INTERVIEW: Jennifer Andrewes - Author of PARALLEL LIVES - Four Seasons in the French Pyrenees (Parallel Lives)

Jennifer Andrewes

The CoffeeBar Kid talks to writer Jennifer Andrewes about her own double life in France. Witty and winningly honest, this enthralling tale of the search for a new life – and ultimately a long-term home – is an elegy to the French village, a hymn to the simple pleasures of being alive and a siren call to step off the corporate ladder and experience the joy of life, come what may. Trading the monotony of everyday life for a complete change of scene in the French countryside is a dream for many. But it takes a huge degree of bravery, not to mention financial and career risk, to turn this fantasy into reality. Increasingly dissatisfied with the humdrum routine of corporate life, Jennifer Andrewes is one of the few who actually made this happen.


In 2014 she and her family packed up and spent two seasons living in Quillan, a French village in the southwest region of France, nestled in the foothills of the Pyrenees. It wasn’t just any region as Jennifer discovered — the Aude region is on the 42nd parallel north. Wellington, her home city in New Zealand, is on the 42nd parallel south and is the nearest thing the Aude has to an antipodal sister city. That’s where the similarities end though. Jennifer, her husband Stephen and their three boys, then aged 11, 9 and 6 months had to adapt to a completely different way of life in a small village of 3,500 people. Parallel Lives details how the family chose their village and the lessons they learnt along the way. But it’s also an ode to the people, places and food that made the experience so incredible and left the family searching for their own long-term pied-à-terre on the other side of the world.

About the Author: As a child, Dunedin-born Jennifer spent time living in France kicking off a life-long love affair with the country. A communications professional, she has worked in tourism and government roles both here and in the UK, as well as undergoing stints as a freelance travel writer. Her blog on the family’s French adventure was widely enjoyed and it was prompting from readers that led Jennifer to write a book about the family’s experiences.

PARALLEL LIVES Four Seasons in the French Pyrenees : By Jennifer Andrewes: On sale now ($34.99)

https://myparallellives.com/