A really moving read.I was immediately drawn in to the story.Its an emotional moving story a book that required a box of tissues nearby.Highly recommend.#netgalley#amazonuk

Sometimes a good book is a slow burn and that's how The Dressmaker's Gift is. The story develops slowly, introducing characters, and setting the stage for Nazi occupied France. I enjoyed the grandmothers story and timeline more compelling then the granddaughters. While the book was good, I have read a few non-fiction books that had me on the edge of my seat related to similar topics.

Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for the ARC. It was my pleasure to read and review this book and I do recommend.
Overall rating is a 3.5 stars (only because a recent non-fiction blew me away on the same subject).

Harriet, traumatised by her mother's untimely death, arrives to work as a PR assistant at a fashion house in Paris. Haunted by the story of her grandmother's mysterious time in the war, she is anxious to find out more about it. The book then flashes back to Harriet's grandmother Claire and her friends who worked as seamstresses. These brave young women secretly worked for the French Resistance...



Fiona Valpy describes France beautifully, and captures the exciting but dangerous time of The Second World War. The characters are all very real, although Harriet doesn't play a big part in the book. It's a lovely book, although one part is extremely harrowing, and I will read more of Fiona Valpy's books.



I received this free ebook from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this book, set in Paris, a city that has fond memories for me.

I liked the friendships of all the girls, and the writing brought the little apartment to life for me.

I love a good dual time line too.

In 2017, Englishwoman Harriet, a recent business graduate, is in Paris. She works as an intern for a fashion PR agency, but she’s also on a quest to uncover her past. Her mother committed suicide, and her father never told her much about her French mother or family. In an old 1941 photograph, Harriet discovers and sees her grandmother, Claire, with two other Frenchwomen. They stood on Rue Cardinale outside the same building where Harriet works and lives in an upstairs apartment. Harriet is flabbergasted when her flatmate, Simone, informs her that her grandmother is also in the same photograph. Simone agrees to tell Harriet all she knows about the three ladies who worked as seamstresses and lived in the same building during the WWII years. Harriet pieces together the three women’s lives: how they’d lived through the Nazi occupation, dealt with attentions from the German officers, worked for the French Resistance, and suffered in concentration camps. Harriet, while enjoying the life of a Parisienne—despite the terror attacks—learns that her family’s history is more disturbing than she’d thought.

Fiona Valpy’s intimate knowledge of France shows in the storyline. It reads as if we are walking alongside the characters in Paris. The novel, through the lives of the individuals, illuminates the hardships the French faced during the Nazi occupation years during WWII. The twin-period narration works well to contrast Paris during and after the war. The inclusion of the terror attacks (although in reality, earlier than 2017) is an exciting addition that’s a reminder of the ever-present horrors of tyranny. The novel includes the concept of “inherited trauma” that Harriet thinks was passed on to her mother from Claire. But it’s heartening, as Valpy notes, that it’s possible to recover from it.

This review first appeared in the HNR Magazine Issue 91 (February 2020)

Ah, this was a lovely read to sort-of-start-my-year-to.

Things you should know about me:

I love Paris. As in, this city might be my favourite of all the cities, more than even New York and I love New York.
I love a book with a wartime setting. I don't know why this is, but it is, I am always strangely drawn to all the wartime historical fiction.

This book, then, well, it kind of could have been written for me, if Fiona Valpy knew me well enough to write a book for me, which she doesn't. What I'm trying to say, in a very long-winded way is that this is a book set in Paris in wartime and I loved it.

Paris in 1940 is under Nazi occupation and 3 young seamstresses are trying to live life as normal - or so they'd have you think. Actually, they all have secrets: Mirielle is fighting the resistance, Claire has a German officer boyfriend, and nobody really knows what's going on with Vivienne.
Then, in the present day, Claire's granddaughter Harriet is in Paris looking for some clues to her past.

