A memoir that probably stretched the truth a bit, I enjoyed the heck out of this book. It was competently written, and I read it at the right time in my life. Hopefully I'll be following in her high-heeled footsteps soon. ( )

Loved this book. Karen Wheeler makes her move to France seem much easier than it must have been. She does describe the challenges of fixing up an old house, but it is so interspersed with stories about the social life that it seems more romantic than back breaking difficult. She makes me want to move to France myself. I am looking forward to reading the sequels... ( )

I am enjoying travel memoirs more and more lately. I really enjoyed this one. I found the author wrote with a sensuality for life and for home that made me long to have something like that. She really made me want to move to a small cottage in France and just be.

I got sucked into this book early on and I found myself rooting for the characters, hoping she found that one guy who would treat her the way she deserved. One thing I didn't enjoy was the feeling that the book had no peek...just keep waiting for it and then it was over. Was an excellent book and will recommend it to my friends who enjoy this sort of thing. ( )

Tout Sweet: Hanging Up My High Heels for a New Life in France is Karen Wheeler's memoir about giving up city life in London for the French countryside. For many years, Karen had a successful career as a fashion editor. At 35, she had a glamorous life and the perfect man - Eric. But, when talk between them turned to marriage, Eric bolted.

So, a heartbroken Karen decides to give up it all up and move to a small village in France. She buys a house in serious need of renovations. (No indoor bathroom! No kitchen floor!) Along with the house comes an assortment of very colorful neighbors to keep her busy.

Memoirs are not my usual genre of choice, but what drew me to this book was the fantasy of moving someplace new and starting over, and this lucky woman was able to do it. For most people (like me), it's only a dream, so it was fun to live vicariously through Karen. I enjoyed the rich descriptions of the life in her village and its quirky inhabitants.

As much as I liked the subject, I had a difficult time getting into the story. It didn't grab my attention and pick up the pace until half way through. There were some references to British places that were lost on me (Marks & Spencer? I had to google it!) and plenty of French words and phrases, but that didn't bother me too much.

Karen's move to France wasn't just about a change of scenery. It was also about letting go of Eric and moving on from the heartache. It took her a long time to deal with her emotional baggage. One quote from the book that stuck with me was by her friend Dave:

But you have to remember...that you can't run from unhappiness. You just take it with you.

I would recommend this book to fans of chick lit and fans of all things French. I give Tout Sweet 3 out of 5 stars. ( )

After my trip to France this past summer, there isn't much about this book and cover that doesn't appeal to me. There is that certain passion for life in all of its facets that one can readily recognize in the French, and something that is very romantic--on the surface. Don't get me wrong, it is very romantic, but Karen Wheeler's memoir reminds us that there are drafty, run-down homes to be fixed, bug bites to cure (with nary a 24-hour drugstore in sight), and a lack of eligible bachelors to be found. Nonetheless, grabbing at life when she could is an appealing ideal for many readers, including this reader.

One of the things I loved about this memoir was the full disclosure of both Karen's self-possession and Karen's self-doubt. It was an interesting inside view of the person who took the journey. Maybe it was because of this unique inside look into her life that then had me fully vested in finding her true happiness, in whatever way possible. I loved watching her transform her rundown home into something all her own. From stripping floors to sealing and painting walls, it was so engaging to actually follow her process of remaking her little French home into one she could reside in.

One thing that had me on edge for her were the discussions of her romantic relationships. We start the memoir with a gripping heartache that propels her to France, that I think we all hope will be resolved with great friendships--which I'm not sure the assortment of people she meets fit--or with a love interest--which is hard when they have other motivations. Throughout the book she discusses looking for "suitors" in anyone from her neighbor to the baker in town. There does seem to be this build up to a relationship or sorts, only to have it dropped in the course of about three sentences--literally. For me, the build up of friendships and suitors to a startling resolution left me a bit out of sorts. If we were to spend 200+ pages dropping mention of the importance of relationships, I would hope that we would have a balanced explanation of their place in her life by the end.

Karen Wheeler is a marvelous writer, with an ability to recall her own life story in a novel-like fashion. I was so easily sucked in that my care and concern for her could match any fictional character I've been introduced to. Having said that, the philosophical end to the book felt very unsatisfying and left me sad for Karen, and not upbeat about the entire "finding of oneself" and slowing down that I think I was supposed to take away. On the whole, I have been recommending this memoir right and left, in the hopes that I can come to grips with my own reaction to its ending. It's not possible for me to spell out all the details, but I will say that the reality of it cuts through all that feels escapist or romantic. In short, I loved it and I hated it, both at the same time. I can't say that I've responded so strongly to a book in a very long time, and I'm still left trying to grasp how I felt. Honestly, you really have to read it to find out how Karen wrapped up her memoir. For this reader, I'll admit to wishing that maybe (like in my own life) there was just a bit more fiction to finish it off. ( )