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And God Created the Au Pair

by Benedicte Newland and Pascale Smets



      This book chronicles the lives of two sisters who have been separated by an ocean. It unfolds via emails sent between the women and their friends during a two-year period.

Nell and her husband Michael, along with their three kids, have recently moved from England to Canada. They leave behind Nell's sister, Charlotte, her hubby, Dan, and their three children.

Charlotte is lucky enough to find several au pairs to help her out. Nell, on the other hand, must muddle along on her own. Given the title, surprisingly little is written about the au pairs.

This book is filled with highs and lows, with laugh-out-loud moments, as well as a few sniffles. We experience everything from the extraordinary to the mundane, from the sublime to the ridiculous. We go through everything from pregnancy to potty training and see moments that every mother will instantly recognize. More than once I said, "Thank God my kids have finally outgrown that stage!"

Not normally a fan of books in this format, I was pleasantly surprised by how enjoyable it turned out to be. I hated to see this one end. One small drawback was the use of British slang and abbreviations. Occasionally, the words were so foreign that even within the context of the sentence I was unable to figure out what was being spoken about. Nonetheless, I look forward to seeing more works by these new authors.

The Book

Plume
April 25, 2006
Trade Paperback
0452287286
Fiction/Contemporary Humor
More at Amazon.com
Excerpt
NOTE: Vulgar language sprinkled throughout
Holidays -2 years worth of various ones

The Reviewer

Sheila Griffin
Reviewed 2006
NOTE:
© 2006 MyShelf.com