The Paris Dressmaker

If you are a reader, you consider yourself BLESSED when you find a novel that captivates you from page one straight thru to the last word and you know the theme from this novel will stay in your heart forever! Kristy Cambron’s THE PARIS DRESSMAKER is this type of book and I highly recommend it! Cambron has written a magnificent, breathtaking novel based on true accounts of how Parisiennes resisted the Nazi occupation in World War II. She centers her storyline around two courageous women, Lila de Laurent and Sandrine Paquet, who risked everything to fight an evil they cannnot abide. Cambron has created characters that will ignite your imagination and make the reader feel as though they are a part of their world and have joined La Resistance! Lila de Laurent, haute couture dressmaker for Maison Chanel, is out of work in the world of high fashion due to the Nazi occupation of Paris. She is soon using her skills as a expert dressmaker to infiltrate the Nazi elite. Laurent meets with clients, measures and designs masterpieces, all while collecting secrets in the glamorous Hôtel Ritz. Her clients are considered “collaborators” as the Hôtel Ritz is the heart of the Nazis’ Parisian headquarters. Sandrine is working at the Jeu de Paume Galerie cataloging priceless works arts that are bound for Hitler’s Berlin. These irreplaceable masterpieces have been stolen from prominent Jewish families. She also listened to the German officers who were in charge of the Galerie and gleaned all the information she could and passed it on to the Resistance. One piece she is charged with handling a Chanel gown - a gown in a tapestry of blush embroidery and brilliant tulle. This is more than just a gown as concealed in the seams is a cryptic message that may reveal the fate of a dressmaker who vanished from within the fashion elite. While these two women are living day to day, wondering if each day may be their last, they also share another commonality. They are each madly in love! Lila is in love René who she has reconnected with after several lost years thinking he has died only to learn he has been deeply embedded in the Resistance. Sandrine is madly in love with her husband Christian who is supposedly off fighting for the French. She was not sure if he was still alive or deceased until one night when she was forced to attend a Nazi Officer’s New Year’s Eve Party. While there, she was unexpectedly reunited very briefly with her husband Christian. Their brief encounter renews her spirit and gives her strength to continue the fight. Cambron writes the love stories of these two couples in such a way that allows the reader to feel their passionate love for each other that enabled them to endure the long years of war and their inevitable separations. Yet, it was as though they each “sensed” the other was still alive! The thoughts of joyous reunions with their beloveds inspired these two women to risk everything for the men they loved. I was provided a complimentary copy of this novel by Thomas Nelson and NetGalley. The opinions expressed here are completely my own and without influence.