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.

France, writers, memories, family, toddler, language-issues, verbal-humor, situational-humor****

A year in the life of a small family in 1985/6 on the French Riviera. Enjoy the antics of the ancient stove, trying to find a washeteria, dealing with name droppers, chasing a toddler, writing another successful novel, and a whole lot more. Very entertaining and not a dead body anywhere!
I requested and received an EARC from Book Whisperer via NetGalley. Thanks!

I really liked this book. Which is surprising as I usually cannot get into memoirs, no matter how well written. The way the author tells the stories are like you are sitting with him over a meal. The situations him and his wife find themselves are unexpected. And funny!! I feel like I was there! Thanks to Netgalley for the chance to read the ARC. I definitely recommend!

This was very different to what i usually read as it is a memoir but what caught my attention initially was the traveling aspect of the book. I enjoy reading about different countries and their various cultures so this was an interesting read for me to live vicariously through the author’s experiences.

I have never read a memoir in my life and decided to try this one out!! It was an enjoyable read but not enough for me to fall in love with it. Very different to what I read in general!! Money can’t buy happiness and I gotta include that in my own life!!!

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC of ‘Once Upon a Villa’ by Andrew Kaplan.

The memoir was different than other memoirs I have read! The main focus was on his family and him living aboard and how they navigated their life there. Throughout the memoir I appreciated the honesty the author incorporated about obstacles they faced living aboard and the ups they had there.

Enjoyable read as I got a chance to view life abroad through the eyes of another. I got to take my virtual vacation while I was actually on vacation myself.

“Once Upon a Villa” by Andrew Kaplan captures the time (year?) that his family (wife, child, and himself) spent living in the French Riviera during the 1980s. While reading this book, Mr. Kaplan was also writing his third novel - so discussions about characters and plot were dropped in, too. I found this memoir, especially toward the beginning, to be rather good - it mentioned struggles about moving to a foreign country, meeting new people, finding ones way around a new area - including adjusting to the European way of shopping (this was pre-Tesco-like stores), and - of course - speaking a foreign language. As the book went on, however, I found myself losing interest in the name dropping and their very rich friends. Granted, the French Riviera is where the rich and well-known go - so I’m not faulting Mr. Kaplan for including the names and their friends’ situations. I would’ve liked an update (or maybe post-script?) about how Mr. Kaplan’s life was going - even if it was a few months after their time in France/Monaco - did they return to California, how’d the book deal go, were they still in touch with their friends? I know this book was different (memoir) from what he usually writes (thriller), so I applaud him for writing a different style - I just wish the last few chapters had held my interest as much as the beginning did.

Not usually the kind of book I read, but wanted to try something different.
A fun, interesting read nonetheless!

Gave this book a 4 - star because it’s not my cup of tea but it could be someone’s cup of tea…

Good message gleaned, money doesn’t buy happiness.