarding search for peace, happiness, and contentment,” wrote a Publishers Weekly contributor. Calling the memoir “touching,” Booklist contributor Patricia Smith went on to note that the author addresses topics such “as mortality and self-worth while maintaining a fresh voice and charming wit.”
BIOCRIT
BOOKS
Anselmo, Lisa, My (Part-Time) Paris Life: How Running Away Brought Me Home, Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin’s Press (New York, NY), 2016.
PERIODICALS
Booklist, September 15, 2016, Patricia Smith, review of My (Part-Time) Paris Life, p. 14.
Publishers Weekly, July 11, 2016, review of My (Part-Time) Paris Life, p. 52.
ONLINE
Bonjour Paris, https://bonjourparis.com/ (October 10, 2016), Janet Hulstrand, “Interview with Lisa Anselmo, Author of My (Part-Time) Paris Life.“
Dazzled by Books, http://dazzledbybooks.com/ ( September 29, 2016 ), review of My (Part-time) Paris Life.
French Village Diaries, http://www.frenchvillagediaries.com (January 25, 2017), review of My (Part-Time) Paris Life.
Lisa Anselmo Home Page, http://www.lisaanselmo.com (Mach 30, 2017).
My (Part Time) Life We site, https://myparttimeparislife.com (March 30, 2017).
Words of Mystery, https://wordsofmysteryblog.wordpress.com (November 8, 2016), review of My (Part-Time) Paris Life.
LC control no.: n 2016025196
Descriptive conventions:
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Personal name heading:
Anselmo, Lisa
Found in: Her My (part-time) Paris life, 2016: ECIP title page (Lisa
Anselmo)
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Two cities. Two homes.
One story.
Lisa Anselmo has spent most of her professional career in magazine publishing, working on such iconic brands as Allure, Mademoiselle, InStyle, and People. She’s been everything from a creative director to an opera singer, but ultimately, she has followed her passion for storytelling and inspiring people.
Anselmo started traveling to Paris regularly more than ten years ago—at first, to cover the fashion trade shows for a lifestyle website. But soon, she had cultivated friends—both Parisians and expats—and eventually built another life across the ocean. After losing her mother to breast cancer, she was motivated to make her other life official, buying an apartment in Paris’s Right Bank.
In 2014, she decided to leave her day job, and now splits her time between New York and Paris, where she writes full time. Her experiences inspired this blog, and the memoir My (Part-Time) Paris Life, a candid narrative of a woman searching for hope and healing in the city she loves. Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin’s Press
Lisa Anselmo has spent most of her professional career in magazine publishing, working on such iconic brands as Allure, Mademoiselle, InStyle, and People. She’s been everything from a creative director to an opera singer, but ultimately, she has followed her passion for storytelling and inspiring people.
Anselmo started traveling to Paris regularly more than ten years ago—at first, to cover the fashion trade shows for a lifestyle website. But soon, she had cultivated friends—both Parisians and expats—and eventually built another life across the ocean. After losing her mother to breast cancer, she was motivated to make her other life official, buying an apartment in Paris's Right Bank.
In 2014, she decided to leave her day job, and now splits her time between New York and Paris, where she writes full time. Her experiences inspired the memoir My (Part-Time) Paris Life, a candid narrative of a woman searching for hope and healing in the city she loves.
In addition to her memoir and blog, Anselmo has also launched a Youtube series, My (Part-Time) Paris Life, which takes viewers to locals-only Paris where they meet the Parisians who are making their mark by following their passions.
Interview with Lisa Anselmo, Author of “My (Part-Time) Paris Life”
By Janet Hulstrand -
Oct 10, 2016
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Author Lisa Anselmo
Author Lisa Anselmo. ©Carla Coulson
Lisa Anselmo, a writer and creative director, was born in Buffalo, New York, and grew up in a small town in northern New Jersey. She settled in New York City, working at iconic media brands like Allure, Mademoiselle, InStyle, and People. Her first trip to Paris was as a 16-year-old high school student with her French class, and at that time she was less than charmed. Years later she came back, and had an entirely different experience. Twelve years ago she started shuttling back and forth between New York and Paris on a regular basis, and in 2012, after buying an apartment on Paris’s Right Bank, launched her blog, My (Part-Time) Paris Life. Now there is a book of the same name, released this month, and a Youtube series. Lisa recently took the time to answer Janet Hulstrand’s questions about her part-time Paris life…
Janet Hulstrand: You tell the story of your first trip to Paris, and how years later you came to be spending more and more time there in your book, so I’m not going to ask about that. But can you tell us how you decided you were going to write a book about your part-time Paris life?
