Launching September 2019
Your oh là là read of the year!
Have you ever been presented with a fork in the road that was wildly off course— something so radical, so daring, so mind-bending—that it forced you to make a life-altering decision to either take a soaring leap of faith, or to instead refuse fate’s beckon? Joseph Campbell calls it the hero’s journey, something we’re all presented with at some point in our lives.
Fragments of French is a true tale about that once in a lifetime call to adventure.
I’d love for you to come along with me on a winding and unexpected journey that will make you think about your moxie, and maybe give you an ‘ah ha’ about your mojo for new adventures and precarious quests.
A picante travel memoir with a romantic twist, Fragments of French has been a long time coming.
The companion poetry was written at the time of the tale in this travel memoir, and when first launched in 2004, became a Canadian bestseller.
Love is an irresistible desire to be irresistibly desired.
– Robert Frost
After a harsh brush with her mortality, shadowed by a premature divorce, Wanda St. Hilaire pledges to be true to her primary passion—living ardently through travel. On the fateful day her life intersects with Jean-François, a charming Frenchman, on a bustling street in Lisbon, every fiber of her being feels as though she has finally entered the doorway to a magical world that she knew existed since she was a young girl.
St. Hilaire turns a complicated romantic ballet full of missteps into a collage of people, places, and cultures. Fragments of French is an exquisitely detailed travelogue of Portugal, Canada, France, and Mexico, filled with minor characters who delight with their humanity. However, what really makes this tale a standout is a gift for pacing and description to rival Tom Wolfe.
The hero’s journey is not only for the characters of our favorite stories or mythical legends. At some point, each of us receives the call to adventure. Fate summons the hero; we can refuse the call, or step into something that will turn our lives upside down, and potentially change everything we know to be true.
From feeling “completely disarmed, no fortress standing”, to embracing her untethered strength, the author turns this account of living life out loud into lessons for us all.
Fragments of French
An Unexpected Journey of the Heart
Wanda St. Hilaire
