Pardon My French by Rachael Morgan Mcintosh is an absolutely delightful biography/memoir of the family of five, Rachael and her husband Keith and three children, living in a small town Sommeliers in the southern Montpellier region of France for one year.

Brilliantly written with an engaging style and turn of phrases that are totally awesome! Loved the depiction of Sommeliers and the mixture of people in the town, in their neighbourhood and at the school the children attend. One of my favourites is Maurice, a septuagenarian who teaches Rachael to swear, the favourite one being “Purtain de merde” (meaning ‘fucking shit’).

Some totally incredible scenes depicted including being locked out of the school for arriving late and standing at the locked gate in the freezing cold and wet for fifteen minutes before finding out that the consequences for being late is that the children won’t be let in at all that day.
And for Rachael to get the courage up to drive to the supermarket (the intermarche) involving driving on the wrong side of the road and narrow streets - “Through the whole ten-minute trip, my palms sweat, my hear pounds and I pep talk to myself out loud like a mad Tom cruise in full method-acting flow.” And when she gets there “I made it! I hope nobody sees my victory fist pump, another embarrassing Tom Cruise moment.”
But best of all are the mistakes in the French language leading to embarrassment and then eventually to hilarity. For example Rachael she says “Je suits excitee”! thinking she is say she is excited but instead saying “I’m horny” and where she goes to say “A plus tard” (see you later) and accidentally shouts out “A putain” which means ‘whore’.


This is a wonderful read which I absolutely loved and would highly recommend.

This review is based on a complimentary copy from Affirm Press via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

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