The Paris Dressmaker

The Paris Dressmaker is the latest book by Kristy Cambron, a new-to-me author. With its stunning book cover and premise about WWII French Resistance from the point of view of women working in popular fashion houses and the art world, this avid Historical Fiction reader was intrigued.

The story focuses on two women during WWII - one a fashion designer and the other an art cataloguer, but I was a little disappointed that the Chanel and Nina Ricci fashion houses played such a minor role. We follow main characters Lila and Sandrine and between their two POVs and the two timelines, there's a lot of jumping back and forth. I assumed that these alternating perspectives and eras were meant to create tension, but the story isn't linear and with Lila and Sandrine's voices sounding so similar, it made for a very disorienting and unnecessarily complicated read. Just when I was getting into one part, the focus would pivot to another time and character, taking me out of the story. Readers eventually understand the link between the two women, but it is weak and comes very late in the book.

The strength of this story comes in Cambron's descriptions of wartime in Paris - the everyday Parisian, the French Resistors and upper class who felt above all the turmoil. She illustrates the desperation, the lack of resources and the limited choices available to Parisian women at the time. Cambron touches on several aspects of the war - Vél d'Hiv, collaborateurs, stolen Jewish art, and the role of the Resistance - but these aspects are handled with a lighter hand. Cambron's lighter style will appeal to readers looking for Historical Fiction that touches on important issues but has a less gritty and violent portrayal of the consequences of war.

I am an avid Historical Fiction reader who prefers a dark and emotional read so this lighter read in the genre wasn't my typical 'jam'. That said, I appreciated the historical themes and premise, but I had hoped to like this book as much as many other readers who rated it much higher than I did. This would be a good pick for readers who enjoy lighter Historical Fiction from authors such as Kristin Harmel, Natasha Lester and Ariel Lawhon.

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

My Rating: 2.5 stars (rounded up to 3)

Author: Kristy Cambron

Genre: Historical Fiction (WWII), Christian

Type and Source: eBook from publisher via NetGalley

Publisher: Thomas Nelson

First Published: February 16, 2021

Opening Lines: If Lila de Laurent were discovered in the 

forest, she was dead.

Book Descripton from GoodReads: 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.