Andrew Kaplan's "Once Upon a Villa" is as a gust of fresh air in the expatriate writer genre that frequently seems like a case of déjà vu with different covers.

Set against the mid-1980s backdrop of the French Riviera, this narrative goes beyond the usual self-discovery trope. Kaplan, with his wife and new child, departs the U.S. for France with 17 suitcases, leaving behind their familiar lives. Rather than succumbing to the clichés of bureaucratic red tape or painting a broad stroke of French society as universally snobbish and lazy, Kaplan takes a refreshingly nuanced approach. He steers away from stereotypes and instead highlighting the genuine warmth and charm that define his newly adopted home.

The author's accounts of the writing process, interspersed with anecdotes that give the story its (situational) humor, made me feel as though I had been lent the very eyes writing. From 12-hour Sunday lunches to day trips, nights out with friends, and even a round of roulette at the renowned Monte Carlo casino, the memoir presents a unique blend. While offering a taste of glitzy escapism, the memoir also gently highlights humanity. I felt like a silent observer during the Kaplan family's sabbatical It felt like finding the one croissant in a bakery full of baguettes—distinct, indulgent, and a delightful departure from the norm.

A thoroughly enjoyable work! On the first page, I became aware of the quality of writing that draws one in with smoothness and humour. I was ignorant of Kaplan's work - I am not a crime thriller reader, and do enjoy going into NetGalley suggestions with no author background- so the surety of the writing was a pleasant surprise to me.

The lightness of the writing was perfect with the glamour of the setting and characterization. The fact that this was a memoir was even better. Reading this book was like taking a trip to the coast of France itself. For a fan of writing about this area (the Murphys, the Fitzgeralds, the Hemingways), it was pure nostalgia.

The tale of Kaplan's young family and their difficulties as well as joys, was well drawn, and realistic. Once Upon a Villa is definitely on my list for gifts to all that love the Riviera, if only from afar!

Many thanks to NetGalley and BookWhisperer for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is my first book by Mr Kaplan, and I enjoyed everything about it very much. First and foremost
it’s hilarious, possibly without intending to be, which makes it funnier. I enjoyed all of the settings
from Southern California to countries and villages in Europe. For those who are familiar with the
publishing industry there is plenty to drive the story, and there are some shocking surprises around
every corner. There are a couple of moments of sadness, however, the Author does a masterful job
with the events and the aftermath, bringing us back to the general levity of this story.
Imagine, if you will, deciding to pack up life, which includes a toddler, to relocate to the UK. WHY?
To get your novel kickstarted, to make big money on your as of yet, mostly unwritten book…for which
you have have been paid… For a lot of people, the moment you say, “toddler,” you have a
problem! However, this little guy is a gem. And the same folks might blanch hearing about the
hassles involved in simply finding a place to live in Italy, or France. I, on the other hand, enjoyed
every page of the fabulous experiences our friends had in each place they called home for a few
months at a time.
I highly recommend this book.! My thanks to Smugglers Lane Press for a download copy of this
book for review purposes.

Adventures on the French Riviera

This is a LOL hilariously funny true account written by Andrew Kaplan telling us what it was like when he, his wife and two year-old son decided to leave everything behind and live the fantasy life on the Cote d’Azur. In the French Riviera the Kaplan matched wits with French bureaucrats, searched for the perfect French cuisine, met with con men, eccentric ex-pats, Monaco’s royals, attended Onassis’ parties, made friends with a police chef and had adventures with the rich and famous.....as the story goes....pour yourself a glass of wine and enjoy this wise, warm and witty story.

For most parts I loved this account. It is written to bring us into his world and makes us feel we are sharing a meal, paying at the casino, partying with the rich and famous along with him. Also interesting is the journey getting to the Riviera and the struggles to find housing and trying to fit in. The Kaplan did well and even managed to rent Roman Polanski’s estate. Of course being in France it is inevitable the French language is spoken and Mr. Kaplan makes great use of his knowledge and seasoned his thoughts throughout with words and long sentences. If you know some French, you will feel right at home.

