An Englishman Amoureux

The third instalment of Michael Sadler's unique take on being an Englishman in France -- and this time it's personal . . .

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Love in deepest France . . .

After the romantic encounter in the Loire Valley bathroom at the end of AN ENGLISHMAN A LA CAMPAGNE Sadler dumps the University of Swindon and returns to France intent on winning the heart of Lou Charpin, his belle française. Easier said than done. Unsure of his credentials he decides to woo her family at the same time . . . playing Scrabble with the fiesty, Craven A-smoking grandmother; lending his farmhouse to his future chaud lapin (hot rabbit?) of a brother-in-law; explaining King Lear to an adolescent more intent on sowing birdseed in his window boxes; surviving a Greek Tragedy-style family Christmas, at which he foolishly translates jokes from crackers, and - le comble de l'arrogance - weening Lou Charpin away from her French copain, a plutocratic optician who is less than appreciative of rivalry from the barbaric north . . .

How do you love à la française? Are they better at it than us? That is the question. Sadler watches the late-night movie - an erotic encounter between a luscious cleaning lady and a Parisian dermatologist - and takes copious notes. After the Latin lover is it now the moment for the 'rosbif' Romeo? In AN ENGLISHMAN AMOUREUX, all is revealed.