I really, really wanted this book to go somewhere, but it just never did. Vacuous characters that never seemed to deliver is just the least of the problems with this book. I'm not a person that gives up on a title since I feel that if the author took the time to write the story, there must be something of merit within the cover, but this one I just couldn't stomach any longer. Too bad.

So I never, NEVER EVER stop reading a book. Once I start reading I have the compulsive need to finish it. But I'm trying to allow myself more freedom in my reading habits and choices. I loved the movie, "Le Divorce," so thought this book would be a great read. 24 pages in and there's nothing to keep me reading. Also, all the negative reviews...I'm gonna follow my instincts early on and let this one go.

Do I feel weird inside? Yes. But it's just a feeling and there's way better out there to read!

Her better book was Le Divorce, but I couldn't find that one on the Goodreads list.

A very light read. The character in this book was someone I aspired to at the time. Funny huh?

I think this book had no plot! Aside from being full of anti American snarky remarks, I could find no plot. At first I thought the moral of the story was no good deed goes unpunished. Nope, not it. Then maybe there's no place like home or home is where the heart is. Nope. Basically a story about a poor little rich girl on her quest to better herself, to find culture in France. Just a bunch of vapid self centered lunatics arguing over a dead man's estate. Though the difference in inheritance laws between England & France was fascinating. Here is the best quote from the book. "The French are a docile race, despite their revolution. No doubt the energy,the spark, was guillotined away, no wonder they didn't resist the German occupation." There, I just saved you $25. You're welcome.

A light read - good escape book.

This book was somewhat entertaining, and it was fun reading some of the perceptions of the main character, a young American in Europe for the first time. But the characters didn't really come to life for me, and so I didn't care much about them.

Another delightful read from Diane Johnson. If you want to steep yourself in Franco-American culture clash, enter the world of Diane Johnson. Sharp, clear writing, memorable, well-defined characters, bizarre situations. I don't know why Hollywood has missed this series. Maybe anti-French sentiment? Her characters would say so.
L"Affaird is set in this decades at a ski resort in the French Alps, where a rich, young, attractive American woman trips over a very sticky situation a complex, dysfunctional, extended family spanning the continent and beyond. The situation quickly spins out of control emphasizing the gulf between French culture and just about all others when it comes to important basic values. The story contains intrigue, natural disaster, legal maneuvering, sickness and health, life and death. Plus a little hanky panky. What more could you want in a novel? If Le Mariage was the perfect beach book, this is the perfect snowstorm livre.

The only word I can think of to describe Every. Single. Character. In this book is shallow.

Again, I felt like this book lacked a great ending and I would have liked more about the main character. Of the series, L'Divorce is the best.

I enjoyed Le Divorce, and even Le Mariage, but somehow L'Affaire left me cold. Maybe it's because Johnson's insights into cultural misunderstandings are getting a little stale; maybe it's because she insists on writing the same book over and over. But in fact, I think it's because her characterizations of the nationalities involved have become broader and less kind since her first book.[return][return]In le Divorce, everyone had their little foibles and prejudices, but they were all basically likeable and believable people. In L'Affaire, all the Americans are culturally illiterate morons, and all the French people are cruel and selfish snobs. Is it accurate? Maybe, but it's not pleasant.[return][return]But it might just be my perception. Maybe living in France and in poverty has made stories of the wealthy and titled seem a bit frivolous to me.

it's no le divorce - but it was charming in a sappy chick lit kind of way.