Kindle Price: $9.99

Save $6.00 (38%)

Promotions apply when you purchase

These promotions will be applied to this item:

Some promotions may be combined; others are not eligible to be combined with other offers. For details, please see the Terms & Conditions associated with these promotions.

Read with our free app
You've subscribed to ! We will preorder your items within 24 hours of when they become available. When new books are released, we'll charge your default payment method for the lowest price available during the pre-order period.
Update your device or payment method, cancel individual pre-orders or your subscription at
Your Memberships & Subscriptions

Buy for others

Give as a gift or purchase for a team or group.
Learn more

Buying and sending eBooks to others

  1. Select quantity
  2. Buy and send eBooks
  3. Recipients can read on any device

These ebooks can only be redeemed by recipients in the US. Redemption links and eBooks cannot be resold.
Kindle app logo image

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

QR code to download the Kindle App

Amazon book clubs early access
Loading your book clubs
There was a problem loading your book clubs. Please try again.
Not in a club? Learn more
Amazon book clubs early access

Join or create book clubs

Choose books together

Track your books
Bring your club to Amazon Book Clubs, start a new book club and invite your friends to join, or find a club that’s right for you for free.
Explore Amazon Book Clubs

Follow the author

Samantha Verant
Follow
Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.

How to Make a French Family: A Memoir of Love, Food, and Faux Pas Kindle Edition

by Samantha Vérant (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 339 ratings
See all formats and editions

Say bonjour to a whole new way of life!

Take one French widower, his two young children, and drop a former city girl from Chicago into a small town in southwestern France. Shake vigorously... and voilá: a blended Franco-American family whose lives will all drastically change.

Floating on a cloud of newlywed bliss, Samantha couldn't wait to move to France to begin her life with her new husband, Jean-Luc, and his kids. But almost from the moment the plane touches down, Samantha realizes that there are a lot of things about her new home—including flea-ridden cats, grumpy teenagers, and language barriers—that she hadn't counted on.

Struggling to feel at home and wondering when exactly her French fairy tale is going to start, Samantha isn't sure if she really has what it takes to make it in la belle France. But when a second chance at life and love is on the line, giving up isn't an option. How to Make a French Family is the heartwarming and sometimes hilarious story of the culture clashes and faux pas that , in the end, add up to one happy family.

Previous page
  1. Print length
    338 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publisher
    Sourcebooks
  5. Publication date
    April 4, 2017
  6. File size
    1384 KB
  7. Page Flip
    Enabled
  8. Word Wise
    Enabled
  9. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  10. See all details
Next page
Add a debit or credit card to save time when you check out
Convenient and secure with 2 clicks. Add your card

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Samantha Vérant dishes up a funny and tender memoir in How to Make a French Family. The setup is pure fairy tale but the tale’s power is in the ever-after. Vérant’s story is genuine, romantic, sometimes heartbreaking, and, in the end, as wonderfully satisfying and rich as the French cuisine detailed on its pages." ― Michelle Gable, New York Times bestselling author of A Paris Apartment and I'll See You in Paris

"An honest, heartwarming―and at times―heartbreaking account of the struggles that occur when you dare to make your dreams come true." ― Janice MacLeod, author of New York Times bestseller Paris Letters

"Love has no boundaries in Samantha Verant's honest and courageous memoir about leaving it all behind to marry her French husband. How to Make a French Family is a testament to her perseverance to adapt to a new life in Southwest France. In the tradition of Seven Letters from Paris, readers will laugh, cry, and cheer for Verant until the final page." ― Susan Blumberg-Kason, author of Good Chinese Wife

"Verant combines one part second chance at romance, on part travelogue, and nearly three dozen recipes in this heartfelt account of how she reconnected with a lover 20 years after their affair and started life over in France with an instant family. " ― Publishers Weekly

"Like its author, Samantha Verant's new book is sweet and sassy, told from the heart. Her story of creating a new family and becoming a different kind of mom is brave and vulnerable. A tale of what happens when we go looking for our best lives and best selves." ― Elizabeth Bard, New York Times bestselling author of Lunch in Paris and Picnic in Provence

"How To Make A French Family shares the ups and downs, good, bad and funny moments of building a new life and family in France, never letting us forget that in the end, love saves the day." ― Kristen Beddard, author of Bonjour Kale

"A charming and insightful memoir about what follows happily ever after. The fact that Samantha’s quest to create a new family is set in France (and filled with recipes) makes it all the more delicious!" ― Jennifer Coburn, author of We’ll Always Have Paris

