Paris at Night — in a Technicolor Dream
The photographer Saad Sharif has an amazing ability to capture Paris at night or dusk, setting him apart from other photographers (me included) who’ve photographed Paris. But his work isn’t only special for capturing a dark city…
Why I Love My Two Paintings of Paris
One Sunday afternoon, I was browsing a nearby second-hand shop when I came across two enchanting paintings of Paris. One was of a bookstore, the other, a wine shop. They were snippets of that city’s life. The…
The Most Insightful Memoirs About Life in France: Part 2
In my first article on memoirs about life in France, I covered stories of romance, food, gardening, and motherhood. Today, I’ll talk about some classics and my favorite memoir about the French lifestyle. Paris to the Moon …
The Most Insightful Memoirs About Life in France: Part 1
English-language memoirs about life in France usually follow a common trajectory: an American or Brit or Australian somehow lands in France and must cope with the unfamiliar culture while learning the language and navigating a new job…
Why a Novel About a Flower That Makes You Forget? Part 3
In these last few weeks, I’ve shared the origins of my novel The Forgetting Flower. It’s a story about memories, about a botanically unique plant, about sisterly relationships, and about Paris and Poland. It’s even about an…
A Tribute to Plants in Paris
This year on the 4th of July, my husband and I took our kids to see the fireworks show by our neighborhood lake. It was in a park where 5,000 people peacefully sat in the dark and…
Why I Wrote a Novel About a Weird Apple: Part 3
During these last few weeks, I shared two posts about the origins of my novel Harvesting the Sky. The first article covered how I merged issues of an emotional past with plants and the second, my inability to…
20 Books of Summer! All About Provence
This summer I’m writing a novel set in Provence so I’ve been dreaming about France. Since I already have a stack of books to inspire me, I thought I’d lengthen my list and join this summer’s 20…
