I have read many book on Coco Chanel and this is by far one of my favorites. The author writes with such detail, you can't help but get drawn into Chanel's world. It has already become one of my favorite books to recommend to friends and family.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!

Gabrielle Chanel has been enjoying success as a designer and creator of the legendary Chanel No. 5 perfume, until she learns that her longtime business partner, Pierre Wertheimer, has taken the formula and plans to develop the perfume in America. Coupled with the Germans recent occupation of France, Chanel's livelihood, fortune, and brand is at stake.

The novel jumps between two periods in Chanel's life -- as younger woman growing up orphaned and then befriended by Boy Capel, eventually launching her line, and then as the more established designer living in Nazi-occupied France. Binnings Ewen's prose is wonderful, capturing the decadence and illusion of Chanel's lifestyle.

Prior to reading this novel, I had minimal knowledge about Coco Chanel as a person outside of hearing the claim that Ms. Chanel was a Nazi spy. What Binnings Ewen does with this well-researched historical fiction is present a fuller picture as to the why Chanel was a Nazi spy. Mostly set during the late 1930s/early 1940s of Nazi-occupied France, Binnings Ewen presents the idea that Chanel's actions were to prevent her business from failing, specifically losing control of and the formula of Chanel No. 5 to her business partner, Pierre Wertheimer. It's important to note that Binnings Ewen doesn't paint Chanel as a sympathetic character; she simply imagined how Chanel acted to survive, allowing readers to reflect on the designer's legacy.

The Queen of Paris looks at the life of Coco Chanel during the Nazi occupation of Paris during World War II. Coco Chanel makes the perfect protagonist – a complicated business woman that will do anything to retain control of her perfume business, even if that means cooperating with the Nazi’s. Coco lives at the Ritz in Paris, which became the headquarters of high ranking German officers. She is recruited as a spy for the Germans, but her motivations are quite complex.
Coco is a fascinating character and those that wish to learn more of her motives and actions during World War II will enjoy the book – she comes alive in the book. The author does a good job describing her flawed character and ugliness of the time period. I have read other books about her and this was one of the best.
Thanks to Blackstone Publishing and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review the book.

interesting look at choices that are made during wartime in order to survive. This book evidences that while we might like black/white scenarios, during difficult, especially, most decisions are in a grey area.

I thought to give this book a chance, it is a different kind of historical fiction based on a controversial figure than I am used to but it was hard to get into. It was written very well but it was hard to keep my interest.

THE QUEEN OF PARIS by Pamela Binnings-Ewen follows Coco Chanel as she tries to reclaim ownership of her company amidst a dramatic backdrop of Paris’ occupation during WWII. Living with the “enemy” in the Hotel Ritz in Paris, she becomes a collaborator to save a family member from a Nazi death camp.

Holy drama. I knew nothing about Chanel’s background. I found her to be proud, selfish, and full of malaise toward the injustices happening around her. It is quite a testament to the compelling writing of this book that I even finished it, I so despised Chanel by the end of the book. If you are okay with unsympathetic characters, I’d pick up this book to see a different kind of take on a WWII historical fiction.

Thank you to Netgalley and Blackstone Publishing for a chance to read this complimentary advanced reader’s copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

I am posting this to my Goodreads and Amazon accounts immediately. Thank you!

Unfortunately, I was excited about reading this books The Queen Of Paris because I am a hug fan of fashion and I wanted a different take on the story of Coco Chanel. However, for me this book was too boring for me to enjoy. Also, Coco in the beginning of the books she was an exciting character but as the chapters went on it got too boring for me personally. If you want a more historical take on her story you will like this book but if you are more into the fashion side of Coco Chanel than to me this book is not for you.

The Queen of Paris by Pamela Binnings Ewen is a brief snapshot of Coco Chanel's life in Nazi occupied Paris. Ewen does a phenomenal job of weaving an incredibly interesting story about a person who I found, to be honest, quite detestable. I am eager to read more by her!

Thank you, NetGalley for my review copy.

I love Chanel No.5. I love the logo. The two C's back to back. I love Chanel's mascara. I wish I could afford a purse. Anyway, I jumped at the chance when Netgalley and the publisher let me read this book about Chanel for a review.
The book starts out with Coco at the Ritz just after WWII, watching as a mob punishes women who collaborated with Nazis while they held Paris. Coco is waiting for them to come and take her. I was surprised. I had absolutely no idea Coco was a collaborator. While the Nazis held Paris and the French citizens starved she lived well. She spied for the Nazis ostensibly to save for son and yes I probably would have done the same thing to save my child but she did so much more than that. She had to leave Paris. People have long memories. She was saved because she also inspired love in people but she came off as very selfish. She was abandoned by her father and had a rough childhood but you can still care more for those around you, your servants. On the whole, I really liked the book. I was interested in the characters the whole way through the book and wanted to know what happened next. I knew nothing about Coco Chanel and now I want to know more. I was entertained and forgot about being quarantined.

