Friday, March 2, 2012

Paris My Sweet by Amy Thomas

Amy Thomas fell in love with Paris on a trip in her late teens.  She dreamed of living there, and after years of work in the advertising field, she was offered a dream job.  She could take a contract to work on the advertising of Louis Vuitton, but would have to move to Paris and work there.  Amy jumped at the chance as it was her dream come true.

Amy's other passion was quality desserts.  She had, as a side interest, created a blog about sweets and where to find the best ones in New York.  She dreamed about expanding this with all the wonderful new sweet shops and French confections she would find in Paris.  Amy spent her first weeks there touring the famous shops and discovering new ones. 

Paris My Sweet combines both the story of Thomas's two years in Paris and her love of anything sweet.  Each chapter talks about an issue common to those starting a new job, moving to a new city, or being a woman on the cusp of middle age who is still single and adventurous but starting to wonder about love, marriage and children.  Each chapter also features a category of sweet such as the madeline or cupcakes or macarons.  At the end of each chapter is a page outlining the best places to find that category of sweet, both in New York and in Paris.

Paris My Sweet will appeal to a wide variety of readers.  It is great travel writing.  Foodies will be thrilled to read about the variety and intensity of flavors available in the dessert category as well as the guide to the best places to find specific categories.  Overall, the book will appear to women working on finding their place in the world, finding that mix of work and family/love that works for them.  Throughout the book, Thomas is revealed as a woman questioning her life but ultimately satisfied with her choices, a woman with a zest for life and who loves to share with others.  This book is recommended for all these categories of readers. 

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