Book Reviews: My Paris Dream by Kate Betts

Like so many starry-eyed Americans before her, Betts’s dream of moving to Paris was nurtured by the City of Light’s iconic literature, fashion and culture. Fully intending to pursue a glamorous career as a foreign correspondent but captivated by Parisian style, Betts succumbed to her real passion – fashion journalism – after a series of dues-paying jobs that culminated in an intrepid assignment which saw her chasing wild boars around Brittany.

Although it grants us an insider’s view of the Parisian fashion elite, Betts’s tale is equally one of hard graft and living as an outsider who’s both struggling to make it big and to simply belong. In adopting French habits and trying to rebrand as a Parisian, Betts ends up discovering herself.

Unlike many memoirs, her experiences aren’t glorified or rose-tinted, but true-to-life, which makes this story all the more enthralling. A must-read for any American who’s dreaming of upping sticks and embarking on a vie Parisienne.

My Paris Dream, by Kate Betts. List price $28. Published by Spiegel & Grau

From France Today magazine