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One Foot in Front of the Other
Publisher
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Albin Michel
Parution date
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2010
EAN
:
Description
***Original manuscript written in English***
***Interview and reportage from Le Monde 2 magazine available in English***
A young American tourist finds herself penniless and homeless on the streets of Paris. One Foot in Front of the Other is the moving and fascinating story of her painful descent and ultimate recovery.
Ann Webb, a certified nurse’s aid from Portland, Oregon, had never thought much about the possibility of becoming homeless. She learned, however, that being homeless is something that can happen to almost anyone, anytime, anywhere, and when it is least expected. Anna was in Paris on her dream vacation when a series of unfortunate events left her homeless. In One Foot in Front of the Other, written with Ruth Marshall, Ann tells her story; a struggle for survival that turns into an unexpected spiritual journey.
Ann spends her first night on the streets walking. She keeps on the move from sundown to sunrise to avoid being harassed by the “wolves”—dangerous men who roam the streets at night. She wanders from shelter to shelter, begging for the right to stay for just one night in the dormitories, but she is usually sent away. The beds are reserved for French homeless people, she is told; they are not for “American tourists.” Although she has no friends and no resources, she is rejected—she is too clean, too blond, too American—and she cannot speak French. “Being homeless,” Ann tells us, “is brutal. It strips you of all you have and everything you believe you are. It breaks you down to your core.”
Ann spends weeks on the street before one social services assistant gives her a temporary ID card so that she can stay in a women’s shelter. There, able to stop walking at last, she decides not to go back to America, where her job and her possessions are no longer hers. She starts reconstructing herself and plans to start anew in Paris. She makes new friends, learns to set new goals, and learns how to make a home for herself.
Author
Ann Webb : Ann Webb is 43 years old and currently resides in Paris, where she found a job and an apartment. Her story has been published in the French magazine Le Monde 2, the French equivalent of the New York Times Magazine.
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