My Sweet Guillotine

by Jayne Tuttle

Jayne Tuttle, acclaimed author of Paris or Die, returns to Paris with My Sweet Guillotine.

In the wake of a bizarre, shocking accident in Paris, Jayne finds herself back in the city in a strange limbo. Ignoring the past, she tries to move forward. There is theatre. Love. New friendships. A new neighbourhood. But the accident haunts her, forcing her to confront herself and the experience in ways she could never have predicted.

A tale of survival and the untold joys of life’s curveballs, My Sweet Guillotine captures love and trauma with profound insight. Confronting, funny, strange and real, this is a book about life, death and reinvention, rendered in exquisite prose.

Genres: Memoir, Nonfiction

256 pages, Paperback

Published September 7, 2022

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

[Jaclyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was immediately transported to where Tuttle left us in PARIS OR DIE. She returns to Paris after recovering from her tragic and bizarre accident. And there are all kinds of demons and angels waiting for her there. The aftermath of the accident looms large and understandably so. But where the first book was a grief and youth memoir this is a love memoir. Tuttle’s prose has a lovely granular and sensual quality to it that allows the reader to sit in her writing and exist there. It’s beautiful and juste.

[Eglė · Rating 5 out of 5]

I simply love Paris through Jayne's eyes.

[Kimmy C · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was the necessary follow up to Paris or Die, in which we find out the aftermath of her bizzare and nearly fatal accident (note to self: those old French buildings are LETHAL). Our author is back in Paris, a place she is drawn to even though it tried to kill her. She finds a new love and recovers from the heartbreak of the last (a bit callous as he seemed to be), and all the old friends are here, along with a few new introductions. She takes the brave and potentially torturous step of legal action regarding her accident - which is a very American thing to do (despite the fact she’s an Aussie), and we’re also allowed a window seat to that potentially emotion dredging event. Written with the same wry humour and full of heart for a place she clearly considers her spiritual home, this book, for me at least, missed a bit of the je ne sais quoi of the first story- how to describe the wide eyed impressions she had of a place noted for its insular unfriendliness. That’s just what they want you to think!

[Zoe · Rating 1 out of 5]

Okay so I read about 2/3 of this book under the impression that it was fiction until someone mentioned the name Jayne and I went “Wow, what a coincidence, that’s the authors name”. This book ACTIVELY put me in a reading slump. I feel like it’s the long version of the story you give to your friends when they ask “how are you?” and you’re 5 glasses of red wine into the bottle. Rambling, long, and with a crap ton of unnecessary details. Interesting situation to write a book about, it’s not everyday you almost get decapitated, but assumes the reader can remember all of these minor characters that are introduced once and has rudimentary French understanding (which gives me PTSD, after my unfortunate high school French experience).

Looking back on this Goodreads page it seems that there was a previous book which might have been important to read (which I am most definitely not going to)

[Richard&Michele Gray · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book so much that after finishing it I immediately purchased the Audible version so I could listen to Jayne read it herself. Her writing makes me feel alive and part of the world. The big things. The little things. As an Australian expat myself there was much I related to. But the journey this freak accident takes Jayne on is the real heart and soul of the story and it really touched me. Oh and the love story with M. Better than any romance novel. Real. Raw. Magical. I’m eagerly awaiting Jayne’s next book which I heard she is working on now.

[Jennifer Lloyd · Rating 5 out of 5]

L O V E Jayne's memoires set in Paris. her writing takes you to all quartiers of Paris + the full gamut of emotions she experiences. it's an incredible tale and I cannot wait for the next installment. my only wish is for Jayne's publishers to get her to do an audio version for all those with poor vision and require audio books. it would be amazing to hear Jayne, herself tell her story.

[Micaela · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was very much transported into Jayne’s telling of the horrific accident and how she managed to turn her life around. She writes beautifully and wittily. I absolutely inhaled this audiobook in about a day.

[Rosie Sloan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Genuinely interesting memoir! The sequel is great too. Makes me want to buy a beret and cycle everywhere

[Natasha (jouljet) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Following on from Jayne's first book, we are thrust back into her world as an ex-pat Aussie living in Paris. She has actually just returned, is jetlagged, after recovering from the horrifying cliffhanging accident in the final pages of To Paris, Or Die.

The accident saw her body wedged between elevator and bannister railing, in an old Paris building, leaving her with months of hospitalisation, surgeries, recovery, scarring, rehabilitation, and being cared for by her father and sister back home in Australia. Building herself back, she is ready to return to Paris, on the way to Portugal to direct a play she has written.

This memoir is a travel story, as so many of us Aussies love to do, the immersive experience of living away ftom home, and making it a version for themselves. But here we have a layer of recovery and rebuilding of a life, with the ever-present impacts of Jayne's accident and injury, physical and psychological, haunting her.

