bout de papier, Vol. 32, No. 1 (2022), p. 45
BY CAROL BUJEAU
BURNSTOWN PUBLISHING
HOUSE, 2021, $25
ISBN 978-1-77257-294-0 (PB)
ISBN 978-1-77257-295-7 (eBook)
HAVE YOU EVER OPENED A NEW BOOK and felt like you were sitting down with a dear friend over a glass or three of wine, nibbling on some divine snacks, shucking off your shoes, and shooting the breeze for the rest of the afternoon? No? Well, have I got the book for you.
Carol Bujeau, the author of Triple Sex & Other Tales from an Ambassadors Wife, is married to John Holmes, a scion of the Legal Bureau and four-time Ambassador. A professional in her own right, Carol accompanied John around the planet for over three decades — from Barbados to Ghana and New York, and thence to Jordan, Indonesia, Turkey and finally, Manila.
And man, did they make the best of that life!
Trapped in the not-quite metropolis of Hemmingford, Quebec, Carol had an epiphany at the Montreal airport, when she “knew deep in my soul that my life would revolve around travel and living in foreign lands.” Sure enough, on their wedding night, John whispered to Carol that, “T’II never be rich, but I promise to show you the world.”
You can practically hear them whooping with joy when John gets accepted into the Foreign Service (it can’t have been the salary, surely …).
Soon enough, they find themselves and newly arrived baby Jordan in Barbados, learning, respectively, how to be a diplomat and a diplomat’s spouse. After surviving, wide-eyed and underdressed, her first and utterly cringeworthy diplomatic social gathering, Carol soon generates the occasional hapless embarrassment of her own. Undaunted, she navigates her new world and first-time motherhood while John sets about establishing himself as a diplomat to be reckoned with.
Watching Carol chart her own course as “wife of” is a joy, whether it’s fleecing rich innocents at bridge games; finding fulfilling work of her own when and where she can; becoming a cordon bleu chef; or creating a scholarship for young Jordanian women to study in Canada from nothing but chutzpah. Along the way, we watch her make friends everywhere she goes — from the thousands-of-dollars-an-hour interior decorator she charms into rearranging the furniture in her and John’s New York apartment (for free), to eccentric Prime Ministers and the hard-working staff at the various Official Residences she and John inhabit.
The book is an explosion of hilarious anecdotes, touching memories, electric snippets and gorgeous vignettes. Oh, and did I mention the recipes? There are recipes! But what really bounces off the page is Carol’s unrestrained joie de vivre, the enthusiasm with which she immerses herself in every culture she encounters. “Cultural differences? Bring ’em on!” she hoots as the Korean ambassador’s wife subjects her to a loofah scrub, and proceeds to embrace every (well, almost every) human she meets along the way.
Most importantly, though, Triple Sex will allow you a deep and intimate look into the life of a globe-trotting family. Carol and John are clearly soulmates; the love between them and their children radiates from every chapter. But the trials and tribulations of raising a pair of third-culture kids into amazing adults are very real, as are the little and big ignominies of having to set up households in different parts of the planet — something that those of us who have embraced foreign service life can recognize and appreciate.
So, pick up a copy of Carol Bujeau’s Triple Sex & Other Tales and you’|l find yourself transported to a terrace somewhere, a glass with some unknown alcoholic substance and exotic fruit in hand. Pick out the umbrella, relax and enjoy!
Available in hardcover and e-book from Burnstown Publishing House at burnstownpublishing.com.
Originally published in bout de papier, Vol. 32, No. 1 (2022), p. 45. Read the rest of this issue →
