French Lessons by Ellen Sussman--Review

French Lessons by Ellen Sussman

C’est l’amour

A single day in Paris changes the lives of three Americans as they each set off to explore the city with a different French tutor, learning about language, love, and loss as their lives intersect in surprising ways. Ellen Sussman’s novel French Lessons is a book for those who love movies like Love Actually and Valentine’s Day.

The three Americans traveling through their day are a diverse lot—there’s French teacher Josie with her secret sorrow, Riley, an unhappy expat who pines for home, and Hollywood husband Jeremy who has accompanied his film star wife to her Paris location and is now dealing with his stepdaughter, who’s acting out and with an unexpected attraction to the French teacher who’s been giving him lessons. 

It’s the Americans who have the focus but it’s the French tutors who are learning their own lessons. The ménage that exists among Nico, Chantal and Philippe interests us and we’re by no means certain how it’s all going to turn out.

The characters are not uniformly likeable—we adore Nico but are lukewarm about Josie; we like Riley but know way too many guys like Philippe—but we enjoy being a tag-along on their ramble through Paris.

The characters are deftly drawn, even the minor characters who just have walk-on parts. When Nico tells Josie about the raucous girl Philippe flirted with, we see that girl so completely she casts a shadow. Riley’s little boy Cole, who seems to spend a  lot of time patting his mother’s shoulder and telling her things will be okay, is a lovely kid.

Jeremy’s wife Dana—the movie star whose movie Nico comments does not “look as though it will last 100 years—has a strong presence too. We  know a lot about her even though her character is mostly filtered through his point of view.

Bill Nighy on Bill Shakespeare

I am not much of a fan girl. When you work on the fringes of “the industry,” you get more than enough exposure to actors and personalities and celebrities and people famous because their sex tapes showed up on the web.  After a while, the glamor wears thin, especially if, as happened on my way home from DC last week, you get trapped in a seat in front of the struggling actor son of a famous character actor who did not shut up the entire flight—dropping names, mentioning people, being snarky.  (I actually was curious enough to look him up on IMDB and discovered he hadn’t even bothered to post a picture with his exceedingly spare resume.  And for whatever reason, he doesn’t use his famous father’s last name.)

But I digress.

I make exceptions to my no-fan policy from time to time, though, and one of those exceptions is for Bill Nighy.  Yes, I (heart) Bill Nighy.  I’ve always liked him as an actor—the scene in Love Actually when his has-been rocker character goes on a radio show and gleefully trashes Britney Spears, his own career, the record he’s promoting, and everything else in sight is not only my favorite scene in the movie, it’s one of my top-ten movie scenes ever. Some years ago I saw him on a Comic Con panel promoting one of the Underworld movies and he was just delightful—funny, self-deprecating, courtly.  People I know who have worked with him can’t say enough wonderful things about him and believe me, that’s pretty rare.

So I wondered—has Bill Nighy done any Shakespeare? It turns out that he hasn’t and he has some pretty funny things to say about why not. Here's a quote from vulture.com on on the typical Shakespeare costumes. 

Here's an interview from 2009 where he riffs even more hilariously on the topic.

I can't help but think what a fabulous King Lear Nighy would make.