This was especially true with regard to my host au pair family. My diary offered a great outline, but I realized early on that I would have to change the names of people and places in my story to protect identities.

I have to admit writing my memoir was more complex than I initially imagined it would be.Can you tell us about some of the difficulties you experienced writing your memoir?.An impulsive young American pretends to speak French to acquire an au pair job in the Loire Valley and her unforgiving employer’s demands escalate to the breaking point when she attends classes and discovers romance in a nearby town.Can you give us a short description of your memoir, French Illusions: My Story as an American Au Pair in the Loire Valley?.Join Linda on her adventure of discovery and romance in an extraordinary part of the world. When Linda attends language classes at a local university, she encounters, Adam, a handsome young student, and her life with the family becomes more complicated, adding fuel to her internal battle for independence. This book captures Linda’s real-life story inside and outside the Chateau de Montclair, detailing her challenges and triumphs as she tries to adjust to her new life with the hard-to-please Madame Dubois, her husband, and their two incomprehensible children. In order to secure the nanny position, she lies on her application and pretends to speak French, confident she’ll be forgiven once she arrives at her destination. Twenty-one-year-old Linda Kovic needs to learn a language fast in order to fulfill her dream of becoming a flight attendant, so she contracts to become an au pair for a wealthy family in the Loire Valley. French Illusions: My Story as an American Au Pair in the Loire Valley is the first of two books based on my diaries from 19.

French Illusions by Linda Kovic-Skow