This is a funny, moving, exotic novel about travel, about France, about champagne, about life, but mostly about women"s friendship. The on-again/off-again friendship between Petronille and a writer by the name of Amelie Nothomb gives the story its verve, the style its rhythm, and the novel its heart. A kind of literary Thelma & Louise with a little bit of French panache and worldliness and a whole lot of champagne.