"...charming and witty....Verant’s memoir touches on universal, real-life themes, like love, loss, and family, while mixing in plenty of delicious French flavors (and actual recipes) that make for a tasty read that’s true to the heart. " ― Booklist

About the Author

Samantha Vérant is a travel addict, a self-professed oenophile, and a determined, if occasionally unconventional, French chef. She lives in southwestern France, where she’s able to explore all of her passions, and where she’s married to a sexy French rocket scientist she met in 1989, but ignored for twenty years.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B01N43VLOP
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Sourcebooks (April 4, 2017)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ April 4, 2017
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 1384 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 338 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 339 ratings

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Samantha Verant

Samantha Verant

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Samantha Vérant is a travel addict, a self-professed oenophile, and a determined, if occasionally unconventional, at home French chef. She lives in southwestern France, where she's able to explore all of her passions, and where she's married to a sexy French rocket scientist she met in 1989, but ignored for twenty years.

Customer reviews

4.1 out of 5 stars
4.1 out of 5
339 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Leslie M. Ficcaglia
5.0 out of 5 stars A Wonderful Followup to Her First Book!
Reviewed in the United States on April 4, 2017
Verified Purchase
I just finished reading Samantha Vérant’s “How to Make a French Family” and enjoyed it even more than I did her first book, “Seven Letters from Paris: A Memoir.” She is an excellent writer and shares her experiences with humor and with insight. The warmth of her personality comes through even better in this sequel, and her descriptions of her new life in France with her French husband and his two children are fascinating; they answered the questions I had been left with after closing the covers of her first book. Vérant is frank in her discussions of the major adjustments she had to make: new husband, new adolescent children, new country, and a new language. Although she had taken French in school many years prior, it didn’t prepare her for the challenges of speaking it every day in all of her interactions with friends, neighbors, tradespeople, and new family members. Her learning curve was steep, but she persevered and won through.

Equally the cultural differences were a hurdle, and for a while she felt isolated despite the support of her children and her husband. The turning point happened when she reached out and developed a small group of fellow expats, several of whom also had French spouses. Together they were able to compare experiences and to recognize that what they were feeling was totally normal, and to move forward with each other’s help.

I very much admired Vérant’s ability to cope, to see situations from all angles, to reach out to her step-children and empathize with them, and to rise to the challenges she faced as she came to feel fully comfortable and at home with her new family.

Disclaimer: I was given an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
14 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
H. Bell
4.0 out of 5 stars Lovely engaging story!
Reviewed in the United States on May 8, 2017
Verified Purchase
I really liked this book and read it cover to cover in a day! There are a handful of delicious looking recipes at the end of each section but it's not too many which is good because after all, it's not a cookbook. It feels fresh and breezy, like an easy conversation with a new friend. She makes the scenery come to life, I feel like I've been to France and back. Samantha seems like someone who strives to be a very positive person. Overall the book has a light-hearted feel and even the difficult experiences are framed in a positive way; no "poor me" syndrome here. I recommend it and will share it with friends.
2 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Mimi 5000
5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful and Heartwarming
Reviewed in the United States on April 19, 2017
Verified Purchase
Beautiful, heartwarming story that shows both sides of the coin: Samantha had a second chance at life and love when she reconnected with sexy man extraordinaire (and rocket scientist to boot!) Jean Luc, 20 years after first meeting him in Paris when she was a college student in the late 1980's. Most romance stories are wrapped up with an "And they lived happily ever after" ending, which, although mostly satisfying, can also feel very incomplete.

In How To Make a French Family, Samantha tells us about her trials and tribulations as she dealt with culture shock when she moved from Los Angeles to rural France; the frustrations that came with having to learn a new language, dealing with immigration paperwork, being so far away from her family, becoming an instant stepmother (including to a moody teenager), making new friends on the other side of the world, and dealing with heartbreak within the confines of an otherwise happy life (spoiler alert: she had several miscarriages. And I'm not stating so here to ruin the story for you; but because it has happened to many women who might find solace and comfort reading about somebody else who've also experienced it).

The road to happiness is seldom a straight line. Sam shows us how she took each sudden turn and rocky patch with grace; and how, even when things got tough, being surrounded by love made everything better.

