I would advice agains Watson's Play the French. It is not a bad book, but it is not as good as the rave reviews make you believe. Firstly it is a repertoire book, so not all variations are covered. Secondly and much worse imo is his selection if lines. If you want to play his Winawer and Tarrasch recommendations you better have an excellent memory and not be the nervous type (it is a plus to like defensive sacrifices ). The whole book seems more geared towards correspondence players or players who have 2200 rating and have played the french for years. 
So as a starter in the French (or like me being below 2000 Elo) I think you're better off with one of the other suggestions, in particular the McDonald (dont have that one but the descriptions seem good) and Uhlmann books. As a matter of fact when I started playing the french, in my first game I was able to copy one of Uhlmann's games (iirc the 3rd game from the book) and win in smashing style

@dom and all,

I have a couple of the books you mentioned, and the problem with them is that if Watson's book is over Viceroy's head, then surely Psakhis' book (which is virtually impossible to read without a couple of chess boards because of the printing style) and Suetin's book are out of bounds.  In fact, I thought Watson's book was more readable than Uhlmann's, but that's a matter of taste.  Both are excellent.

Another book, which doesn't even pretend to teach the French, is also worth checking out:  Nesis' Tactics in the French provides some important and interesting games with rather sketchy notes.  Anyway,  since the criteria is that it has to be easier to read than Watson's book, I agree with MNb that a game collection or My System remain the best choices for Viceroy.  Good luck Viceroy, and let us know what and how you do!

You also could do worse than play over some games of specialists, if you have a database: Botvinnik, Petrosjan, Uhlmann etc. See eg the top 10 French players thread.

Sadly, I don't think there are any good overviews of the French for beginners in the opening.  I love Uhlmann's book to pieces, but it's a repetoire book, featuring the Winawer and the 4...exd5 Tarrasch.  If you're looking for an overview of the main French lines so you can choose your own repetoire, you're out of luck. 

The Byron Jacobs book would fill a niche, but is awful.   

The best for an overview is _Mastering the French_, by Neil MacDonald and Andrew Harley.  They categorize all French pawn structures and talk about typical themes that apply in each configuration.  It's the kind of book that's out of fashion these days, because it talks about general ideas, when all the emphasis is now on concrete lines.

The problem with this book is that it's out of print.  If you can find a copy for less than $40, you're lucky.

Uhlmann's book is, however, far better for a beginner than Watson's book.  Among other reasons:  complete games!  Like Willempie says, playing over these games you'll get a good feel or some of typical French middle-game positions and endgame positions.  And there's some dang fine chess in there, too!  Featured is Uhlmann's win over Fischer in the Winawer.

Really, we Frenchies shouldn't complain.  Those poor players of the black side of the Caro-Kann and the Ruy Lopez have it way way worse than we do.

I'm new to the French. Are there any books people can suggest for giving a good overview of the opening? 

Play the French by John Watson, looks like an excellent book, but I fear it would be a bit over my head. Starting Out: The French by Byron Jacobs, doesn't sound very good from the reviews. Anyone have any other suggestions of books that are available/in print?