One of my favorite genres for books is historical fiction and The Paris Dressmaker is just that.
Set in the late 1930’s to early 40’s World War II has just begun and Nazis have invaded France. Lila de Laurant is a dressmaker who has established a popular line in fashion. She is invited to one of Elsie de Wolfe’s famous parties in Versailles France begins to recognize her talent, and soon she is privy to German secrets that have spilled out of the Nazi officers wives and paramours. Lila then joins the French resistance and is using her status as a dressmaker to infiltrate the Nazi regime under the guise of an innocent fashion designer .
The book hops between a few different timelines ,which can be a bit confusing for the first couple chapters. You will also hear parts of the story from three separate characters.
I really enjoyed learning about a totally different part of history, one that people don’t hear about very often, and that is from the Nazi side of things. I was aware of the awful thing that Hitler was doing during WWII, but seeing the behind the scenes of the Nazi regime made everything seem about ten times more horrible.
There was no foul language in this book, nor any inappropriate scenes, but this is not a book for younger children because of a few of the topics dealt with during the story. I highly recommend this book, even though I am not so much a fan of romance novels, but this one was not mushy and gushy like others.
I hope you enjoy this book, and find yourself enraptured by the suspense, drama, history, and intrigue.
Happy reading!