Lisa Anselmo: I didn’t plan to write this book, not the one that’s been published. I had been toying with something, but it wasn’t about my part-time Paris life. It was mostly about coping with my mother’s illness and death—because I needed to exorcise those demons. And I was using the search for the apartment in Paris as the vehicle to move the story forward, culminating in my finding the apartment (and hope) as the happy ending.
But fate had other ideas. I was sort of discovered from an article written about me in New York magazine. At the time I only had the blog, which was featured in the article. Kat Bryzozowski at St. Martin’s Press/Thomas Dunne Books saw the article, read some of the blog, and sent me an email with an offer of a book deal. Then my editor reshaped the story. She wanted more about my life in Paris after I had the apartment, and that’s how My (Part-Time) Paris Life came to be.
My (Part-Time) Paris Life by Lisa Anselmo
My (Part-Time) Paris Life by Lisa Anselmo
JH: What was the most rewarding thing about writing the book? And what was the hardest?
LA: The hardship of writing was the reward. I’ll explain. Because my editor had shifted the timeline of the story, I was essentially writing a memoir while I was still living a lot of the events. And I had a tight deadline so I had very little time to reflect; it was intensive self-examination during some pretty tough times.
I have to say, writing about myself was a miserable experience for me. I was sick of myself, and my thoughts, all day long. I kept thinking Who will want to read this? Who will care? But my editor believed in me and my story, kept me focused, kept digging for deeper meaning. It was exhausting and heartrending at times, but after it was finished, I felt a real healing, not just from the heartbreak of losing my mother, but stuff that went way back. It was as if this book had to be part of my journey to find this healing, and maybe that’s why it came to me the way it did. I hope others may find inspiration in it, too. I really do.
JH: What are some of the pros and cons of a life divided between two places? What do you love most about Paris, and about New York? What drives you the most crazy about each of these places?
LA: It does get dizzying. Sometimes I forget where I am. But it also makes it hard to attach to any one place—to start a relationship, for example. To create bonds. I often feel I’m missing out on something in one place or the other. But I do love having both places to hang my hat. Each feeds my soul differently. New York charges me up, and Paris recharges me.
I love Paris for many reasons. The fact that you can see the sky is a big one. In New York, the scale of the city can be overwhelming. But the one thing I really love about Paris is a simple thing: I can sit in a café as long as I wish, and write. A writer’s life can be a solitary one, and being in a café keeps you connected. You can’t do that in New York. It’s eat, pay, and get out!
But I do love the entrepreneurial spirit of New York, the in-your-face honesty of the place. The excitement, the opportunity. I love how things just get done in New York. People find a way in and around a problem and make it happen, because standing still is not an option. I think that’s something about Paris that irks me most: getting things done sometimes seems like an ordeal. You hear “no” a lot. The rules, the rules! It’s like they’ve put themselves in a small box and dare not go outside—for fear of what, exactly, I don’t know. I admit sometimes I do feel like taking people by the shoulders and shaking them. Make it happen, people!
JH: Speaking of which, one of the subplots in both your book and your blog is The Story of the Great (Terrible) Leak that kept you out of your wonderful little Paris apartment for how long?
LA: [Laughs.] Every book needs a villain, no? It was pretty close to two years that I couldn’t live in my place, mostly because of the mold that had grown. (I’m very allergic, and have asthma.) The owner of the apartment above mine refused to fix the leak for 18 months, saying it was the syndic’s responsibility. So in the end I had to hire an attorney and get the courts involved to resolve the dispute. Maybe this is why I’m so scarred by the inability to do a simple thing in Paris. It’s a leak, people. Fix it! Well, anyway, that’s all in the book and the blog. But the funny thing is, every time I tell my leak story, I get five others in return. Parisians bond over their leaks.
In the end, the water damage was so extensive that my entire apartment had to be renovated. Or I should say re-renovated? Since I’d just renovated in 2012 when I bought the place.
JH: And yet, despite the phenomenal frustration and massive inconvenience of it all, you managed to stay, on the whole, positive and upbeat. What did you learn from this experience?
LA: Well, you didn’t see me on my bad days! It truly tested me in every way. At one point I thought about just selling the place “as is” and moving on. But the thing is, I’m stubborn; I’m like a dog with a bone when I get something in my head. I’m fighting for my home, no matter what. And so, yes, I’ve learned a lot from this. First, that I am indeed a fighter. But the most important lesson from all this is that life is not just about the good, happy times. As Americans were such optimists that it’s written in the Declaration of Independence: Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. We believe happiness is the ideal. So when things go horribly wrong, we feel like the world is falling apart. But the French (and Europeans in general) seem more used to hardship—maybe from centuries of wars and occupation; maybe from living in ancient cities. They find happiness in the midst of the hardship. You can’t wait for everything to be perfect for “real” life to begin. Life is the good and the bad, and everything in between. So live through all of it with your eyes and arms wide open. And be grateful, always. Even the “bad” stuff is a gift. If it weren’t for that leak, I’d have had nothing to write about!