It's a good read. I liked it. I read it a couple of days after getting back from Paris, a trip in which we'd made a point of getting off the beaten track a little and going up and down back roads and side streets,which it seems was an excellent plan because it meant that I recognised a lot of the places mentioned in The Dressmaker's Gift. I'm a fan of that. I love recognising places in books, being able to really clearly properly imagine the setting and my - albeit basic - knowledge of Paris (I've only been twice) meant I could -kind of - put myself in Harriet and Mirielle and Claire and Vivienne's shoes and I loved it.

This book is such a good read - 4 strong female protagonists, 3 of them in WWII, love and heartbreak and mystery and betrayal. The last maybe third of the book was hard - two of the girls end up in a Nazi work camp and Valpy pulls no punches - it's graphic and it's hard to read and it hurts, but don't let that pull you off because the rest of this book is not hard to read at all, and it's vivid and descriptive and it's also inspiring, what these 3 girls (and they are girls) manage to achieve against the backdrop of war. It was interesting too, because a lot of the historical fiction I read falls into similar categories and follows similar patterns, so this, about the Nazi occupation of France was fascinating, the power the Germans had over the French in their own city, the underlying current of fear and oppression that every single person lived under. It's touched on also in Code Name, Verity and I loved it there too, but this takes it a step further and I just found it really interesting to read about. Unimaginable, but interesting nonetheless.

The concept wasn't original - Harriet finds a box of photos and traces them back to Paris where she follows in her Gran's footsteps with the story jumping between then and now and to be honest - as is often the case - I found then massively overshadowed now. I would have loved this book as much without Harriet's part. I might have loved it more and it did seem convenient how she got this job in the same offices as Claire, living in the same apartment as Claire and her friends and living with the granddaughter of one of Claire's friends. I rolled my eyes and I rolled them hard. I got over it though, once we got into the nitty gritty. Suspend belief. That's what you have to do with this book, suspend belief when it comes to Harriet and just get lost in the story of Mirielle, Claire and Vivienne; they're the ones we're here for anyway.

I will start by saying that I don't think it was the right book for me for so many reasons. Perhaps I should learn from this and swear off any book written by a non-French author set in France with French characters. I get tempted every single time and I get disappointed more often than not. (But I'm not sure I can hold true to this promise.)

The book moves between present-day Paris (2017) where the young British Harriet has found a one-year internship in a fashion PR agency, and the WWII, when three young women, Claire (Harriet's grandmother, but rest assured it's not much of a spoiler), Mireille and Vivienne are fashion seamstresses sharing a flat and working together, who have to choose if they want to stay passive, collaborate with the Nazi invaders or join the Resistance.

Okay, so what didn't work for me [spoilers ahead, stop right here if you want to read this book]:

- the present-day chapters seemed like fillers at best, or/and very cliché and clumsy. the conditions in which Harriet gets this job made me raise highbrows; and Harriet's character lacks consistency and depth
- too many coincidences: the first one comes when Harriet moves into the same Paris building where her grandmother Claire lived, sharing a flat with another granddaughter of the trio... more highbrow raising. It's not the last. I almost got a highbrow cramp from so much raising...
- not enough about sewing and fashion itself.
- inherited trauma. This one is kind of a deal-breaker for me, as this topic is at the heart of the whole story. There's a postface by the author about this theory, that trauma may have ripple effects on later generations. While I can understand some of this theory (but nothing genetic IMHO), I really took offense of the way it's applied to this story, not so much on Harriet's mother (Claire's daughter), but when it comes to Harriet itself.

What I liked:
- The friendship between the three girls
- the unglamorous side of Resistance action
- The reference to Paris' Galliera fashion museum - truly a must-visit if you're interested in fashion

I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley, for review consideration.

