French Illusions
From Tours to Paris

French Illusions: My Story as an American Au Pair in the Loire Valley is the first of two memoirs based on the diary entries of the author, Linda Kovic-Skow. Back in 1979, when she was 21, Linda yearned to become a flight attendant. But this required speaking a second language, so she chose to learn......more

I really enjoyed this well written memoir. I have always wondered what it would be like to be an au pair, or a "nanny", as Americans say. After reading this novel, I can tell you it is not at all a "Mary Poppins" experience. While I do feel that the author should not have lied about speaking French t......more

I LEFT THE DISHES I know I’m really enjoying a book when I sit and ignore the dirty dishes to finish reading. It took me a few pages to get into the book, but once in, I was hooked. A great read, very descriptive and it flowed beautifully. I could identify with the author, feel her pain and frustrati......more

A story of a naive young American lying her way into a job as as au pair for a wealthy French family in the Loire Valley, this memoir by Linda Kovic-Skow has been well written. Madame Dubois comes across as a complex character. Heavily pregnant when Linda arrives, at first I thought that her behavio......more

I love memoirs, and I love France, so this was a fun book for me. I was once an au pair in France, too, and reading about the author's troubles with her French family made me feel very grateful in retrospect to have had much kinder and less demanding employers. I enjoyed hearing about the author's d......more