I've been a big fan of Coco Chanel for many years. The more I read about the fashion icon - the more I fall in love with her personality, strength, stubbornness, and big loving heart. Coco's intelligence and willingness to survive fascinates me and can't get enough of her life story.

"The Queen of Paris" is a wonderful novel that shades more lights on Coco's years during the great war, especially her collaboration with Nazi. The author did a great job explaining the action Coco had to take in order to save herself, her loved ones, and her business during the difficult years of the war.

As I read many books about the enchanting mademoiselle Coco, a lot of facts are already known to me, however, the part about the association with Nazi was extremely fascinating and informative. Thank you NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for an advanced copy of the novel and Pamela Binnings Ewen for a wonderful story of The Queen of Paris.

This was everything I thought it would be. Just enough historical fiction, keeping the primary focus on Coco Chanel, the glitz and glam you would expect, with a touch of romance and the creative storytelling to keep it suspenseful. So many intriguing things I learned and had me thinking in awe of this magnificent woman. If you are captivated as much as I am with this Chanel No. 5 beauty, this is a must read and one that will linger in your mind for long after you've finished the story. A solid 4.5 stars from me.

Thank you so much Blackstone Publishing & NetGalley for my complimentary eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel was one of the founders of Chanel No. 5 perfume. One day, she received a notice that one of her former business partners, who owned 90% of the company, had stolen her perfume formula to create in the United States. She must figure out a way to prevent him from stealing her perfume. At the same time, World War II has started, with Germany taking over Paris. Coco gets involved when a close relative is taken as a prisoner of war. She has to take many dangerous risks to save her company and her family.

There were some flashbacks throughout the first half of the book to when Coco was a young adult. These were the only parts that were told in first person point of view, from Coco’s perspective. She seemed like a different person from the savvy business woman she was in the 1940s. These flashbacks did serve a purpose to show what Coco’s early life, and a life changing romance, were like. However, I didn’t like that she seemed like a completely different character from the woman she became in the 1940s.

I was surprised at some of the twists in the story. I didn’t think it was true because some things were quite scandalous and outrageous. At the end of the novel, there was an author’s note that talks about the parts of the story that were based on historical documents. Coco Chanel was a spy during WWII, though her exact missions aren’t clear. I had no idea that this famous designer had lived such a wild life.

This was a fascinating novel about Coco Chanel’s life

Thank you Blackstone Publishing for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

THE QUEEN OF PARIS was an interesting story about what Coco Chanel had fought through, from her troubled childhood to her rise as “Queen of Paris” to her battle to keep her reputation and fashion house alive during WWII. There were times I wanted to laugh out loud at her behavior and other times I wanted to smack her. It’s always fascinating to peek behind the curtain into the lives of fashion icons. The story was written beautifully and clearly well researched.

Title: The Queen of Paris
Author: Pamela Binnings Ewen
Genre: Historical fiction
Rating: 4 out of 5

Coco Chanel doesn’t care about the war. She cares about keeping her secrets and the rights to her legendary perfume. But the Nazis have other ideas, and when they occupy Paris during the war, Coco finds she has much more at stake than she ever imagined. And even more secrets to hide.

I love a good historical fiction read, although the subject of this was a little bit outside my wheelhouse. An interesting look at how Coco grew up—and how she became the icon she became. The writing was vivid and well-done, but the character herself was a bit off-putting to me, being mainly focused on herself and her concerns, with no self-awareness or interest in anything outside her own little bubble.

Pamela Binnings Ewen lives outside New Orleans. The Queen of Paris is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Blackstone Publishing in exchange for an honest review.)

I was not really excited about an historic novel about a fashion icon and kept putting this book to the bottom of the pile. When it surfaced yet again, I opened it and wow, I had trouble putting it down. The book is beautifully written, extremely well researched and always interesting. The mood of the period is perfectly captured; the annoyance by the privileged regarding the “phony war” and then ultimately the tension of the invasion of France by the Nazis and the deprivations suffered by the demimonde.

