Reading a WWII novel can be a difficult and sobering experience, and yet the tragedies are often accompanied by the overwhelming beauty and courage of the human spirit. This book was no exception.
The story alternates between two Parisienne women during the years of Nazi occupation in France. Lila de Laurent is a dressmaker who goes from the heights of the fashion world to the dangerous world of La Resistance. Sandrine Paquet works to catalog the stolen art that is making its way to Berlin.
This story is beautifully written and contains aspects of WWII that aren’t often addressed. However, some readers may find it confusing due to the frequent jumps from timeline to timeline. The entire book has both characters going back and forth between 1939-1944. For this reason, I would suggest not setting it down for too long, as it might make it harder to follow the storyline.
I highly recommend this book if you’re a fan of WWII fiction. The fact that it takes place in Paris gives this novel a fresh perspective. I can’t wait to see wha Kristi writes next.
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Overall: 4.5/5
Age: 16+
Romance level: 1.5/5
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From the back cover:
Based on true accounts of how Parisiennes resisted the Nazi occupation in World War II—from fashion houses to the city streets—comes a story of two courageous women who risked everything to fight an evil they couldn’t abide.
Paris, 1939. Maison Chanel has closed, thrusting haute couture dressmaker Lila de Laurent out of the world of high fashion as Nazi soldiers invade the streets and the City of Lights slips into darkness. Lila’s life is now a series of rations, brutal restrictions, and carefully controlled propaganda while Paris is cut off from the rest of the world. Yet in hidden corners of the city, the faithful pledge to resist. Lila is drawn to La Resistance and is soon using her skills as a dressmaker to infiltrate the Nazi elite. She takes their measurements and designs masterpieces, all while collecting secrets in the glamorous Hôtel Ritz—the heart of the Nazis’ Parisian headquarters. But when dashing René Touliard suddenly reenters her world, Lila finds her heart tangled between determination to help save his Jewish family and bolstering the fight for liberation.
Paris, 1943. Sandrine Paquet’s job is to catalog the priceless works of art bound for the Führer’s Berlin, masterpieces stolen from prominent Jewish families. But behind closed doors, she secretly forages for information from the underground resistance. Beneath her compliant façade lies a woman bent on uncovering the fate of her missing husband . . . but at what cost? As Hitler’s regime crumbles, Sandrine is drawn in deeper when she uncrates an exquisite blush Chanel gown concealing a cryptic message that may reveal the fate of a dressmaker who vanished from within the fashion elite.
Told across the span of the Nazi occupation, The Paris Dressmaker highlights the brave women who used everything in their power to resist darkness and restore light to their world.
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