I See London, I See France by Sarah Mlynowski // Book Review
I See London, I See France by Sarah Mlynoski is the perfect book for a summer read. When it seems like all your friends are going to Europe and you've got the biggest case of FOMO, it is time to pick up this book. Scattered with journeys from all over Europe, you won't feel like you're missing a thing!
Sydney is spending her first summer in college, travelling through Europe with her childhood best friend Leela. Unfortunately her plans have been thwarted when Leela's cheating ex-boyfriend (and his very, VERY hot friend), turn up on the same travel cycle. It doesn't help that all Sydney can worry about is the fact that she's left her mother who suffers from a mental illness, back home with her little sister. Sydney just wants to find the balance between planning things out, and letting go.
This book made me feel like I was right there in Europe with all the characters. Reading through Sydney's adventures will make you feel the need to kick your feet up at the pool with a cocktail. This novel immerses you in all of her experiences, the good ones, the bad ones (and even the sexy ones) and you can't help but feel like you're living these events. The only downside of this novel is her irritating best friend Leela. If it was Mlynowski's goal to get me to dislike this character, then she did a good job. Leela was often crying about her ex-boyfriend and then whining that she was too sensitive to be left alone. Her selfish and overbearing nature, made me want to throw the imaginary cocktail I'm drinking, in her face.
It is not very often that a novel features a protagonist with a parent struggling with a mental illness. Many novels have a protagonists struggling with a mental illness. However, not many novels include a point of view where a character has a parent or guardian who struggles with this. Sydney's relationships with her mother in a million. While she's thrilled to be travelling around Europe for the summer, she feels guilty for leaving her mother with her sister. Several other authors have written memoirs, retelling their experiences of what it's like to have a parent with a mental illness. Gayle Brandeis writes about this in her 2017 memoir, The Art of Misdiagnosis: Surviving My Mother's Suicide. After Brandeis' mother passed, she found herself searching for people who had experienced similar things. She found this in novels like Daughter of the Queen of Sheba by Jacki Lyden and The Memory Palace by Mira Bartok. And even though, it's fiction, Mlynowski has done a glorious job of telling the story of Sydney and her mother.
I See London, I See France is the perfect book to read before you go to Europe (or to read if you just really want to go to Europe). This novel will make you want to travel the world, fall in love and hug your parents really tight.
Sydney is spending her first summer in college, travelling through Europe with her childhood best friend Leela. Unfortunately her plans have been thwarted when Leela's cheating ex-boyfriend (and his very, VERY hot friend), turn up on the same travel cycle. It doesn't help that all Sydney can worry about is the fact that she's left her mother who suffers from a mental illness, back home with her little sister. Sydney just wants to find the balance between planning things out, and letting go.
This book made me feel like I was right there in Europe with all the characters. Reading through Sydney's adventures will make you feel the need to kick your feet up at the pool with a cocktail. This novel immerses you in all of her experiences, the good ones, the bad ones (and even the sexy ones) and you can't help but feel like you're living these events. The only downside of this novel is her irritating best friend Leela. If it was Mlynowski's goal to get me to dislike this character, then she did a good job. Leela was often crying about her ex-boyfriend and then whining that she was too sensitive to be left alone. Her selfish and overbearing nature, made me want to throw the imaginary cocktail I'm drinking, in her face.
It is not very often that a novel features a protagonist with a parent struggling with a mental illness. Many novels have a protagonists struggling with a mental illness. However, not many novels include a point of view where a character has a parent or guardian who struggles with this. Sydney's relationships with her mother in a million. While she's thrilled to be travelling around Europe for the summer, she feels guilty for leaving her mother with her sister. Several other authors have written memoirs, retelling their experiences of what it's like to have a parent with a mental illness. Gayle Brandeis writes about this in her 2017 memoir, The Art of Misdiagnosis: Surviving My Mother's Suicide. After Brandeis' mother passed, she found herself searching for people who had experienced similar things. She found this in novels like Daughter of the Queen of Sheba by Jacki Lyden and The Memory Palace by Mira Bartok. And even though, it's fiction, Mlynowski has done a glorious job of telling the story of Sydney and her mother.
I See London, I See France is the perfect book to read before you go to Europe (or to read if you just really want to go to Europe). This novel will make you want to travel the world, fall in love and hug your parents really tight.
- E
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