This generous and very real account of post traumatic stress is compelling, and written with truth, raw and vulnerable. An intense insight into the anxiety and intrusive rumination, and the struggle of what we would call high functioning mental ill health. The strength to push on, whilst working through so, so much.

The guiding light is Jayne's new relationship with M, whom she met at home during her recovery, still in her "cage" spinal brace. The man who takes her as she is, is everything you'd ever wish for your sister, your best friend, and yourself. He is kind, sweet, funny, so smart, a musician with his own dreams and work he is pursuing. He is self-assured, a quiet confidence, and a beautiful support as Jayne works through her pain, her trauma, her returned to work and Paris, and the emotional rollercoaster of it all.

I loved this read, was totally engrossed and grew such an endearment towards Jayne and the cast of people around her. In awe of her strength, her fight, her puns and her way of sharing her incredible story.

Thank you to Hardie Grant Books, for my gifted copy.

[Tiah]

~The actor is always laughing,' he said. 'It is the audience that is crying.'~

~This, it seemed, was how things worked in the Arts: once someone gives you money, more people do.~

~We head for my favourite little bookshop just off the canal, which is like a naughty boy's bedroom full of dusty books and graphic novels and comics and posters stuck to the ceiling and walls, with an old man, the owner, always hidden behind stacks of books.~

~I wonder how many other thrilling people I have overlooked, thinking I knew who they were.~

~God, I hope my head is not off. I hope nobody has to find my head. I hope my family doesn't have to live with that image for the rest of their lives.~

~'It would be so gross. And boring.'
'Yes, but sometimes you have to do boring things. If it drags on in your mind forever, that would be more boring than addressing it.'~

[Lee Kofman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Delightful! In this beautifully written memoir, in the tradition of Hemingway's A Moveable Feast, Jayne Tuttle gives us another desirous, quivering, sensual, hyper-creative and literally delicious version of Paris, but this time through the eyes of a young WOMAN artist. Thematically, it is a feast too. Jayne explores love, death, grief, creativity, how languages are learnt and change us, and more. Really loved it.

[Roberta Westwood · Rating 5 out of 5]

Remarkable

Absolutely remarkable story. Be sure to read Jayne’s first book, Paris or Die, before starting My Sweet Guillotine, as it provides very important context for what unfolds in this book. I am in awe at her ability to rise above and face the trauma of her accident, and not let it define her. A great example of doing the right thing as well. And it pretty well all happens in Paris. Highly recommended!

[Mary-Ann De · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love so much about Jayne Tuttle's writing: her observations, the descriptions of all the small things that paint a picture in your mind, her bravery and candour, the emotional narrative, the people that inhabit the story and her at-times kooky sense of humour. Jayne really brings her experiences of Paris to life. I can't wait for her next book.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved it. An unusual, compelling memoir that explores two romances (with Paris and with a new lover), the aftermath of a terrible accident (and the workings of the mind after a traumatic episode) and the life of an artist. Loved Paris or Die and loved My Sweet Guillotine even more. And a great title.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked this up as an impulse purchase at Shakespeare and Co., knowing nothing about the book or the author. I was smitten from the beginning. The voice, the characters, the plot, the wry, witty observations on Parisian life- I loved it all.

[Ben · Rating 5 out of 5]

The perfect, unpredictable and beguiling follow up to Paris Or Die! Didn’t stop once I started.
Jayne Tuttle writes about Paris like someone utterly in love and in awe, but without the bullshit of someone trying to win us over. Just a raw and real account from a completely unique perspective.

[Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful read on so many levels: compelling, wise, funny, and warm. Jayne has a rare gift. She generously shares her world with the reader and does it with such authenticity and truth and heart. I loved it just like I loved Paris or Die. Go read it, you won’t regret it.

[Margaret · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ebook. I can’t get enough of this writing. It makes me feel so alive even though this second memoir is anything but cheery. Mostly about a new love and coming to terms with her horrendous accident. Bring on Book number 3.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of my favourite books of 2022.

[Helen Thurloe · Rating 5 out of 5]

An incredible story, beautifully written. Can't wait for the final book so I can go back to Paris or Die and read the whole trilogy in one go.

[Sally-Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

More gold from Jayne Tuttle. Love, love, love.

[Wendy Marchment · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really liked the way Jayne writes and her view of Paris. Found the description of the accident very confronting and was appalled by what she was required to do as part of the legal action.

[Upasana · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book in a way I didn’t feel for the first. This is so beautifully written. It reflects the personal and creative growth of the author. Absolutely wonderful

[Kathy Staples · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic captivating author, I loved this book.

[Kate Plaschke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful, inspiring and full of cultural intimacies that take the reader right into the streets and heart of Paris. An amazing follow to ‘Paris or die’

[Meredith · Rating 5 out of 5]

I adored this book.

[Ellie Breen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as good as Paris or Die