Author Lisa Anselmo
Author Lisa Anselmo. ©Carla Coulson
JH: I was really moved and inspired by your acknowledgements–I think it’s probably the most gracious set of acknowledgements I’ve ever read. Can you tell us about your concept of a “chain of gratitude”?
LA: Thank you for that! The chain of gratitude, as I call it, is a kind of “game” a friend (and ex-boss), Lucy Sisman, the creative director who launched Allure and other iconic brands, taught me. We play it from time to time together: tracing a current job post all the way back as far as we can go, to the first person who unwittingly set it all in motion. For example, how did I get my job at People magazine? Through a woman I’ve known for years named Susan. How did I meet her? Through the woman who hired me at Ladies’ Home Journal, etc., etc., until I trace the chain back to a friend in art school. It’s a genius exercise, because it illustrates the interconnectivity of humanity, and shows you how you have been nudged forward in life by helping hands. You can only feel grateful after you play this game.
JH: I particularly like the way the collaborative nature of writing is highlighted through this chain of gratitude. I think this is something that is little understood by people outside of the publishing world, which results in editors, agents, and others often not receiving the respect and credit they deserve for their important role in the process, as well as unnecessary concern among aspiring writers about having to be “perfect,” or fear that they can’t be good enough. Can you say something about this too?
LA: Wow, you touched on a lot here. Yes, I would not be here but for my editor, and for Thomas Dunne, my publisher, who agreed to take a chance on me. My whole team at Macmillan is amazing. I’m so, so lucky. How can I not be anything but humbled and grateful, really?
Regarding this idea of perfection—yes, it’s paralyzing. I write a lot about it in the book because it’s a huge issue of mine. I have a novel I’ve been tweaking for 14 years, so I get it. But I’ve learned that a good editor or agent can see the pearl under the grit in your work, so get it done and get it out there. This is a lesson for life, too. Don’t be afraid to be flawed. You have something to give to the world; it’s your purpose. So get out of your own way, and get out there. Live baby, live!
JH: Can you tell us about your web series? How did that come about, and what will viewers learn by watching it?
LA: This is me being that dog with a bone again. I wanted to create a travel series but I didn’t know how to go about pitching such a thing to a network. Then I realized, with my years as a creative director in media, not only did I know how to make my own video series, but I had the crew to do it. So why wait, right? Last summer we filmed for two weeks and in May of this year, we launched our first episode on Youtube.
The series is part travelogue and part inspiration. My aim is to take the viewer to locals-only Paris, and introduce them to the people who make the city what it is—those who have taken a risk to change the course of their lives, as I did. This season we highlight Parisians. Next season, expats.
JH: When someone is planning their first trip to Paris and they ask you what they should be sure not to miss, what do you tell them?
LA: For me, it’s less about what to do and more about what not to do. Stop running mindlessly from site to site because it’s in a guide, or on your list. Take time to let the city seep into you. Stroll through the streets. Discover local areas and see how Parisians live (Rue St. Marthe in the 10th, Parmentier, the Butte aux Cailles in the 13th). Take a leisurely boat ride, or sit at a terrace table in a café and watch the city go by. And dear lord, if you care about Paris at all, please don’t put a lock on a bridge anywhere! These are historic places cherished by Parisians, and those locks are costing them much—economically, and culturally.
JH: Yes, and speaking of that, you’re a co-founder of No Love Locks. Can you tell us about your efforts, along with Lisa Taylor Huff, to deal with this issue, and where it stands now?
LA: No Love Locks was founded to educate tourists on the toll the “love locks” trend was taking on the UNESCO World Heritage Site in Paris, which includes the Pont des Arts. There were over 65 tons of locks on the Pont des Arts, and 35 tons on the much smaller Pont de l’Archevêché. While these bridges have been unburdened from locks and restored, there are still nearly a million locks covering other bridges and sites, and well over 1 million keys polluting the Seine. We now work with the mayor’s office to find solutions, and are pressing the city to ban this trend outright before it cannot be reversed.
JH: What can people do to help turn this trend around? And why is it important to do so?
LA: We hope everyone will share our message of responsible tourism. There is nothing loving about “love locks, ” sorry, folks. It can never be okay go to someone else’s city and vandalize a landmark or pollute their river. Once these historic treasures are gone, they are lost forever. Isn’t that worth fighting for?
