Parlez-vous français?

[Salty]

I do not speak French. I can work through some words and phrases. In Morocco I was fluent in "L'addition, s'il vous plait", "Pardon" and "Merci". While I loved this book, the French phrases on nearly every page drove me a little batty. I get that the Mitfords and their pals used French in conversation and letters. Does it bother anyone else when English authors assume that readers will know French? Do you understand French well enough to not require translation? I spent too much time looking phrases up. Is it best to just ignore what you don't understand?

[Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂]

Carol wrote: "I do not speak French. I can work through some words and phrases. In Morocco I was fluent in "L'addition, s'il vous plait", "Pardon" and "Merci". While I loved this book, the French phrases on near..."

You might want to skip Nancy Mitford's own writings then - she peppers her books with French quotations. My schoolgirl French was up to that when I first read & loved Madame de Pompadour but I struggled when I reread it a couple of years ago.