It is evident that rubbing shoulders with the upper class Mr. Kaplan is well-off and is used to the finer things. But ¾ into, I lost interest in the excessive partying, drinking, eating, and the name dropping of designer clothes and of famous people.....enough was enough. Mr Kaplan is clever, along the way why not promote his other books and he did so with finesse simply slide this in during a conversation....Ok...I am interested.

The author touches panoply of subject that happened during his stay that brought back events that happened a long time ago: ex. the Challenger disaster and Chernobyl and the bombing of Libya. He expresses mostly the widespread sympathy from people around him.

It is a good book although the beginning was by far much more captivating then the last ¼.

Memoirs of this type are not my usual read, but I was intrigued by the location. It was interesting read about experiences that I will surely never have, but definitely added some places to my travel wish list.

An unfortunate accident turned into a life changing decision. A writer decides to move his wife and son from California to Western Europe. As he writes his book, he has to deal with life and all the fun things it throws at us. He needs to learn the local languages, find somewhere to live, obtain citizenship, and mingle with the town locals. With seemingly everyone they meet being rich, famous, or both, they struggle to find their place. Each situation somehow helps to propel the writer further I to his story. Luckily, he finishes the book before he runs out of money, but new problems need to be solved.

Andrew Kaplan is a writer of spy novels. He and his wife and son spent almost a year on the French Riviera in 1986, where he went to write a book that became Dragonfire.
There are many interesting points of view in this memoir.
First, it is a look at how a writer writes. I found those parts so interesting. Following his mind as he thought out how to write the book, has me ready to find it and read it.
Second, and with full disclosure, I know Andrew, his wife and son, so seeing their exciting life on the Riviera was so much fun for me. The humor in just was so adorable.
The life they lived on the Cote D'Azure as well as in Monaco seems like a dream to me. Reading of their time there did make me realize that as a picky eater, I would not have made it through many of the meals they ate!
There is a lot of history mentioned in the book that brought back many memories for me, the Challenger disaster, Chernobyl, the bombing of Libya, and more.
There is fun and there are sad times .
I think my favorite part was a trip they took to Venice, which brought back more memories for me about my trip to Venice.
For anyone longing for a trip to France, to Nice, to the French Riviera, this book will perhaps give you a little idea of what it could be like.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my EARC . This is my honest review, and I highly recommend it.

This was a fun book. If you're thinking, hasn't the moving-the-family-to-the-south-of-France thing been done, well yes, it has. But this is different from books like "A Year in Provence."

In "Once Upon a Villa," we join the author, his wife and their young son as they move to the south of France and deal with both run-of-the-mill locals and some very rich and powerful folks. While the author's writing career hadn't really hit its stride yet, he wasn't an unknown, either. His contacts and their contacts opened doors for the Kaplan family, and we get to go along for the ride, often moving in very high social circles.

There are issues along the way, from housing issues to medical ones, but overall these folks land on their feet and then some. They're not everyday Americans, but that's fine. They make no pretense of being just regular folks.

As the author and his son, Justin, share towards the end of the book,
"That was fun, wasn't it Dad?"
"Yeah, it was great. Never miss a chance to have fun, Justin."
"We're good at it, aren't we Daddy?"
"You know, I think we are."

So this is a life of some privilege, and maybe the fun the author and his son have aren't the same as what most of us may encounter, but the message remains good. So since this book is fun, I say go for it. You'll enjoy it!

This was a fascinating books as I watched the process the author went through while writing his book. I envied him being able to pack his family up and move to the South of France to be able to do that. He talked about times being hard and money being "tight", but I had a hard time relating to that as they partied on yachts, in villas, traveled throughout Italy and Monaco. The wine and eating out expenses alone, must have been enormous on a daily basis.
Never the less, the novel was an interesting travelogue of interesting places, famous people and a quick look at the life of the wealthy. I'm not sorry I read it.

I liked this book, but I did not love it. I thought it would be more "funny" than it was. Yes, they had some funny moments in their move, but the rest of it felt more like normal acclimation to a new country. I did like it, I just didn't love it.

