Catherine Sanderson's Petite Anglaise grew out of an anonymous blog she maintained about her life in Paris. It was fun and sexy and humorously self-effacing: she was an enormously good sport through many misadventures, dating and otherwise. But her employers proved not to be good sports; once she was revealed to the author of the blog, she was fired. Though the French courts later sided with her, it can't have been a pleasant outcome for a woman who'd dreamed of living in Paris since she was a little girl.

But one outcome was pleasant--this lovely, unassuming memoir. It gets compared to a real-life Bridget Jones Diary, and while I can see why, it's also more fun -- and more dark -- that Ms. Jones. Sanderson's various decisions in love, in life, have real costs, and some of them prove substantial.

One of her loves--arguably her chief love--that endures is Paris. Hers is smart and chic but also flinty and real.

Which is much like the author herself. Though she no longer blogs, you can peek in on the old one at https://petiteanglaise.com/, and you'll find that after this memoir and a novel--and two kids--she decided to head back to an office job. It may not be the kind of happy ending readers cheer for--but it's also a very honest one. And who's to say more books won't someday arrive? I hope they do.