Home Again in Paris: Oscar, Leo and Me

Matthew Fraser never imagined that one day he would find himself living in Paris again. France was part of his past, not his future. But following the sudden death of his wife, he moved back to France -- this time with his two bichons, Oscar and Leo, and no idea what lay ahead.

After taking a flat in Paris’ posh 7th arrondissement – “Poodleland” – it doesn’t take long for him to realise that something has changed. The France he is rediscovering in his mid-forties isn’t the same country he had known twenty-five years earlier. Parisians seem different. There is a gloomy malaise hanging in the air. The famous French “joie de vivre” seems to have evaporated. Or perhaps it’s the author who has changed?

Home Again in Paris is a lively, insightful, and poignant memoir that follows the author’s readjustment to life in Paris as he finds himself regarding familiar places with unfamiliar emotions, looking at everything around him with different eyes. The stars of the book are Oscar and Leo — and the story takes an unexpected turn when one of them falls gravely ill. The book is both an inspirational personal journey and a portrait of daily life in the France of myth and reality. Combining observation, anecdote, and a cast of colourful characters, the story takes the reader on an eye-opening adventure into the French soul. Above all, it’s a book about faith, hope, and the meaning of home.