The Pleasing Hour
by Lily King
Rosie goes to Paris to be an au pair. Her baggage includes a motherless childhood and a teen pregnancy deliberately and secretly planned in order to give her barren sister a much-desired child. Being an au pair in Paris follows the delivery of the baby and is designed to separate herself from the baby she cannot acknowledge.
Rosie settles into her role as an au pair with the Tivot family, Nicole and Marc and their three children. We learn the history of each of the family members in great detail. Near the end of that year, the family takes a vacation to Spain and there Rosie shines in her ability to communicate in Spanish. It is there, however, that she has an affair with Marc Tivot – father, husband, and stereotypical Frenchman.
During the year, Rosie receives letters, presumably from her sister, that she tucks away unopened. Some are so thick they are taped closed. At the end of the book (and the end of her year in Paris), Rosie decides it is time to read the letters. In those letters is the story, the untold story that should have been this book.
Littered with French dialogue and then Spanish dialogue, these inane conversations are without translation and without purpose. As Ms. King’s first novel, Barnes & Noble gave this book its Discover award. It was also cited as a New York Times Notable Book. I give myself an award for reading to the end.
As I See It 