Ms Valpy has written another amazing book seeped in history and tragedy against the backdrop of France during World War 2. Set in two different timelines, the reader will appreciate the search for identity as Harriet moves to Paris from England, gaining employment within the fashion industry in the actual building where her grandmother lived and worked many years ago. Telling the story from dual POV, Claire, Harriet’s grandmother has her own sense of self to discover as we live the horrors, and moments of love, laughter and friendship during this time.
Closely linked to Fiona Valpy’s The Beekeeper’s Promise, The Dressmsker’s Gift can be read as a standalone.
A wonderfully written book, telling a story full of hope.

The Dressmaker’s Gift by Fiona Valpy
Source: Netgalley, Lake Union Publishing, and Audible
Rating: 5/5 stars

It always makes me feel crappy to say I love books about the Nazi regime and World War II, but it is the truth. I tend to soak up these books and the stories of the people who lived through and triumphed over such misery and depravity. Fiona Valpy’s The Dressmaker’s Gift is no exception to the rule, and I made through all but the last few chapters in a single sitting.

I am particularly fond of books that shuffle between the past and the present. There is always some grand truth, some awful secret that is revealed in these types of books and I am quite a sucker for them. In this case, young Harriet has come to Paris to begin her life’s work in the fashion industry; upon her arrival, Claire discovers she is working and living in the same location her grandmother once lived and worked in many, many years ago. Harriet’s grandmother, Claire and her two best friends, Mireille and Vivienne, not only live and worked at the same location, but they also undertook secret and tremendously dangerous missions to aid the French Resistance against the onslaught of Hitler and his Nazis’.

For Harriet, her time in Paris isn’t just about beginning her own bright career, but also about connecting with her past and understanding the legacy left to her through the women in her family. As fate would have it, Harriet’s roommate is the granddaughter of one of Claire’s greatest friends and she (Mireille) is willing to help Harriet piece together the puzzle of the past and Harriet’s own family history. For Harriet, the adventure has only just begun and what she discovers is a harrowing tale of three women – unsung heroes – who sacrificed everything for the greater good.

From start to finish, I found the chapters related to Claire, her friends, and the war the most interesting. Each of the three women, Claire, Mireille, and Vivienne were all such bright and wonderful characters, each with their own unique voice and story to tell. There is a great deal of backstory in this book related to these women and how they each came to be Resistance fighters. The backstory really brings the women’s lives and sacrifices into focus and helps both the reader and Harriet to understand how each woman came to be who she was. With each chapter related to the three women and their Resistance efforts, the drama increases and the tension mounts. Every page is a study in tension and when the dam finally breaks, you are swept up in the devastation and depravity as much as the three friends certainly were. From the streets of Paris to the concentration camps, three lives unfold to reveal what true passion, compassion, daring, and caring can do when the will and heart are strong.

As Harriet learns more about her grandmother and her friends, the sacrifices they made and the risks they took, Harriet must come to terms with some of her own truths. For much of her life, Harriet has blamed her inability to truly connect with others on the loss of her mother at an early age and the rather standoffish nature of her father and his new family. In the face of her grandmother’s story, Harriet resolves to stop blaming others, to deal with her own issues, and live a life worthy of Claire, Mireille, and Vivienne.

The Bottom Line: As a means of full disclosure, I listened to the Audible version of this book rather than read a physical copy. I believe I may have had a far better experience with this book on audio than I would have simply reading it myself. With two narrators – one for Claire and one for Harriet – I was able to more fully connect with the women and their stories. What’s more, Claire’s narrator in particular is so very skilled at conveying emotion through tone. I was able to feel the tension, the sadness, the fear through the narrator and it greatly enriched the experience for me. I found the transitions from one narrator to the next to be flawless and easy to follow which means the transitions from past to present were also flawless. I preferred the chapters related to the past the most and found the detail and historical accuracy to be spot on. Again, it always makes me feel awful to say I loved a book such as this, but I did! The story of these women is told with compassion, empathy, and a very real sense admiration. Though Claire, Mireille, and Vivienne are fictional characters, the most certainly represent real women who sacrificed everything to help bring evil to an end.

