Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
4/5
Audiobook6 hours
My Good Life in France: In Pursuit of the Rural Dream
Written by Janine Marsh
Narrated by Esther Wane
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5/5
()
About this audiobook
One grey dismal day, Janine Marsh was on a trip to northern France to pick up some cheap wine. She returned to England a few hours later having put in an offer on a rundown old barn in the rural Seven Valleys area of Pas de Calais. This was not something she'd expected or planned for.
Janine eventually gave up her job in London to move with her husband to live the good life in France. Or so she hoped. While getting to grips with the locals and la vie Française, and renovating her dilapidated new house, a building lacking the comforts of mains drainage, heating, or proper rooms, and with little money and less of a clue, she started to realize there was lot more to her new home than she could ever have imagined. Ten years ago, Janine Marsh decided to leave her corporate life behind to fix up a run-down barn in northern France. This is the true story of her rollercoaster ride, in many ways a love story, with her sharp observations on the very different way of life, culture, and etiquette of France.
From her early struggles and homesickness through personal tragedy, to her attempts to become self-sufficient and to breed "the fattest chickens in the village," Janine learned that there was more to her new home than she could ever have imagined.
Janine eventually gave up her job in London to move with her husband to live the good life in France. Or so she hoped. While getting to grips with the locals and la vie Française, and renovating her dilapidated new house, a building lacking the comforts of mains drainage, heating, or proper rooms, and with little money and less of a clue, she started to realize there was lot more to her new home than she could ever have imagined. Ten years ago, Janine Marsh decided to leave her corporate life behind to fix up a run-down barn in northern France. This is the true story of her rollercoaster ride, in many ways a love story, with her sharp observations on the very different way of life, culture, and etiquette of France.
From her early struggles and homesickness through personal tragedy, to her attempts to become self-sufficient and to breed "the fattest chickens in the village," Janine learned that there was more to her new home than she could ever have imagined.
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Reviews for My Good Life in France
Rating: 4.382352941176471 out of 5 stars
4.5/5
34 ratings2 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5It is ok. A nice plate cleanser to my usual crime and political podcasts. She does lay out when things are hard or difficult but it also comes across very "Hallmark movie" sweet that can be a bit much.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Well written and the voice was pleasant on the audio (the British accent was not too strong.)The internet has allowed for several different phenomena like The Good Life in France for Janine Marsh (Take the Pioneer Woman for instance in the United States.) I assume the book would inspire readers to consider the less popular Normandy as a vacation destination and it could possibly give a confidence boost to the people contemplating a move abroad (specifically to France.) Humorous, light and pleasant.