As I read this book, I often wondered if the author was horribly hungry as she wrote. The food descriptions were so vivid - I could almost smell and taste them. This was a surprise, as I hadn't expected the focus on food to be so intense.

Food does play a part in the narrator's (Melissa - the American au pair) life. As for many of us, she uses food as a substitute for something she truly craves and needs.

Anyone who's done research on losing weight and eating right understands this food replacement theory. Understanding the problem is one thing; doing something about it is quite another.

Melissa must also deal with an overbearing boss, rambunctious children - one of which is deaf, a needy quasi-fiance back in the states and a possible new love interest in London.

The story is an entertaining read, but after so many of Mrs. H-E.'s blowups, I wondered when the heck Melissa was going to get a backbone and stand up for herself and start taking charge of her life.

The ending is somewhat predictable and not quite the complete path I'd have hoped for Melissa. But it's satisfying to know she'll head in the right direction.

I must say, as an American recently married to a Brit, I could relate to so much in the book... the food differences, the way we talk vs the way "they" talk -- it was all quite accurate, humorous, and I could barely lay it down!

Could this have been a story about an American au pair in a country other than England and Scotland, say France or Italy? Yes, and it would have been a different story. For it is as much a story about the relationship of two countries, the myths, good and bad, the stories we tell about the other, the class system, old institutions versus self inventiveness. Cleverly woven into this theme, are many others, the principal being an education in life for a young 22-year-old American woman, who has lost her job back home and canceled her wedding. As Melissa sticks out a six month term as a nanny (because "a promise is a promise") under horrible working conditions, we chart her growth and the development of the overall theme.

The author walks a fine line that accurately presents but doesn't exaggerate the cultural mores, social attitudes, and behavior of the British upper classes. I think she is careful to provide a balanced view. Although I'm sure there will be those who disagree.

I was pleasantly surpised at the depth of the story, the introspection that is assigned to Melissa, her coming to terms with the differences of another culture that surprisingly doesn't speak the same language, even though it's English, with issues of child rearing, and the ability to experience true intimacy. Ultimately, the story is just a sheer delight to read. You will laugh and cry, be outraged and charmed even at the minutiae of Melissa's "diary". This is a story that never drags, never fails to delight.

I thought that this book might be a fun, breezy, chick lit read. I've enjoyed books by Marian Keyes, Jane Green, etc. and thought this would be of the same ilk.

Weelllll... it's marketed that way, but nowhere near the quality of the other authors.

The character development is extremely weak. The main character, Melissa, has a fiance back in California who I don't get a sense that she even knows all that well.

Late in the book, she states that another character, Nanny, will be visiting her in the States. This comes as a total shock to me since they only had ONE conversation in the whole book. They all of a sudden know each other well enough for Nanny to blow her life savings on a visit to Melissa's?

She describes a friend of her employers, Mrs. von Teplitz as a jealous woman who doesn't see Melissa as an equal, even purposely humiliating her in front of others. Yet, later in the book, she announces, "I like Mrs. von Teplitz." What!? Why? How did this happen?

There are numerous other examples of extremely poor character development that just add up to a poorly written novel. I never thought that chick lit would be a terribly difficult genre to write in, this book proves that it must be harder than it seems.

Save your money and skip this one.

Marjorie Leet Ford's, The Diary of an American Au Pair, is an enjoyable and quick read... I couldn't put it down and was far from ready for it to end. My first reaction was splendid surprise in the clear and free style she captures her audience and her noticeable talent for well written prose. Ford clearly has a gift for description and builds her detailed world so well and with such ease you might begin to think you're reading the memoirs of an actual au pair - possibly on assignment for a class in ethnography! It reads like a first hand account and by the end you're eager to meet Melissa and all the other delicately derived characters. I just keep wondering, how might a Brit's review read?

"Diary of an American Au Pair" has a way of drawing you in. Once I started it, I couldn't stop. In between eating and sleeping and the other necessary details of life, all I wanted to do was savor this book.

And "savor" is the right word. Marjorie's book is rich in the details of English Gardens, European cooking, Scottish houses so old they have names, and other interesting faucets of European life. In "Diary of An American Au Pair", the ordinary details of day to day life are fleshed out in an extraordinary way.

The characters in this book are quite multi-dimensional too,and you will find yourself thinking about them long after you have finished reading the book.

If you would like to read a real book written about real (but complex & interesting) people, this book is for you. It is much more than just a "woman's book". It is a book for those of us who like to "feel"--as well as think--our way through fiction.

My only complaint about "Diary of An American Au Pair" is that it had to end.