<b>**FULL REVIEW**</b>

This book was so well thought out, I found myself thinking about it even when I wasn’t reading. Claire’s story, along with Vivi and Mierelle in war-torn Paris during the German occupancy...the uprising against the Nazi soldiers in a secret network of people determined not to succumb to a communist way of life. Women were grossly underestimated and utilized their resources in creative and deceptively simple ways.

I loved the ties between generations, the solid foundation a young girl discovers in the midst of grief and loss. Harriet’s journey away from her family, in hopes of finding her place in the world is told from a perspective that captivated me.

A story shared between friends. A connection to places and people of the past...it was amazing.

I only hope when people read this story, they truly take the time to remember the history of the hardships, the gruesome conditions lives were made to endure...and the research the author did in order to honor the accuracy of the Holocaust and World War Two.

I will read more by this author for sure.

<b>**4.5 Never Forget, Stars**</b>

The Dressmaker’s Gift set in both WWII and modern day France weaves a tale of three courageous women and the toll their part in the war takes on future generations. Set against the backdrop of France’s fashion business, the story is just the right mix of intrigue, suspense and love backed by historical incidents.

This is my first book by the author and I will be checking out more of her books. The author was able to pull me inside of Paris during WWII and present day Paris. The dual time line was easy to follow and it was relevant to the books ending.
Harriet's grandparents never spoke about what happened to them during WW II, it effected their daughter Felicity, she struggled to cope, by discovering the truth about her grandmother experiences during the war, it helps Harriet understand her own mothers battle with mental illness and she's reunited with her father.

I won’t say more about the story, because I don’t want to spoil anything, but it is a beautiful, intense story filled with love and hope during the most dark times.

I will definitely recommend this book.

Thank you NetGalley and Amazon Publishing UK for this ARC. The book is given to me as an exchange for an honest review.

#TheDressmakersGift #NetGalley

An excellent novel set in WWII. I greatly enjoyed this one.

Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for my ARC. All opinions are my own.

Having loved the beekeepers promise I was looking forward to reading another from this author. I really enjoyed this book , well written and bringing the time of war to life . Struggled slightly with Harriets drama at times but good overall

I love Fiona Valpy's books. At times I find I am holding my breath while reading. Her books are always well written with a lot of historical detail.

This book is a real hidden gem. I love fashion so the idea of this dress that calls down through the years - the midnight blue satin, made of many pieces but with such tiny stitches it appears as if one piece of fabric - really appealed to me. Added to this my in-laws history of escaping the Warsaw ghetto at 8 years old in one case, and being sent to Siberia in the other, means I am interested in the threads of family history here. Their family has its own incredible story with repercussions that echo down the generation so I understand lives being displaced and changed beyond recognition, and the results of that still being felt two generations later,

It is Harriet’s blove for fashion and a. Old photograph that leads her to the door of a Paris fashion PR for a year long internship. She is loaned a room in the apartment above the office alongside another girl. Harriet knows this is the very apartment where her grandmother Clare lived in the 1940s. She has left behind a difficult situation!. Having finished university Harriet has been living with her father and stepmother, where she has never felt welcome. Her father sent Harriet to boarding school when he first lived with her stepmom, following her mums death. Her father seemed to find it difficult to cope with a grieving daughter and a burgeoning relationship.
One of Harriet’s most treasured possessions is the photo she had of her grandmother Claire she her two best friends in Paris, Mirreile and Vivi. She also has a charm bracelet given by her grandmother and it’s charms show Harriet a story of who her grandmother was. When we are taken back into the past we learn more about these three women. All work in an atelier for the Paris fashion houses. We find out that Claire and Mirreille lived upstairs first, but are later joined by Vivi. All three are great seamstresses and are quick to become friends.

