The Nardio Review

Is it Worth Your Time

No.

 

What Did You Think Without Spoiling It?

Lessons From Madame Chic is a short and easy read about how to live your life like a Parisian. I like the author’s voice a lot as well as her short stories on her actual experience living in Paris. I just wish that the book was more cohesive.

 

Why it Works

The author’s voice is very lively and engaging. Lessons from Madame Chic is certainly not a long book (around 250 pages), but because the author’s story was entertaining, I was able to read the book in around 2 hours. The best parts of the book are her personal stories regarding difficulties living in France and how she adapted.

 

No Like

Jennifer L. Scott gained notoriety thanks to her blog The Daily Connoisseur. If you like her blog then you’ll most likely enjoy the book. For me who never read her blog, I was looking for something more. Each chapter seems too segmented and there doesn’t seem to be a natural flow to the book. It’s like she took bits of her blog posts and just put them in the book. The advice she gives is also not groundbreaking. You can pretty much learn the same thing if you read an issue of Elle and know some of the teachings of Buddha. You know, less is more, stop and smell the roses, etc. I went into the book thinking that it would be a more memoir-like, and instead got a book full of advice I wasn’t interested in. Perhaps that’s my own fault. But when I read a book, especially something autobiographical, I really want to connect with the characters. Who is Madame Chic, what makes her tick? How did Jennifer and Madame Chic’s relationship evolve?

One of my main issues though is that Jennifer seems to really generalize the life of Parisians through the lens of her rather well-to-do host family. It’s kind of like some one coming to New York City and staying with a relatively wealthy couple and believing that ALL NYC people live that way. It seems a bit naive and romanticizes the city too much.

 

In Closing

Ultimately, while Jennifer’s voice is fun, the transition from blog to book didn’t work out so well. Lessons from Madame Chic is a fun but ultimately empty read.

 

Agree? Disagree? Post your comments below!

 

Basic Info

• Author: Jennifer L. Scott
• Price: $14.89 for Hardcover, $10.99 for Kindle
• Genre: Fashion/Lifestyle Tips
• 304 pages