The Diary of an American Au Pair

(Paperback)

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Description

Enchanting and unputdownable, The Diary of an American Au Pair is not only funny but full of linguistic delights. A romantic comedy with a delightfully biting literary edge, it's the story of Melissa, a sharp-eyed American abroad. Fired by her San Francisco ad agency, she cancels her wedding but soon regrets her next impulsive move - across the Atlantic, as au pair to a minorly aristocratic British family, with the mother from hell, an ineffectual, sweet-natured father, and three children, one of them deaf. From freezing farmhouses and island castles in Scotland, to a faded house at a smart London address, Melissa observes the natives in their classic habitats, with their bizarre manners and surprisingly gorgeous, death-defying food. Urged to 'try to speak as we do' she resists the effete charm of the British bourgeoisie but succumbs to the lure of lemon shortbread, and the sexy appeal of a lean and hungry Englishman.

Reviews

I loved this book... I found myself smiling all the way through... a lovely novel * Margaret Forster *
Utterly delightful * Hello *
A beguiling first novel * Kirkus Reviews *
A charming first novel * Booklist *
This is a fresh, gleefully savage take on the theme of the innocent abroad... A hilarious send-up of its whole cast of characters, British and American -- Cyra McFadden

Author Bio

Marjorie Leet-Ford is a broadcaster and writer living in San Francisco. She conceived a successful US radio series called Tell Me a Story, going round the world recording famous writers reading their own stories, including John Updike, Eudora Welty, Jamaica Kincaid, E. L. Doctorow, V. S. Pritchett, Roald Dahl, Edna O'Brien, and many more. She was also once herself an au pair in Britain. She is the author of People in the Park.