When the Germans arrive in Paris at first is it easy to carry on as normal. Yes, there are more German voices in the cafes and bars, German vehicles in the streets and people still order couture clothes, but as the war really starts to bite things begin to change. The girls friendship survives Claire’s disastrous dalliance with a German officer, but afterwards things begin to change. What mysterious work is Vivi doing in the atelier after hours? Who is the gentleman Mirreille is seen with and why is she often missing after curfew? The girls are about to be involved in the war in ways they didn’t imagined; ways that could mean paying the ultimate price.

Just like the stitches in a beautiful garments the threads of history are so beautifully intertwined with the fictional story of the girls. I read Alice Hoffman’s new novel in the last few weeks and it is also set in 1940s Paris so it was interesting to see the same historic events from a different viewpoint. I could see how much research the author had done and her skill in mentioning actual events without them feeling tacked on to the girls story was brilliant, I slowly came to care about each of the girls and although Vivi seems less accessible than the other two at first, it was interesting to see how central to Harriet’s history she becomes.

The detail is often harrowing to read and the idea that trauma can be passed through generations is one I’m familiar with because I’m a therapist and have read the same research as the author. She uses this beautifully in the novel, illustrating that the German’s horrendous acts of cruelty were on such a scale that it echoes down to the next generation. It is only when someone identifies the trauma in their family and gets professional help to let go of it’s effects, that someone can start to heal. I think I expected this book to be lighter and more focused on fashion from the blurb, but what I got was far superior: an incredible story of friendship and survival. I would definitely recommend it to friends.

A gripping tale of 3 young women in Paris during WWII is tragic, heartwarming and inspiring. Lover's of a good story, French resistance friendship will enjoy this book. The girls all have sewing in common and being in Paris and it's fashion industry is the thread that binds these three women. You cheer for the women and put yourself in their place as the war brings love and tragedy.
The story weaves back to WWII and the present with Harriet, the granddaughter of one of the women. Harriet tries to understand her grandmother and her own family's past as she goes to live and work in Paris.
It's a fascinating read and very realistic. Enjoy.

The Dressmaker's Gift is the story of Harriett's journey to understand her grandmother Claire's history in Paris during WWII. This book is similar in scope to others that I have read recently about family learning the history of their relatives during the war and what these revelations mean to them.

That being said while it feels familiar this one was very enjoyable and a quick read. These characters are well developed and three dimensional in a way that they have personal growth throughout the book making it something you want to read. It does not feel flat in either the 1940s portion of the novel or the 2010s portion.

If you like this kind of WWII/historical fiction novel, this one is a pretty good one and while it handles some difficult themes you could read this while on vacation (like I did) and not feel brought down.

A beautifully written moving story that had me close to tears. The work of the resistance and life in World War 2 Paris and beyond is told in a way that brings history to life. Thank you Fiona Valpy for this fabulous book

Loved it!!! I loved reading about Mireille, Claire and Vivienne. Three strong woman who appear to be innocent seamstresses, but are really leading secret lives to help their country during the war. I'm not sure why, but I wasn't a huge fan of Harriet. I can't believe she didn't know anything about her mom or grandmother. I'm not sure why Claire and her husband's story would have been kept a secret. I felt like there could have been more about Felicity. Did she know the truth about her mom? Why did she keep this hidden from Harriet? I'm glad Harriet finally say the truth about her dad and stepmom. They truly loved her and always felt like she was part of the family, even if Harriet didn't see it. It's hard to believe the couture houses were still so busy during the war. The people were living on such small rations of food, but there was still a need for such expensive clothes.

Definitely recommend the book. Yes, you have to suspend reality a little bit. What's the chance Harriet would end up living in the same place as her grandmother and meet someone who could reveal the past to her?? Loved the story of the seamstresses and look forward to reading more books by the author. Love the cover of the book.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Amazon Publishing UK through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

A beautifully written book with four interesting and inspiring women at its core. Harriett finds a photo of her grandmother which leads her to Paris and the discovery of the family's journey during the German occupation. Another story of determination and the will to not just survive but to live.