In her novel about Coco Chanel, Pamela Binnings Ewen relates the history of Chanel’s early life setting a strong background for the woman she is to become. It provides insight into her persona and unsurprisingly she is depicted as a driven woman who did anything and everything to protect herself and her creation, No. 5. The preservation of her ownership of the perfume that bore her name and the House of Chanel, which made her famous and rich was worth forsaking her humanity and was the cause of her ultimate descent into Nazi collaboration and treason. She always had a reason; she always had an excuse and she always believed that she could have done it no other way. She sublimated the greater good of her beloved France for her personal survival. She judged all and everything only as it affected Coco Chanel. Binnings Ewen allows the reader enough leeway to examine Chanel’s morality or lack thereof. She was a legend and surprisingly her brand remains a strong motivator.

Thank you NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for a copy of this highly intelligent and insightful book.

Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel fights to take back control of her No 5 fragrance after her Jewish business partner flees Europe during the war with the confidential formula. While continue to live alongside the Nazis as they occupy Paris, she will do anything to survive including collaborate with the Germans in order to keep her secrets hidden. How far will she go to protect her livelihood?

This was a fascinating novel that Ewen has crafted from recently discovered WWII files. While most of us know the iconic name of Chanel, not everyone may know her full story. I was shocked to discover that she had been a spy for the Nazis during the war. There are many historical fiction novels that tell the stories of women fighting on the side of the Allies or in the resistance and I thought this was an interesting take, a rarer point of view, about a woman who aided the other side.

Eloquently written and researched, Ewen paints a picture of a complicated woman with ambition and vulnerabilities doing what she needs to survive. I really enjoyed this e-book and getting a glimpse into what might have transpired with the more wealthy in this dark period.

The three stars are for the incredible writing talent of the author because it takes a masterful effort to have me read an entire story and hate the title character. The Queen of Paris is none other than Coco Chanel and this volume focuses on her collaboration with the Nazi regime that occupied Paris. This, of course, is now established in the historical record that Chanel was anti-Semitic. To what extent were the activities that she engages in collaboration is what the author deals with creating a storyline.

Most of the WWII books that not only grace my shelves but also other readers as well are tales of those who resisted, who joined the fight against the occupiers in one way or another and then there are also the dozens and dozens of Holocaust survivor stories which have been read. Then here comes this book which is about a self-centered, egotistical and entitled French woman who merely looks at the Jewish roundups and shrugs and says "This has nothing to do with me." Basically, here comes a story that focuses on the majority of why people "looked the other way." For Coco Chanel, she was concerned about her family and her business.

As I stated in my first paragraph, I read the entirety of this book and never liked Chanel. I just couldn't. I also really couldn't find the empathy that I think the author wanted me to have even with the back story that was presented in flashbacks. Does the fact that your father abandoned you as a child and your lovers rejected you, give you permission to do the things you did during a time of war? I don't know but this book sure has twisted me in knots just thinking about it. As I said, it's a whole shade of grey.


Goodreads review published 13/04/20
Publication Date 07/04/20

Thanks to NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for a digital arc in exchange for an honest review.

I liked this overall, but it is sort of slow. It tells the fictionalized story of Coco Chanel during World War II. She did collaborate with the Nazis, but no one seems totally certain what her motives were. Was she thoughtless, just looking out for herself, or were they holding something over her head? I got the impression that if the Nazis hadn't moved into her hotel where she had been living, across the street from her couture house, that none of this would have likely happened. The book definitely makes you think about things. There were plenty of prominent people who took the side of the Germans in World War II, before people really knew the extent of what they were up to, and this seems like a poor choice in hindsight, but if faced with making these decisions, without all of the facts, would we really have reacted differently? If the Germans had been successful, Chanel would probably look like the smart one in this scenario. See. This book makes you think about stuff.

Doing the wrong thing for the right reasons. This statement seems to sum up Coco and getting through WWII. Coco’s life history just seemed so depressing. She up is shunned so much in her life you can see why that once she has the status she will do anything to keep it. No much of her motivation is to save her son, but she also wants to retain her perfume. Humiliating as it is she still plodded on and kept her strangle hold. Then at the end it was all for not, her betrayal wasn’t a betrayal and her actions weren’t really necessary.

Interesting book but dragged with so much description. The first two years were in detail and the end was rushed.

Received a copy from the publisher for an honest review.

Another @netgalley #advancedreaderscopy that is now available on #amazonkindle. This is a fictional account of Coco Chanel’s life during #ww2. The narrative has you cheering for Coco sometimes and other chapters wondering what her true motives might have been. An imaginative ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ book perfect for those interested in #chanel and #paris. 📚📚📚 #reading #booklover #bookreview #bookrecommendation #netgalley