Let's Move to the French Countryside, Shall We?

I love memoirs. I especially love memoirs written by people who take a huge leap of faith and do something drastic to renew their lives. In my last post, I wrote about my love for my Kindle(s), and the awesome website Pixel of Ink, which lists free or deeply discounted Kindle books daily. Recently I took advantage of one of the deals they posted to combine two of my loves: Kindle + memoir.

Because I often dream of leaving Michigan and starting a new life somewhere far away (even temporarily would be okay with me), reading of other people who are fulfilling my dream is a fun pastime. Seriously, it gives me hope. So when I saw this memoir, Tout Sweet by Karen Wheeler, available for just 99 cents for the Kindle version, I jumped on it. At last check, it was still available for 99 cents, if you're interested. 

The author gives up her glamorous big city life in London, where she works as a fashion and beauty editor, to move to a dilapidated old house in rural France. She is single, so I can't totally relate - obviously my story would be much different if I decided to up and move to the French countryside, with a husband and four children to complicate matters further. I do admire her bravery: moving to a foreign country all alone, roughing it as she renovates her house, struggling to communicate and learn local customs, trying to overcome heartache, leaving her career and re-creating herself as a freelancer. She meets many colorful people, has lots of adventures, and learns to really love and appreciate her new way of life. Yes, Wheeler is definitely an inspiration. The story reminds me quite a bit of Under the Tuscan Sun (the movie, I have yet to read the book).

Turns out Wheeler has a blog, Tout Sweet, and two other books, Toute Allure and Tout Soul, that sound like they might be sequel-ish.

Are you a fellow fan of memoirs? What are your favorites? And do you share my dream of moving someplace far away...if so where would you love to go?