I was enchanted by ‘the little paris bookshop’ and could not wait to read ‘The Little French Bistro’ by Nina George, sadly instead of being enchanted I ended up being a little let down.

‘The Little French Bistro’ centers on the character of Marianne. Yes she is stuck in a loveless, unhappy marriage for over 40 years…so why not leave sooner? 41 years is a long time.

The book starts off dark (ie her wanting to end her life in the Seine) and only when she is saved does the book a lighten up. But the characters never really pop for me and Marianne seems to know to much at times (certain tricks in the kitchen even a chef does not know?)

Basically Marianne leaves and finds happiness elsewhere. Honestly it was like a lot of other books I read, very cookie cutter. Sure it has some nice/funny moments such as being naked on the boat or helping to delivery a baby. But it just felt very average.

(Side note the use French  phrases without being translated becomes distracting after a while)

For me the its a very predictable book, you knew the outcome before it ends.  I did like the cooking moments, in that it almost reminded me of the charming movie ‘the 100 foot journey’ which was much better then this book. But in the end for me this book was just average. There was nothing really different about it. Now had she maybe had a barge and started cooking on that, that might have spiced it up a little.

“I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.”