The Dressmaker of Paris

What a wonderful book. The story of a country girl who made a fantastic life for herself. However, the journey she travelled to get yhere was full of challenges. This book is so beautifully crafted together - all the places she travelled; all the horrors she faced, all strung together in this gripping book.

I think I felt every emotion reading this book, it truly felt like a journey of discovery.
Told directly through the memories of the main character, Rosa, as she is reflecting back on her life before a major event, you see how items of every day life transform in to memories, lessons and anecdotes from her past leading up to the present day. This book explores a young girl growing up in Europe during WW2 and how the events there influence her life in so many directions. It was gripping to read the decades influence her life, her loves, her tragedies, her heartbreaks, but also her accomplishments.
At times it was hard to remember how young Rosa was at the beginning of her story, I mistakenly felt quite shocked and saddened by her decisions but I then realised she was traumatised and so young, and this burden was weighing her heavily throughout the main bulk of this book, it was only towards the end I felt I could see her and then I understood. I was so moved by the ending of this tale, such a wonderful story.

I love reading the occasional historical fiction and my discovery of this novel was significantly facilitated by its beautiful cover, which is why as soon as I was approved for the ARC, I moved everything on my TBR aside and dove right into it.

Rosa Kusstatscher has built a global fashion empire upon her ability to find the perfect outfit for any occasion. Tonight, as she prepares for the most important meeting of her life, her usual certainty eludes her. What brought her to this moment?

As she struggles to select her dress and choose the right shade of lipstick, Rosa begins to tell her story. The story of a poor country girl from a village high in the mountains of Italy. Of Nazi occupation and fleeing in the night. Of hope and heartbreak in Switzerland; of glamour and love in Paris. Of ambition and devastation in Rio de Janeiro, and of success in New York. A life spent running, as she sees now. But she will run no longer.

The novel spans decades and continents in this riveting account of a young woman’s journey to self-discovery. As I followed Rosa in the retelling of her story and the struggles that were part of it, I often forgot how young she was. As a teenage victim who escapes the Nazi occupation, becomes Christian Dior’s Muse, and grows to be a world famous fashion icon and businesswoman, she takes each challenge in her stride. Her encounters with love, friendship, and sisterhood, encourage her to draw strength from within and rise above the heartbreak and tragedy.

As mesmerising as this novel is, what truly brings it full circle is the way it ends. It transforms your entire reading experience, leaving you with a heart bursting with emotion that is impossible to contain.

Inspiring, soul-stirring, and hypnotic, this novel will hook you with the first line and reel you in.

This ARC courtesy of NetGalley and Hodder Books.