JH: What is next for you? Are you gradually shifting your life over here more and more? Is there a movie about your part-time Paris life in your future? And if so, who would you like to see play Lisa?
LA: For now I’m okay with my part-time Paris life. It works for me. Unless I meet a nice guy. I’m sure in the film adaptation of my book they’ll make that happen. Who’ll play me? I don’t know. My friends have suggested everyone from Amy Adams to SJP. Who do you think should play me?
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Book an appearance or interview
Lisa Anselmo, a writer and creative director, started traveling to Paris regularly 12 years
ago—at first, to cover the fashion trade shows
for a lifestyle website. But soon, she had
cultivated friends—both Parisians and
expats—and after over a decade of visits,
had built another life across the ocean.
In 2012, after the death of her mother
from breast cancer, she decided to seize
the day and make her other life official,
buying an apartment in Paris’s Right Bank.
One bold move led to a changed life.
Her memoir, My (Part-Time) Paris Life,
chronicles this journey.
My (Part-Time) Paris Life: How Running away Brought Me Home
Patricia Smith
113.2 (Sept. 15, 2016): p14.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2016 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist_publications/booklist/booklist.cfm
My (Part-Time) Paris Life: How Running away Brought Me Home. By Lisa Anselmo. Oct. 2016.256p. St. Martin's/Thomas Dunne, $25.99 19781250067470). 944.
In her touching memoir, Anselmo delves into such serious issues as mortality and self-worth while maintaining a fresh voice and charming wit. After losing her mother to breast cancer, Anselmo realizes that she may be too complacent about her life. Her beloved, strong-willed mother had always been a driving force in many of her decisions and actions (or inactions). Now, suddenly without her guiding light, Lisa realizes she must figure out her place in the world. She turns to Paris, the city that has captivated her for years. After months of deliberation, Anselmo decides to purchase an apartment in the City of Light in an attempt to rediscover herself and her passions. In her poignant look back, she captures the magic of discovering life in a new city while detailing the many misadventures of owning a property overseas. Readers who enjoyed Elizabeth Gilbert's Eat, Pray, Love (2006) will appreciate Anselmo's journey of self-discovery in this honest account. --Patricia Smith
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Smith, Patricia. "My (Part-Time) Paris Life: How Running away Brought Me Home." Booklist, 15 Sept. 2016, p. 14. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA464980784&it=r&asid=d188092fc34aa8c4e2882ab1b56a8781. Accessed 28 Feb. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A464980784
My (Part-Time) Paris Life: How Running Away Brought Me Home
263.28 (July 11, 2016): p52.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2016 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
My (Part-Time) Paris Life: How Running Away Brought Me Home
Lisa Anselmo. St. Martin's/Dunne, $25.99 (256p) ISBN 978-1-250-06747-0
In this enjoyable, self-searching memoir, Anselmo embraces her fears and makes a decision that changes her life. Living in New York and working as a top creative director for Time Inc., she loved her job, which allowed her to travel to Paris regularly. But beneath the polished surface, Anselmo struggled for independence from a controlling mother whom she loved dearly yet who also inhibited her personal growth. When Anselmo's mother dies from breast cancer, she is shattered; in time, she begins to build a new life for herself. She purchases an apartment in a working class neighborhood of Paris and immerses herself in everyday Parisian life. When her apartment develops what initially seems to be a small leak, Anselmo finds herself caught up in the Byzantine French labor laws, yet the author persists in creating a new home for herself. She makes new friends, improves her French, and starts a blog. Anselmo writes intimately about her complex relationship with her mother and how her fears shaped her view of life. "It was time to stop waiting to live, and to just live. To liberate myself from perfection and put myself out there-flaws, pain, and all." In the end, this is a sweet and inspiring account of one woman's taxing yet rewarding search for peace, happiness, and contentment in the City of Light. (Oct.)
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"My (Part-Time) Paris Life: How Running Away Brought Me Home." Publishers Weekly, 11 July 2016, p. 52+. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA458915352&it=r&asid=79db6230fd56c8859e2704687b6e1f7b. Accessed 28 Feb. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A458915352
Book Review: My (Part-time) Paris Life by Lisa Anselmo
Posted September 29, 2016 by love2dazzle in Non-Fiction, Reviews / 0 Comments
Book Review: My (Part-time) Paris Life by Lisa AnselmoMy (Part-Time) Paris Life: How Running Away Brought Me Home by Lisa Anselmo
Published by Thomas Dunne Books on October 11th 2016
Pages: 256
Goodreads
three-stars
A memoir by a woman who confronts her lifelong fear of change, buys an apartment in Paris, and discovers that this one decision opens doors to a new life she never would have imagined.