While writing his next book the writer Andrew Kaplan moves for about a year to the South of France, the famous Cote d’Azur, with his wife and toddler. Through connections, the couple meets very famous people and all types of jet-setters. In addition, no cliché is left for the French people which does not conform to reality. While some anecdotes are funny and entertaining, the repeat name-dropping and unrealistic Dolce vita is boring after a while. It is a pity as this year in France could have been so much more entertaining and realistic.

Day to day life of an American couple with a young son....but in the south of France circa 1985. An ancient exploding oven, language barriers, daily chores and grocery shopping in a different environment.....along side parties on millionaire yachts. The contrasts are staggering. What amazed me was the amount of eating out done by the Kaplan's on what was a tight budget.
Andy is trying to write his latest best seller but it would seem social commitments are relentless, once the friendships have been made with other expats living on the French Riviera. Meanwhile Ann is left to juggle domestic life.....she definately had the most challenging role.
I enjoyed reading of the trials and tribulations more than the social outings, except when they included celebrity encounters and funny situations. This is memoir....not a Hello magazine article.
I was in Monaco in 1989, as a tourist, so it was nice to have a glimpse of what went on behind the doors I had access too.
Thanks to NetGalley, Andrew Kaplan and Book Whisperer for my copy.

I really. enjoyed Andrew Kaplan's memoir "Once Upon a Villa: Adventures on the French Riviera." In this book we follow Kaplan's family's journey to the French Riviera to live in a "billionaires' playground." We follow their integration in society, housing and the culture. It is quite obvious Kaplan is well off, which is both an interesting dynamic, but also un-relatable to most audiences. I wish there had been more depth on their return journey, but I did enjoy seeing the French Riviera through his eyes and found myself smiling and laughing as I shared in his experiences.

Thank you to NetGalley and Smugglers Lane Press for the ARC.

I couldn't put this book down. I was fascinated by the location, the experiences, the people, and the details of events from my childhood viewed through a different lens (like the Challenger explosion). I felt like I was Andy's friend (so delightful!) and didn't want the story to end. I hope Andy is writing biographical books about other times in his life. I want to read them! It also made me want to read Dragonfire, after reading so much about the writing process behind it.

Read this now!
Once Upon a Villa is a charming memoir overflowing with notable names, tasty wines, fabulous food and interesting ex-pats. The ingredients all contribute to a totally enjoyable window into life on the Cote d’Azur in the mid-1980’s!

Reminiscent of Peter Mayle’s memoirs of life in Provence, the reader is spirited across the water to a most entertaining adventure in southern France.

Andrew Kaplan is a superb storyteller with a gift for sharing the everyday life activities in France of himself, his wife and 2 year old son and you are right there with them!

I wholeheartedly recommend this memoir! You are guaranteed a fascinating escape to the French Riviera.

Thank you to NetGalley for the complimentary eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

I found this to actually be two books in one. The first, the journey to the French Riviera and the struggles to find housing and adapt, was very interesting. It's an unusual travel memoir, written by someone who is obviously well-off and used to the finer things in life. I enjoyed this part of the book.
The second part, I found rather distasteful. The name-dropping, the excessive partying and constant social climbing. The cluelessness of the author's wife wanting to spend, spend, spend. Thousands of dollars to go to a social function, plus thousands more for a designer dress and new jewels? Rather annoying.
I found the author to be quite interesting. I think I will give his other books, thriller/spy stories, a try. However, I just couldn't relate to the excesses of high society.
Finally, the book just kind of ends abruptly. How did they reintegrate into the United States? Did they go back to France? So many questions left unanswered.

Once Upon a Villa review – an expatriate memoir that avoids clichés

The glut of formulaic stories about foreigners reinventing themselves in France left me wary of another entry in the genre, Andrew Kaplan’s “Once Upon a Villa.” But his memoir pleasantly surprised for dodging well-worn tropes. Beyond the picturesque 1980s Riviera setting and brushes with celebrities like Onassis, Kaplan crafts a nuanced tale about the promises and pitfalls of uprooting for unfamiliar shores.

