Wow! What an interesting life story about Coco Chanel. Really loved this book!

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

I enjoyed this book! There was a lot about Coco Chanel that I didn't know before reading. It was a little strange that the point of view went from 1st to 3rd person between chapters but nothing that I couldn't get past. It was an easy, quick read and I would recommend it.

Thank you to Netgalley and Blackstone Publishing for the opportunity to read the Advanced Readers Copy of The Queen of Paris, by Pamela Binnings Ewan., in exchange for my honest opinion and review.

The subject of the Queen of Paris, Coco Chanel, is not new to me. The character in which she was portrayed was certainly not one fit of the title. Queen. Chanel was described as being anything but true to her homeland of Paris France. She was a Nazi sympathizer and collaborator. With the German Occupancy of France in WWII, Coco did whatever slanderous actions needed to guarantee her personal prosperity. Coco lived a selfish life. Some called it survival, but to many she was simply a traitor to her country. It's as though war was beneath her, a mere nuisance.

This story as one of love, loss, solitude, greed, and success, but always at a price. Chanel was a force to be reckoned with. It was not simply by chance that she became the business tycoon in which she built an empire. I found her to be rather cold and calculating. I found it hard to like her or root for her success. Coco lived a lonely existence beneath all the glitz, and to that I think she was deserving.

I like the way this story flowed. The author was able to strip away this woman of wealth and power and show her deep and monstrous soul. She may have persevered, even prospered, however her lonely existence was brought upon by her own very thoughts and actions.

This book felt like two separate stories - the story of Chanel and the story of a Jewish thief. At times, the two perspectives felt very disjointed and it didn't necessarily feel like it fit together cohesively. I did enjoy Coco's story and learning more about this icon. The writing was solid and the pacing was a bit slow at times, but overall was solid and moved at a good pace. While I did not personally finish reading this book, I can see a lot of potential for bigger fans of adult historical fiction to love this book.

This story follows the new trend in historical fiction of looking into the life of female collaborators - those who worked with or were kept safe by the Nazis. This book was slow moving until Coco begins to work with the Nazis to save her business and her son. I felt the story behind Chanel No. 5 was far too long and detailed and Coco's trip for jasmine absolute had no point to the story and added nothing to the plot. This would have been a better story if about 100 pages were removed.

This book follows the life of fashion designer and perfumer Coco Chanel during the Nazi occupation of Paris. Living at the Ritz, where the German's have billeted their commander's, Coco feels at ease, and somewhat sympathetic with the occupiers. When she needs help, she has no problem using her German connections. Coco wants two primary things, the first, to find out where her nephew is and securing his release. Secondly, she wants total control of her perfume company. In exchange for these favors, Coco agrees to travel to Spain, where she is to spy for Germany. Not surprisingly, at the end of the war, Coco is worried that her fellow countrymen will attack her and persecute her as a collaborator.

This book was so-so. Coco spent a lot of time thinking about the past. This slowed the pace of the book down and made it feel like it was dragging. If the author really wanted to show Coco's early years, it could have been done in a much more fluid manner. The book also really needed an epilogue. It would have been nice to find out what happened to Coco in the long run without resorting to google. Overall, not a book I would reread or recommend.

Books about Coco Chanel are alwyas interesting and varied- whether they are fiction or non-fiction- because there is some much mystery surrounding her real life of what was truth and was was made up. This book was about one part of Chanel's life I hadnt read about in depth yet, but I found myself more drawn to the earlier parts of her life in the story than during the war. That part of the book seemed long and drawn out to me and I am not really sure why because WWII fiction is pretty much my favorite genre. I think it may because other parts of her life were so fast paced and fascinating. I still thought it was a good book and enjoyed yet another take on Chanel's incredibly interesting life.

The Queen of Paris is an intriguing look at the life of Coco Chanel. Alternating between the 1940s when she lived in occupied Paris and the early 1900s when she was the mistress of several famous men and starting her career, the novel details her struggles to control the company and the quintessential perfume that bears her name, as well as her actions during the war. While historical fiction, the book attempts to balance her need to succeed as a woman who had been used and abandoned by all the men in her life with her decision to stay in the Ritz and have an affair with a Nazi officer during the war. Was it survival or desire for money and power? Was she a Nazi spy or was she forced to do the bidding of Canaris and others to save her company? Those who see Chanel as a collaborator may not have their minds changed, but some may find her actions excusable in the pursuit of holding on to the company she founded through wartime and betrayal.

"The Queen of Paris" is based on the life of Coco Chanel. The author did a fantastic job and it was well researched. A very emotional read. I enjoyed reading this account of her early life and the struggles she went through.

Thank you to Blackstone and NetGalley for the eARC

I knew about CoCo Chanel being a Nazi spy and how she lived at the Ritz in Paris with German officers. I did not know how much she is her perfume Chanel No. 5. That has always been my favorite. Although her actions make me cringe I can see why she did it. If that were to happen now, we might not have the House of Chanel and all that goes with it.

I love Chanel No. 5, and the story of the woman behind the scent is eye opening! Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel rises above her difficult childhood to create what is probably the world's best known fragrance, as well as a groundbreaking style of clothing. What "The Queen of Paris" tells us is about the woman, not the image.

