Chic-lit Review

Enjoyed the new book-of-a-blog Petite Anglaise by Catherine Sanderson. Probably most people in the blog world know about the English girl who fell in love with Paris and Mr Frog, then had a dear little Tadpole, though her relationship with Mr Frog was floundering in tepid water. Not sure of the timeline but Petite was sacked from her job for blogging, sued her employers and eventually won a year’s salary. Meanwhile she fell in love with an English ex-pat she met through her now very popular blog, so she ditched Mr Frog. Sadly her new relationship didn’t work out either but now she’s met the Boy (suitably French) and they’re getting married. Fortunately she still gets on well with Mr Frog who lives nearby and takes his share of Tadpole rearing. Phew.

Thing about Catherine Sanderson is that she writes well - she's amusing and disarmingly honestly about her life, even though some of the episodes in the book don’t show her in a good light. For me, the blog is more fun than the book as I’m more interested in Paris and Tadpole than I am in Petite’s relationships, though I’m no doubt in a minority there.

Catherine’s relationship with her alter-ego Petite Anglaise is interesting too. Strangers feel they know Petite and constantly advise her, empathise with her or slag her off. Despite not being a WAG, she’s had wonderful media coverage for her book launch - even the FT has reviewed her - and the controversy amongst her readers can only help sales.