The Expats

Travel Guide

For a novel which shines a light on the trials and tribulations of expat life, this is one which shows that lifestyle in Luxembourg, France, and Switzerland, and the Netherlands with the occasional flashback to Washington, D.C.

Life in another country is always going to be tricky but Kate’s difficulties in adjusting to the routines of living in Luxembourg are many. Everything is different from how to buy milk, how to find your way around a new city and having 2 children to look after when your husband is at work all day every day.

The expat life may be hard for Kate but there is more going on than meets the eye and her husband…well just what is he working on all day every day?

The detail of what you notice when you’re an expat rings true – take this from Amsterdam:

“All the houses’ blinds were undrawn, curtains open, people sitting in their living and dining rooms, reading the newspaper or drinking a glass of wine, family gathered around the dinner table, children watching television, all if it on display to neighbors, to strangers, to the world.”

Gold fish bowl living, they call it, and true of many cities not just Amsterdam. Something else for Kate to get used to. Or the skill of Parisian shop girls who can tell if you’re just browsing or not and rearrange the goods once you’ve left. Oh you’ll have fun spotting the gems.

Luxembourg

When Luxembourg is first mentioned as the new place they’re going to live, Kate doesn’t even know where it is which doesn’t bode well.

Luxembourg is a place where a great steak au poivre is half the price of awful Chinese food

Also the place where secrets come home to roost. Kate goes on the spy mission of her life as she tries to navigate the foreignness of her new surroundings to find out if there is anything normal in her life now.