Bon Courage: Rediscovering the Art of Living

by Ken McAdams

One year and one arduous home-renovation into their marriage, Ken and Bing head to the French countryside to celebrate their long-delayed honeymoon, swearing they're getting out of the home-fixing business for good. When they fall in love with the village of La Montagne Noire, they find themselves buying a fixer-upper and starting all over again-but this time, in French McAdams recounts their mishaps and misadventures with humor, capturing the essence of French village life, the awkwardness of being foreigners in a close-knit town, the couple's hilarious linguistic pratfalls, and how the mammoth undertaking that threatens to tear their new marriage apart ultimately brings them closer together and helps them find a place in the community they have grown to love.

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction, France, Biography Memoir

324 pages, Hardcover

First published June 3, 2010

About the author

Ken McAdams is a graduate of Yale University and a former Marine Corps Naval Aviator who has broken four civilian world records and received a military decoration as a first civilian volunteer to fly Marines into Iraq. As Pan Am’s youngest divisional Chief Pilot, he was later appointed a National Transportation Safety Board investigator. With the demise of Pan Am, he joined Korean Air then later moved onto KIWI International Airlines as Chief Operation Officer before retiring to write full time. Ken lives with his wife, artist Bing, in Greenwich, CT and France.

Reviews

[Suzanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Subtitled Rediscovering the Art of Living in the Heart of France, McAdams pens an interesting and honest memoir of a newly married couple renovating a home in a French mountain village.

I was surprised at some of the poor reviews on Goodreads.  Perhaps some people are continually looking for another version of Frances Mayes' Under the Tuscan Sun.  This is a narrative about a couple who hopes to get away for a real honeymoon, and ends up committing themselves to endless months of stress.  Along the way, there is beauty and good food and new friendships.  But there is also a glimpse at a struggling marriage, attempts at communication when the author speaks little French, and a culture that in surprising ways is quite alien to our American way of living.

One of the aspects of the book that fascinated me was the blue collar work life.  The owner of a small business explains to McAdams how his workers are guaranteed six weeks paid vacation, numerous required holidays, long lunch hours and short work days.  This means, he explains, that owners like him can never take a vacation or even a day off, and the state taxes them to death to pay for the all the health and retirement benefits France guarantees.  McAdams seems convinced that this type of security eliminates the desire for ambition or money, but I'm not so sure.  I'd definitely like to read more on the subject.

Another interesting part of the book involved an elderly woman named Madame Fontaine, who told of her involvement with the Resistance during World War II.  McAdams asked her how she felt about the people of this region putting their lives on the line while many Parisians collaborated with the Nazis.  She explained the Paris is not France is their eyes, and Parisians are not French.  I found that perspective fascinating and found it eerily reminiscent of today's America being divided by the patriotic mid-America and the elite urban centers of the coasts.

I enjoyed this book very much and hope that others will love it as much as I did.

[Iuliana · Rating 3 out of 5]

O carte drăguță despre un cuplu de americani care cumpără o casă într-un sătuc din Franța. E o carte de vacanță, marele câștig pentru care merită citită este partea culturală, descrierea oamenilor simpli, a satelor și a vieții rurale franceze.

[Anne · Rating 1 out of 5]

I wish the book had been written by the author's wife, Bing because I'm sure there is a lovely story to be told: an older couple rediscovering love after loss and living an adventure of personal discovery in a foreign country. Instead, we're getting anger, frustration and stress!

[Sarah Gasson · Rating 4 out of 5]

An honest, but entertaining memoir of a newly married couple moving to rural France with little to no knowledge of what they were getting themselves into. I really enjoyed Ken’s humorous style of writing, and self reflection. He found the joy and humor in his awkward difficult circumstances and acknowledged his shortcomings and mistakes openly and with good nature.

His description of the small charming French town with it’s delightful cast of characters with very refreshing views on life seriously made me consider packing my bags and hunting down a small cozy town like it, for a sanity recheck. We Americans care far too much about chasing money and it sounds like the people of Black Mountain live a very quaint life without the stress we all put on ourselves here.

I loved the “secret agent man”, the elderly woman who lived through two world wars and fought in the resistance, and the old cafe owner whose neighbors had formed an unfair opinion of him based on a misunderstanding. All of these characters are introduced and explained in a way that feels authentic.

Some other reviews I’ve seen of this book complain that he fought with his wife and needed to “get away from an argument for a few days.” All I have to say is, he’s human and he’s being honest about it. No memoirs, if they’re truly memoirs should paint a perfect picture of a perfect human. I give him credit for not sugar coating some of his challenges with his outbursts of emotion and personality and conflict resolution styles with his wife.

Overall I thought this was a fun read, and I would recommend it to anyone considering living abroad.

[Sylvie · Rating 1 out of 5]

There were bits that I found somewhat enjoyable (a description of a twirling dog), but overall Ken McAdams' behavior is cringe-worthy. His insecurity manifests as smug and cloying machismo, reminding the reader frequently of his fighter pilot history (ugh) and his penchant for Harley Davidson motorcycles. The worst part of the book is when he goes on a selfish rampage and spending spree -- buying a vintage Harley and loads of gear on a whim because of a petty, jealous dispute with his wife.