Coco's father left her and her sisters in a convent at an early age. Life there was not easy, and eventually Coco leaves for Paris. Her early hardships leave an indelible mark on her, reflected in her relationships with men, and the decisions that she makes. When the Nazis invade Paris, shortly after her business partner decamps to the United States with 90% of the business and the recipe for Chanel No. 5, Coco will do anything to get her business back, including colluding with Nazi's and using the fact that her business partner is Jewish to get his business confiscated.

The Queen of Paris is an eye opening expose of one of the worlds most known names, that takes us deep into her psyche and helps us understand what shapes her and her actions. It feels historically accurate and biographical while at the same time we experience with her the fear, greed, longing for love, and passion for her fragrance that drives everything she does. We might not like her, or her actions, but we do understand why she does them. I was fascinated, horrified, touched and exasperated, sometimes all at the same time. The historical notes that Pamela Binnings Ewen includes at the end help to round out this complicated, fragile, determined, lonely, arrogant woman that we know as Coco Chanel. Don't miss it!

I''m not sure why I decided to request this book, there is nothing here that I have't read before. I will say the writing is excellent, the research is thorough (how can it not be there is much out there about Chanel). She was a tough character! My thanks to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

As WWII looms over Paris, Coco Chanel is faced with the unexpected defection of the man she is in business with to produce her most famous product of all—her perfume, Chanel N° 5. In an attempt to get back her rights to the perfume, she will agree to do anything. But is it worth it in the end?

The Queen of Paris explores the life of Coco Chanel through the occupation of Paris during the war. This picture of Chanel is not a pretty one. It shows how she will do anything—even if it means going against her beloved France—to keep what she has built and protect the ones she loves. Glimpses into her past give you a clearer picture of why she became so motivated to be successful, and why it is so important for her to cling to what is hers. A beautifully written story. Perfect for readers of historical fiction.

For those of us who grew up in the US post WWII, it’s hard to imagine what life was like for those living in Europe during the war: the horror of occupation, the deprivation, the lack of morality, the deterioration of society. There’s been a lot written lately concerning Jews caught up in the holocaust, but this is a totally different take on a different segment of society also caught up in that horrific time.

For me, a mother and grandmother, I had to envision just how far I would stoop to protect a loved one. Many, many people had to make that awful choice during that time. It’s easy in our current safe and affluent lives to say, “I’d never do that.” But what if your child’s life depended on your doing something which was against everything you believed?

This was a very interesting novel based on the life of Coco Chanel, couturier and perfumer. As a child, she lost her mother to illness and was sent, along with her 2 sisters, to an orphanage by her father – whom she never saw again. She learned class consciousness when she was used by her two [wealthy] paramours solely as their mistress even though they both confessed love and one, Boy Capel, promised marriage. She had hard lessons to learn, but her strength and determination made her a very strong woman.

This novel was meticulously researched and very true to the non-fiction accounts I’ve read of Chanel’s life.

There have been books written about Germans who were ignorant of what was going on around them, but this is the first I’ve read about an aspect of the French society ignorant of the results of the German occupation.

This was not a fast read, but certainly a worthwhile one.

I appreciate this ARC from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for a review. I will look forward to other books from this author.

One of my book clubs loves historical fiction novels, and I am very excited to introduce this to them once it is published!

The Queen of Paris is based on the life of Coco Chanel. The writing is fantastic and emotional. There are some parts of her life people may never have known.

This fictional account of Coco Chanel's life in Paris during World War II was looked at from a very different aspect than other novels written about her. This was a not so sympathetic portrait of the fashion icon. It was, however, well-written, well-paced and made me care about what happens next.

All I knew about Coco Chanel was the perfume and the "little black dress"! I enjoyed reading about her early life and the struggles she endured as a young girl/woman. There was criticism and censure among her fellow Parisians because she seemed to (and, to some extent, did) collaborate with the Germans in occupied Paris during World War II. She definitely made some poor choices during that time but I'm reluctant to criticize too harshly. There is no way that any of us can know what we would or would not do in such an untenable situation. What she did to help her nephew/son, to help herself, to help close friends was what she felt was right at the time. I was disturbed by her drug use but, in those times, there were any number of people that used drugs as casually as you or I might take aspirin. It was a great story about a woman who survived a dark period in world history..

Thanks to Blackstone Publishing and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book and give an honest review.

What a great book. This was beautifully written and showed all the conflict that Chanel had in making decisions during the war. This book could make you sick with all the horrific things it covered and brought to light in a very well thought out story. I would highly recommend this book to others. It was very thought provoking.

I have struggled to decide my feelings about this book.

I knew very little about Coco Chanel other than her perfume and clothing. Her life prior to becoming famous isn’t admirable and then her involvement with the Nazis was a total shock to me. I can’t say I would have done things different to save my family tho.

I felt this book dragged at times and the third person writing was odd. It read almost like a movie script instead of a book.

I am giving this book 3 stars for the writing style. All in all a good book that gives a fictional account of a real woman during WW2