Returning to the Parisian suburb of Le Vesinet to make peace with her childhood, during which wonder gave way to anxiety and deep depression, the author, through a series of essays, reveals how the magic of seemingly ordinary objects helped her survive when she felt like she was losing control.

"At age 40, Samantha Vérant's life is falling apart. Then one day she finds 7 old love letters written by Jean-Luc, the sexy French scientist she met in Paris when she was 19. She tracks him down online, and what starts out as flirty e-mails transforms into pure romance as Samantha visits France to see Jean-Luc for the first time in 20 years. Reunited with her lost love in Paris, Samantha realizes that she has finally found what she was looking for...

"In the early 1960s, most middle-class American women in their twenties had their lives laid out for them: marriage, children, and life in the suburbs. Most, but not all. Breathless is the story of a girl who represents those who rebelled against conventional expectations. Paris was a magnet for those eager to resist domesticity, and like many young women of the decade, Nancy K. Miller was enamored of everything French--from perfume and Hermès scarves...

"As a young woman Kate Betts nursed a dream of striking out on her own and discovering who she was meant to be in Paris. Upon graduation from Princeton and not without trepidation, she took off, renting a room in the apartment of a young 'BCBG' family and throwing herself into Parisian culture, determined to master French slang, style, and savoir-faire, and find a job that would give her a reason to stay. After a series of dues-paying jobs, she began...