The Last Dress From Paris by Jade Beer-Book Review

My Review

This is a most delightful book with it’s dual time-line you’ll get pulled into two delightful stories that just seamlessly mesh.
Lucille has a special and loving relationship with her Grandmother Sylvie and will do anything for her.
When her grandmother asks her to go from England to Paris to find a priceless Dior dress she believes she’ll be home quickly and easily with the task completed.
What she doesn’t count on is needing to rent a French apartment and finding a side of her grandmother she had never know about.
The book kept me spellbound while reading about the 1950’s glamour of the fashionable Dior gowns,an opulent lifestyle a forbidden affair,well kept secrets and a heartbreaking betrayal.
So many glamorous Dior gowns each representing a special time. You can practically feel the heaviness and sumptuousness of the velvet and other lush materials of the vintage gowns in your hands.
Secrets and heartbreak comes alive in this book I was unable to put down!

Pub Date: 21 Jun 2022
I received a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own.

GoodReads Synopsis

London, 2017. There’s no one Lucille adores more than her grandmother. So when her beloved Granny Sylvie asks for Lucille’s assistance with a small matter, she’s happy to help. The next thing she knows, Lucille is on a train to Paris, tasked with retrieving a priceless Dior dress. But not everything is as it seems, and what Lucille finds in a small Parisian apartment will have her scouring the city for answers to a question that could change her entire life.

Paris, 1952. Postwar France is full of glamour and privilege, and Alice Ainsley is in the middle of it all. As the wife to the British ambassador to France, Alice’s job is to see and be seen–even if that wasn’t quite what she signed up for. Her husband showers her with jewels, banquets, and couture Dior dresses, but his affection has become distressingly elusive. As the strain on her marriage grows, Alice’s only comfort is her bond with her trusted lady’s maid, Marianne. But when a new face appears in her drawing room, Alice finds herself yearning to follow her heart…no matter the consequences.

The City of Light comes alive in this lush, evocative tale that explores the ties that bind us together, the truths we hold that make us who we are, and the true meaning of what makes someone family. 

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About The Author

Hello!

I’m Jade. I’m a novelist, a mother to two young daughters and I live in the beautiful English countryside. After decades working in glossy magazines in London, I now live in the Cotswolds. It’s where my husband and I used to spend romantic weekends plotting our future together, long before children came along, and is now where I write my books.

My latest novel, The Last Dress From Paris, is inspired by a visit I made to the Victoria & Albert museum back in January 2019 for the Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams exhibition. When I left the museum that day, I knew so much more about the work of Christian Dior and how he defined an era of fashion. Much has been written of his legacy. But what of the women he dressed, I wondered. What happened to all of them and their beautiful gowns when they left the boutique for the final time? What would the women, Dior’s clients, whisper from behind the glass cabinets if they could? What would they tell me about the occasion on which they wore these dresses?

Women have always fascinated me. I think it comes from seeing first-hand how truly brilliant we can be and how wonderfully flawed. I’ve been lucky enough to work with some incredibly talented women throughout my career as a journalist and editor – ones who juggle the most all-encompassing careers with family and friendships and everything else that life throws at them. They often make it look so easy. But we all know it’s not. And that need to present one version of yourself to the world, while keeping the grittier, less polished reality under wraps, is a thread that runs strongly through all my novels and especially The Last Dress From Paris.

In my former job as the editor of Conde Nast Brides, I shared my working life with editors of some of the glossiest magazines in the world – Vogue, Tatler, Glamour – and I had the enormous privilege of travelling the world and sitting front row at beautiful fashion shows and working with the world’s leading florists, cake makers and stylists. But I also took a daily peek into the lives of young women who were experiencing one of the most intense times of their lives – planning their wedding days. This, above everything else, was the fascinating bit. Hearing their thoughts, fears, worries and ambitions for the future. This really powerful cocktail of glamour and reality is there, I hope, on the pages of all my books.

Take a peek inside my life on Instagram @jadebeerbrides or at http://www.jadebeer.com

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