Review: Beautiful.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 12 30, 2012
Wow. A French Girl in New York is a Cinderella story, about an orphan living in Northern France with a foster family that treats her very poorly. Forced to work from dawn to dusk, caring for the family children, cleaning, waiting on the mistress of the house, and expected to attend school and do well in her classes at the same time. Maude Laurent teaches herself piano on Saturday afternoons while her mistress is with friends. For five years, the piano sessions are what keep her going. At the age of 16, she manipulates a grade to be allowed to go on a day trip to Paris and her life begins to change.A French Girl in New York is a story of new beginnings, of misunderstandings, of family, love, betrayal, and triumph. The sole shortcoming in this book is that the lyrics to the songs aren't very good. I don't hold that against the book because if you actually listen to most lyrics, they really aren't that good. That doesn't stop a song from touching a chord with people or from becoming a huge hit, and these lyrics in no way stop this story from being both believable and touching.The story is well written. The insights on the music industry are plausible, which matters because music is at the heart of this story. The author captures the confusion of being a teenager without ever descending into parody or becoming melodramatic. Adults and teens both will love this story. Teens can recognize the turmoil of being a teen, and adults can recall that turmoil without being embarrassed by the characters. That is a difficult balance to strike. Author Anna Adams deserves praise for this beautiful, touching tale.