Poignant, touching, and lively, this memoir of a woman who loses her mother and creates a new life for herself in Paris will speak to anyone who has lost a parent or reinvented themselves. Lisa Anselmo wrapped her entire life around her mother, a strong woman who was a defining force in her daughter’s life—maybe too defining. When her mother dies from breast cancer, Lisa realizes she hadn’t built a life of her own, and struggles to find her purpose. Who is she without her mother—and her mother’s expectations?
Desperate for answers, she reaches for a lifeline in the form of an apartment in Paris, refusing to play it safe for the first time. What starts out as a lurching act of survival sets Lisa on a course that reshapes her life in ways she never could have imagined. But how can you imagine a life bigger than anything you’ve ever known?
In the vein of Eat, Pray, Love and Wild, My (Part-time) Paris Life a story is for anyone who’s ever felt lost or hopeless, but still holds out hope of something more. This candid memoir explores one woman’s search for peace and meaning, and how the ups and downs of expat life in Paris taught her to let go of fear, find self-worth, and create real, lasting happiness.
Anselmo is a great writer. I enjoyed reading her memoir, “My (Part-time) Paris Life.” After Anselmo lost her mother, she started a new life in Paris. It is a brave thing to do, opening up about your fears. I think the hard part about this memoir is that it is extremely repetitive. I think the focus around food is a bit much. Bravo to Anselmo for taking the leap and writing her memoir.
Book Review | My (Part-Time) Paris Life: How Running Away Brought Me Home by Lisa Anselmo
Published on November 8, 2016
ptparisAuthour:
Lisa Anselmo
Format:
E-galley
Publication date:
October 11th 2016
Publisher:
Thomas Dunne Books
Source:
Received from publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Review:
As someone who has a close relationship with her mother, I can’t even begin to imagine my life without her. As a result, I felt this book would resonate with me as the author loses her mother to cancer, and it forces her to re-evaluate her life after having lived with a mother who always needed to be in control.
I adored the travel aspect of the book, as I always do in the books I read. Although, I must confess I have never been to Paris and it had not been high on my travel priority list for some time. However, My (Part-Time) Paris Life: How Running Away Brought Me Home made me reconsider my hesitations about visiting “The City of Lights”. This may also be a result of the drool worthy, glorious descriptions that the author provides of the various foods she samples while in Paris and France.
One of my favourite sections in My (Part-Time) Paris Life was the chapter titled, “Le Dating Game”. I enjoyed this chapter for the reason that Anselmo acknowledges that dating is difficult, especially in another country with a different culture. And it was refreshing to glimpse her reflections on her past and acknowledge how her tight relationship with her mother has affected her love life. I especially love that in the end she came to the conclusion that she needs to embrace her independence and to become re-acquainted with herself as an “individual” before embarking on any serious romance.
And while I wish there was more to her story and adventure in the book, I’ll definitely be checking out her mini web series. Highly recommended to anyone who loves a good, self-searching memoir about dealing with grief, and learning to just let yourself be happy in life. If it hasn’t crossed your mind to visit “La Ville-Lumière”, it definitely will after reading this book.
Wednesday, January 25, 2017
My (Part-Time) Paris Life by Lisa Anselmo
French Village Diaries book review My Part-TIme Paris Life Lisa Anselmo
My (Part-Time) Paris Life
by Lisa Anselmo
My review today is for My (Part-Time) Paris Life, an open and honest memoir by Lisa Anselmo.
Following the death of her mother, Lisa is left feeling lost. This well written book is her journey through childhood memories, feelings and emotions towards finding happiness with her life as it is now. Paris had always been her escape and buying an apartment there becomes her focus. I loved joining her as she got to know her neighbourhood, celebrated life with her Parisian friends and learned how to structure her days in Paris. Her Paris is certainly not tourist Paris, and I liked it so much more for that.
There is a real air of sadness every time Ma is mentioned and for every Happy Hour apero in a Parisian café there is a dark place and difficult time that Lisa shares with the reader. My head can also butterfly from one feeling/worry to the next, but nothing quite like hers does. At times it was exhausting and I was glad I was only in her head for the duration of the book, but this very personal reflection gave me a feeling of attachment with Lisa. I enjoyed making the journey with her.
If you like reading memoirs not just because of where they are set or the life the author has led, but because they are a window into the heart of the author, you will love this book. I did!
My Part-Time Paris Life is published by St Martin’s Press and is currently available in hardback and ebook format.