While affectionately skewering bureaucratic headaches in his adopted homeland, Kaplan resists smug generalizations about lazy, arrogant French. He praises their talent for “living” – lengthy convivial meals where conversation flows effortlessly. Yet he questions any facile divide between surface-oriented Americans versus philosophical continentals. When the Challenger disaster elicits widespread French grief over lost American lives, it underscores our common humanity despite cultural differences.

Kaplan probes knotty questions about what constitutes living fully without offering pat answers. Do we achieve it through material success or slowing down to savor life’s sensual pleasures? While exposing certain compatriots’ ugliest excesses abroad, from drug abuse to infidelity, his tone remains generous. Ultimately this memoir examines how brief moments of connection can enlighten entire lives.

Eschewing nostalgic escapism, Kaplan acknowledges the era’s Reagan-era nationalism yet turns a candid eye on uglier American tendencies. His luminous prose and empathic insight make for a rewarding portrait of complex lives. Rather than longing for a vanished past, “Once Upon a Villa” urges rediscovering those fleeting moments of wonder that make existence magical.

I liked the premise of the book: a writer and his family relocate to France to write a novel, sharing their real life adventures in the various small towns along the way. Half way through, all the little towns, streets, shops, restaurants and characters they met started running together.

Have you seen the James Bond film "Goldeneye'? Did you know that the author Andrew Kaplan is the writer behind this? I didn't. But now I do. Because I just finished his memoir, "Once Upon a Villa," and it was fantastic.

I may have misled you a little - the memoir doesn't have anything to do with James Bond, well, except for the fact it does take place on the French Riviera, which we all know is a favorite place for Bond to dazzle women and evade criminals.

In this adventurous, witty, and unique memoir, Andrew (or Andy, or André, depending where he is) and his wife Anne (plus their toddler, Justin) have decided to sell their house in LA and move to the south of France so that he can write his latest spy thriller. They live in rented homes in various villages in southern France, plus an apartment in Monaco, and quickly make friends with all sorts of intriguing people, including millionaires with yachts and even Princess Caroline herself.

This memoir is an exceptional example of great storytelling. I found myself pulling the old "just one more chapter" late at night, interested to see what would happen next. And as a former student of French, I was pleased that I knew about 90% of the written French sprinkled throughout the dialogue the book! (If you don't read French, don't let this daunt you: most of the French can be interpreted in context, or, the author will include the definition for you in parentheses. Plus, if you are reading on a Kindle, you can always highlight the word or phrase for a translation). I found the intermittent use of French in the recounted conversations to really immerse me in the setting. It made me feel more like I was there.

I also enjoyed reading about the author's experience of writing his book, which is interspersed with stories of their social life - their 12-hour Sunday lunches with friends, day trips, nights out with friends, and even a round of roulette at the famous Monte Carlo casino. I read a lot of memoirs, but can't say I've read one like this, which made me happy! I love finding a great story that captivates me, and bonus if it's one I can learn from. I felt like I was a fly on the wall during their 18 ish months in Europe, except I regretfully didn't get to enjoy any of the wine or food. I appreciated the subtle way I learned small tidbits about French food and culture while reading.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an ARC of this book and provide my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Once upon a Villa is a memoir about the time that Andrew Kaplan, his wife, and two year old son spent living on the French Riviera. They left the real world to live a fantasy life while he was writing his book. Although he spent plenty of time writing, they also got to know, and mingled with, billionaires, royalty and bureaucrats, as well as the international jet set. They were guests at their villas, partier, farmhouses, and yachts. They were taken to to best restaurants and pubs, and became well known by the chefs, bartenders, and waiters.

I found myself being envious of the life they were leading. At times I wanted to smack his wife for feeling so entitled, not caring about how much money they were spending even though their funds were limited. Perhaps when you start living that lifestyle you cannot stop and begin to feel a part of it.

When I first started reading this, I felt that this was not a real life, that people really didn’t live like this. How could the ordinary person ever fit in. But as I realized, anything is possible. I laughed at parts, wanted to cry at others, and held my breath towards the end. Thank you Net Galley for giving me the chance to read this advanced copy of Once Upon A Villa.