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Mistakes Were Made (Some in French)
Mistakes Were Made (Some in French): A Memoir | Fiona Lewis
2 posts | 1 read | 1 to read
Mistakes Were Made is a revealing memoir and unexpected love story from model and actress Fiona Lewis about her journey to self-acceptance as she restores a crumbling French chateau. Alone in the French countryside, Lewis reflects on her glamorous youth across London and Paris in the 60s, Hollywood in the 70s, and the important, sometimes disastrous, choices she made along the way. Having lived a perfectly satisfactory life in California for over two decades, Fiona Lewis wakes up one day in her fifties and asks herself, Is this it? Is this the existence Im meant to have? She can hardly complain. After all, her life has been full of adventure and privilege: London and Paris in the 60s, Los Angeles in the heady 70s. Now, however, she feels lost, as if she were slipping backward over the edge of a ravine, abandoned not only by her old self, but by that reliable standby, optimism. Realizing she has to find a way to reinvent herself, she impulsively buys a rundown chateau in the South of France. (Her husband is not pleased.) Alone in the depths of the countryside, she contemplates her childhood, her affairsRoman Polanski, Roger Vadimher years as an actress in some good and some questionable films, and her first Hollywood marriage to the damaged son of a movie star. As the renovation drags on, fighting with a band of impossible French workmen, she is forced to battle her own fears: her failure to become a real success, her inability to have children, and her persistent fear of aging. And she has to contend with her husband, who has no interest in the French countryside. In fact, he resents her obsession with France, with the house, with the renovations. The house seems to have a hold over her, and hes not wrong. He reluctantly visits and is annoyed by the cost of the renovation. Was she not content with him in LA? Why cant she just be happy? Its an age-old question and one every woman must confront, along with aging, lost love, and missed opportunities. Yet, Fionas wit and wisdom prevail. And this provocative, brave memoir takes a stunning turn when all those unanswered questions develop into a tender and unexpected romance.
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CarolynM
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I don‘t know why this book was lurking on my kindle for years, but I‘m glad that #ReadYourKindle got me to read it. Fiona tells the story of her life, from a middle class English postwar childhood, through modeling & acting in swinging London of the 60s & 70s followed by 20 years in LA as a writer & wife to a movie producer, interspersed with the story of her battles with contractors while renovating a dilapidated chateau in the south of France.

Karisa That title! 😂 Love it! 3mo
Crazeedi Sounds interesting! 3mo
CBee Sounds super interesting 😊 3mo
CarolynM @Karisa I think that maybe why I downloaded it in first place😆 3mo
CarolynM @Crazeedi @CBee It was interesting, but not quite in the way I expected. I was fascinated, and also kind of appalled, by her more than by the events or the people she wrote about. 3mo
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CarolynM
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Here are my #readyourkindle February 4. I‘ve already stated on the tagged book. Thanks @CBee

CBee Looks great and you‘re welcome ♥️ 3mo
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