Intriguing WWII Historical Fiction -- The Paris Dressmaker

 

Great author. WWII historical fiction. Rave reviews. All that added up to what I expected to be a wonderful book -- and I was not disappointed.

As with most historical fiction, The Paris Dressmaker includes a mixture of real and fictional characters and events. The major elements of the story are based on true accounts of how a variety of brave men and women not only survived but strongly resisted the enemy during the Nazi occupation of Paris. The amount of research that Kristy Cambron put into this book is astounding and causes the story to jump to life off the page.

The strategy of the timeline is intriguing. The story spans a period of about five years but is presented in a non-chronological manner. It is also told mainly from the context of two different women. This process provides insight when and where it is needed and brings the stories of the main characters together at just the right time.

I highly recommend The Paris Dressmaker to fans of great historical fiction.

About the Book

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.

About the Author

KRISTY CAMBRON is an award-winning author of historical fiction, including her bestselling debut The Butterfly and the Violin, and an author of nonfiction, including the Verse Mapping Series Bibles and Bible studies. Kristy's work has been named to Publishers Weekly Religion & Spirituality TOP 10, Library Journal Reviews’ Best Books, RT Reviewers’ Choice Awards, received 2015 & 2017 INSPY Award nominations, and has been featured at CBN, Lifeway Women, Jesus Calling, Country Woman Magazine, MICI Magazine, Faithwire, Declare, (in)Courage, and Bible Gateway. She holds a degree in Art History/Research Writing and lives in Indiana with her husband and three sons, where she can probably be bribed with a peppermint mocha latte and a good read. You can connect with her at: kristycambron.com and versemapping.com. Instagram: @kristycambron; Twitter: @KCambronAuthor; Facebook: @KCambronAuthor; and Pinterest: Kristy Cambron.