The Sea in the Metro

by Jayne Tuttle

I am the worst person in the world.

Bad mother. Bad lover. Bad worker. Bad woman. Bad friend ...

An exploration of motherdom and ego, culture and art, love and pain, The Sea in the Metro tells the story of a new mother in Paris trying to make it work–and failing. What happens when the control you thought you had over your life is usurped by your nature?

Jayne was raised to believe she could have everything. Child, career, relationship, even a life in Paris. So why does she feel like a monster? As her ego wars with her natural instincts, Jayne searches for answers in friendship, the city, memories of her late mother, art, writing and New Wave films … and finds only more questions. There are parts of herself that parenthood won't let her avoid.

Unsentimental and untamed, The Sea in the Metro is an unflinching excavation of modern womanhood that marks the thrilling return of an incredible talent in Australian literature.

'A witty and observant raconteur, and merciless chronicler of her own foibles, she's like the love child of David Sedaris and Helen Garner.' LINDA JAIVIN, The Saturday Paper

'A vivid memoir of damage, grace and healing which manages to be funny, irreverent and moving all at once.' LUKE DAVIES

'Jayne Tuttle's writing is a delicious delight.' CHRISTOS TSIOLKAS

Genres: France

Audible Audio

Published August 5, 2025

About the author

Jayne Tuttle is the author of Paris or Die (2019) and My Sweet Guillotine (2022).
Jayne graduated from the École Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq in 2006 and went on to live and work in France as an actor, voice-over artist, playwright, translator and bilingual copywriter.
Jayne has received fellowships from the Ville de Paris, the Centre les Récollets, the La Napoule Art Foundation, Varuna Writers House and Bundanon, and has written for outlets including The Guardian, The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald.

Reviews

[Annette Chidzey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having read ‘Paris or Die’, I came across this offering in a book shop in Sorrento and decided instinctively to buy it there and then. The account focuses on the subsequent stages in Jayne Tuttle’s life upon her return to Paris having at least physically recovered from the traumatic accident that threatened her life previously in the city of light.
The writing reflects Tuttle’s authentic honesty - no filter - recounting events and experiences as she endured them and enables the reader to likewise again relive their own recollections of specific locations and venues.
The arrival of the ‘chunk’ - daughter Frankie- and the struggle to graft a novel while juggling the less desirable commercial challenge of drafting advertorial captions set the scene for her ongoing struggle to feel at home in Paris. Her financial insecurity coupled with her unresolved grief at the death of her mother renders being a mother that much harder for Jayne - who doubts her ability to parent and accept the responsibilities that she perceives that go with it.
A gritty, engrossing read- with a myriad of emotions explored and juggled as the memoir unfolds.

[Margaret · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ebook. Finished the trilogy and liked Paris or Die best, probably because of how harrowing the story becomes. Although I can’t totally identify with her experiences and thoughts in this one, I feel I do get it. It is hard going for mothers these days. And for fathers and I feel she presents her husband well. The writing is so raw and honest and drags you in no matter how hard you try to stand back. She doesn’t let you. It will take a while to shake this one off.

[Sian · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really wanted to love this book as I had adored the first time.
I really wished there were speech marks. Call me old fashioned but I do like to have all the punctuation.
I enjoyed the story and definitely loved reconnecting with Jayne. But found the way it was written was harder to read this time. Perhaps a deliberate decision based on the story.

[Oriana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Melbourne’s Miranda July, replete with palatable franglais

Favourite out-of-context lines:

* How can you bring up a baby in this environment, I remember thinking. Cut to me, four years later, bringing up my baby in this environment
* Oh god you bought chou again
Yes, I’m going to make okonomiyaki
I don’t make it
And I throw it out
* The signs outside change from ichs and iebens to illes and ères
* Of course I’m going to give birth in Paris. I was always giving birth in Paris. Trust her to try to be born here
* What is it about Paris that makes women radiant? Is it that she’s épanouie? I don’t know what that means. Didier tells me it means fulfilled. Yes, women are fulfilled in Paris
* Who in their lifetime gets to live on Île Saint-Louis? The apartment was on the third floor, no elevator
* We were alone, but together
* Is it that the children colour the boots in brown?
* She knows where the bonheur lies
* Fuck I love this fucking city

[Kerryn Rae · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you want to immerse yourself into Parisian life with a toddler then this is the novel for you . I totally related to the main character Australian Jayne with her toddler - the Chunk & musician husband M . Jayne’s wrestle with trying to be a good mother & partner , putting her own acting career on hold to make an income to support her family , grieving for her mother who died before the Chunk was born , the ordeal of childbirth in a foreign country , set in the streets of Paris & coastal Victoria .
A wonderful fulfilling relatable read .I just wanted to wrap Jayne & her family in a warm hug

[Patti · Rating 5 out of 5]

Couldn’t wait to read this one. Enjoyed the first two in the trilogy so much. Some readers have commented on the expression, lack of punctuation and the like. Her story is compelling and written urgently and authentically. The huge tensions between aspiration/expectation and reality; what one might desire and what is actually best for your life and the lives of your loved ones. Her experiences of motherhood and the coming to some kind of terms at the end OMG I felt it through the words. This woman’s work…

[Stephanie Wescott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having just flown through this book with abandon of nearly all else, Tuttle is now firmly in my favourite writer category. Stunning writing. Punishingly candid reflections on motherhood, parenting and creativity. The city of Paris features as a muse, a mirage and an impossibility, and the setting for Tuttle's grief, suffering and aspirations.

[Kate Plaschke · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely love Jaynes work, she speaks the gritty truth of motherhood, marriage and life trying to identify the choices we make and why. I purposefully read this one slowly not wanting it to end!

[Kim Robyn Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a relatable story as a new mother overcomes struggles to survive in a new world. Well written and engaging.