Sarah Yuen had never even baked a cake when she decided that 15 years in the TV business, as a reporter and producer for major broadcast channels, travelling the World on expenses, was quite enough and it was time for a fresh challenge.
So she persuaded her husband and father of their two year-old son to throw up everything and move to the French Alps to ‘live the dream’.
Between them they had no business experience at all. Both had been journalists since school and university. But they decided on a family ski chalet business, found a suitable chalet, filled it through a series of guerilla advertisements, and set out to entertain four families a week for an entire ski season.
The only qualification the couple had to be ski chalet hosts was boundless enthusiasm, a “never say die” attitude and, by the end of the season, the patience of saints.
They expected an easier life, with sunny days spent whizzing down the ski slopes of Argentiere near Chamonix in France. What they got was a marathon endurance test and generally the only snow they saw was on the walk to the supermarket, or through the kitchen window.
This book will be no surprise to anyone who has ever done ‘a season’ in a ski resort. They know the pain and the challenges. But it may serve to help those trying to decide whether to take the plunge and head for the slopes and a new life.
Throughout the season the couple’s clients insisted that they should “write the book”.
So now it is done!
Sarah has written a number of books before this one, all romantic novels.
“Writing this book brought back memories which made me laugh out loud,” says Sarah. “It really was one of the most eye-opening experiences of our lives and even now, when we don’t have to cook, clean and prepare for a two dozen strong house party every week, we suffer from Saturday-itis – a fear of the coming weekend and the dreaded changeover day!”
Sarah dedicated this book to their son Jack who endured the season with them, but the couple also want to dedicate it to all the wonderful clients mentioned in this book, if not by name. They know who they are!
They lightened the housework burden just by their kindnesses and senses of humour. “Without them, it would have been unbearable. With them we laughed from morning until nightfall, and we remember them all with huge fondness.”
Making The Break 
I love it!