Book Review: The Dressmaker's Gift by Fiona Valpy

 

The Dressmaker's Gift

By Fiona Valpy

Publisher: Lake Union Publishing 

Paris, 1940. With the city occupied by the Nazis, three young seamstresses go about their normal lives as best they can. But all three are hiding secrets. War-scarred Mireille is fighting with the Resistance; Claire has been seduced by a German officer; and Vivienne’s involvement is something she can’t reveal to either of them.

Two generations later, Claire’s English granddaughter Harriet arrives in Paris, rootless and adrift, desperate to find a connection with her past. Living and working in the same building on the Rue Cardinale, she learns the truth about her grandmother – and herself – and unravels a family history that is darker and more painful than she ever imagined.

In wartime, the three seamstresses face impossible choices when their secret activities put them in grave danger. Brought together by loyalty, threatened by betrayal, can they survive history’s darkest era without being torn apart?

Book Rating:

📚📚📚📚📚 = I could not put this book down. I Highly Recommend.

📚📚📚📚 = A really great read.

📚📚📚 = It was enjoyable.

📚📚 = It was okay.

📚 = Um...! 😕

My Review 

The Dressmaker's Gift

📚📚📚📚📚 

If I could give this book more than five stars I would.

 The Dressmaker's Gift is one of those books that once started is near on impossible to put down. At the heart of this story is a young woman, Harriet, who is trying to find out more about her mother and her mother's family. What she discovers, turns everything she thought she knew about her mother on its head.

This is truly a remarkable book, the setting, the characters, everything just works so incredibly well.

This book really needs to be on your to-read list because it is one your do not want to miss.

You can find it over on Amazon

Fiona is an acclaimed number 1 bestselling author, whose books have been translated into more than twenty different languages worldwide.

She draws inspiration from the stories of strong women, especially during the years of World War II. Her meticulous historical research enriches her writing with an evocative sense of time and place.

She spent seven years living in France, having moved there from the UK in 2007, before returning to live in Scotland. Her love for both of these countries, their people and their histories, has found its way into the books she's written.