With this book, you will laugh out loud, you will cry, you will learn about southwestern France, and you will get a long list of amazing recipes. I highly recommend this book to any francophile, or to anyone who loves chick lit or memoirs; and definitely to anyone who loves to cook fancy dishes.
9 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
ddtsn
3.0 out of 5 stars Continuation
Reviewed in the United States on January 17, 2023
Verified Purchase
I loved Seven Letters to Paris and after seeing all the rave reviews of her continuation, I decided to see the story through. To be honest, I felt like she complained a lot in this book and I found it difficult to turn the pages. Though it completes the authors story, I’d say it’s not a must read.
Helpful
 Report
Nanette L. Stearns
4.0 out of 5 stars Delightful sequel to Seven Letters from Paris
Reviewed in the United States on April 19, 2017
Verified Purchase
Delicious recipes accompany this memoir about Samantha's adjustment to her new French family. Becoming a step mother, learning to live in a new country, and surviving home remodeling are all part of this entertaining story.
2 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
LizzieHBooks Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful book!
Reviewed in the United States on April 4, 2017
Verified Purchase
I was sent an ARC by Net Galley in advance of Samantha Vérant's new memoir launch in April 2017.

Loved this so much I bought my own copy. It's beautifully honest and makes you want to track down the author and give her a big hug. Samantha Vérant's first memoir, SEVEN LETTERS FROM PARIS left us feeling a teensy bit envious of her new-found love in France with the guy of her dreams... well the dream gets real real quick in this sequel. Yet it is a story chock full of warmth, humor, love, light as well as some extremely sad moments... and I didn't want it to end. It brought me to tears yet left me with tons of delicious-sounding recipes. There were family parties and some family devastation... and a lot of fleas.

A wonderful gift of a book that is both life-affirming and down-to-earth.

Please keep writing what is in your heart because it's as bitter-yet-sweet as cherry clafoutis and as warming as boeuf bourguignon.
11 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Swissmiss
5.0 out of 5 stars Stunning and magical
Reviewed in the United States on April 6, 2017
Verified Purchase
I read Samantha's first book and truly loved it. It was fun and often funny, very uplifting and inspiring. At times, I felt like I was reading the letters of a good friend, the writing was that personal. But this second book is stunning. Samantha has revealed to her readers even more of not only herself, but also her struggles in adjusting to life in a new country with an instant family and learning the language. There were times that my eyes filled with tears (no spoilers from me though!) for them. The book was great, I didn't want it to end. Now we just have to wait for the next installment!
4 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report

Top reviews from other countries

Translate all reviews to English
Joan Fraser
5.0 out of 5 stars Continuing a love story memoir
Reviewed in Canada on May 9, 2017
Verified Purchase
A lovely book. Recipes are great I'm continuing to make them . I bought this after reading Seven Ketters from Paris by Samantha Verant. It didn't disappoint.
Report
Anonymous User
5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderfully charming follow up to Seven Letters From Paris.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 17, 2019
Verified Purchase
The worst thing of, "Seven Letters From Paris," is that it ended! I was desperate to know more, and luckily, "How to Make a French Family," picks up where "Seven Letters" left off. I agree with the other reviews say this book works as a standalone book, but I really do think it's a great companion and follow up to the first, so if you haven't bought "Seven Letters" yet, get to it!

I love Samantha's writing style - the paragraphs and pages flow so effortlessly. It's wonderfully charming, bittersweet, and oh so funny! If you don't find yourself laughing out loud on multiple occasions, I think you should go see a doctor. Though definitely not a French one.
Report
Elizabeth Moore
5.0 out of 5 stars A Beautiful Read
Reviewed in Australia on September 10, 2019
Verified Purchase
Admit it, I love memoirs. I especially love stories about settling in a new country. If it's France, even better and if there's romance involved then that's a perfect recipe for me. However this book adds a splash of potential step-mother issues, several ounces of foreign country blues, a small, sad measure of loss and grief, some heaped spoons of new friendships and a generous cup of family love. Yes it's a book on how to make a French family, but the delightful bonus is that the author is more than generous with her inclusion of some of her delicious recipes. I loved every page!
Report
J. Hua
4.0 out of 5 stars Vous vous êtes mariées avec un français ? Ce livre est pour vous !
Reviewed in France on April 27, 2019
Verified Purchase
Écrit très simplement et honnêtement, on a l'impression de lire le journal intime de l'auteur. J'ai aimé le concept de mélanger des recettes avec des anecdotes.
Report
J. Desiree Shotland
5.0 out of 5 stars Loved every minute of this book ,,,,,,,
Reviewed in Australia on November 12, 2017
Verified Purchase
Of course I did having gone through almost identical emotions from my emigration to France with no family there for support and only two girlfriends who invested I got there decided our friendships were a done thing so I progressed on my own with one girlfriend who was older and wiser whom I’d known before from a meeting in the south western part of France many years before at a wedding we’d all attended and to this day are still my friends
Report
Report an issue

Does this item contain inappropriate content?
Report
Do you believe that this item violates a copyright?
Report
Does this item contain quality or formatting issues?
Report