Spoiler alert: shortly after he buys the bike he gets into a wreck, from driving recklessly (and not wreck-lessly), blaming a "Volvo driver" for his own bad driving (in his opinion, and he presumes to say that it's the opinion of all motorcyclists, "Volvo drivers...seem to have no clue about driving."). He admits he was driving too close to the Volvo and that he took his eyes off of it, preoccupied with trying to worm his way in with a pack of other bikers in another lane. And yet, he takes no responsibility, "I should have thought more about what idiocy the Volvo driver might have up his sleeve." This is representative of his behavior throughout the book. Extremely narcissistic.

To top it off, his descriptions of women are perpetually lascivious; he borders on sounding like a sociopath. Blehk! Ehk! Ahk! It's the first time I've felt the urge to wash my hands after holding a book! Can't wait to return it to the library.

[Denise · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a fun read about a couple from Connecticut who spend an idyllic few months in south-western France in a walled village and then get sort of tricked into buying a medieval house there that needs major renovations. The struggle with the language is a major issue since they have selected such an isolated location almost no one speaks English. Marital ups and downs, temper fits for good and ill and the joys of finally accomplishing something are all well told. Having lived in Europe for many years (with the protection of the American government), I can still identify with the dream of a European residence in such a restful and pleasant place. I can also identify with the challenges of getting anything done in socialist Europe where things move slowly and no one is much interested working very hard. So the bottom line is that I enjoyed this book but it might not be everyone's cup of tea -- it tends to be pretty self absorbent but not as bad as Eat, Pray, Love, at least!!

[Hal · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Rediscovering the art of living in the heart of France"

The subtitle of this non-fiction book tells it all.

I won't even attempt to review this book other than to say it easily moves to the top tier of my favorite books. The writing is delicious. The word pictures are awe inspiring. The love shared by this couple is beyond measure. And the people you meet along the way are very memorable. The book had a real personal impact on me since the passing of Diane, the love of my life.

I have no hesitation in giving it five stars, and I recommend it without question to everyone.

[Joy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I won this book from goodreads firstreads giveaway. I enjoyed this book, especially the cultural experiences the author and his wife had. I thought their relationship was written a bit rougher, and that a few threads of the story weren't fully wrapped up (but I like everything wrapped up). A good read for someone who likes renovation stories, or cultural fish out of water stories. This has different perspective, as the couple is older than your average travel writer.

[Sue Pit · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked this book at half price at Anthropologie as it looked like a sweet read of "rediscovering the art of living in the heart of France" (as the cover states). I was rather disappointed by the writing and at first wondered if I would even finish the book. It does recover a bit in maintaining one's interest and in time, I found it a pleasant if not great read. The subject matter is somewhat interesting but could be better told.

[Suzanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun and enjoyable book about another Anglo (this time American) renovation of another decrepit old house in rural France. A likeable couple and interesting side stories and unexpected occurrences keep you reading. The only negative is that a smattering of typos and errors slipped through--it could have benefited from a final proofread--but they're not enough to spoil the story or the generally good writing. I liked it.

[Jennifer Kershner · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel very torn about this book. I found the narrator to be insufferable. His arrogance, childishness and need to point out the beauty of any female character mentioned in the book, no matter how minor. I think his wife is a saint. I very much enjoyed the parts of the story about life in France and the stories about renovating the house. I did not think the book was well written but luckily the stories of real French living help you overlook that.

[Diana · Rating 3 out of 5]

I almost gave up on the book at about the 30% mark, but I am glad that I stuck with reading it all the way through. The author is just a bully blowhard, but he is a Marine, so I gave him a pass on much of his boorish behavior. The descriptions of the French villages & the people made this book worth reading.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was written in a kind of over the top flowery kind of way, but very enjoyable and good to read before bed.

[A Moore · Rating 5 out of 5]

A well-written story that touches many emotions in the reader - from the humor of challenges with a foreign language to the sadness of love lost to the joy of love found.

[Carl N. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Makes me want to go back to France (but not to Paris!!!).

[Lindsey Lang]

i was hoping i'd win this one, i love memoir-type books and this one sounds really fun and interesting. i so love First Reads!

got my nice hardback copy in the mail today, thanks First Reads! =)

[Andy31 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book Club's best liked book so this year. (It's still early but a fun, quick read.)

[Alison]

kindle 2.99

[Lily Archer · Rating 2 out of 5]

A wee bit pretentious. Felt like a lot of sugar coating and melodrama.

[Tina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book may have been self-published as there were many typos, grammatical errors and misspellings. I would have happily proofread this for him.

[Juliana · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good read.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really like this story.

[Drucye · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent and very honest.

[Johnnie P. Byrd · Rating 5 out of 5]

AUTHENTIC FUN

Very entertaining and lots of real life encounters. Very good information for anyone planning to live in a European country.

[Elyssa · Rating 2 out of 5]

This had the potential to be an intriguing memoir, but the author's bland and meandering writing weighed it down.