Once again, Cambron transports us to an unforgettable time in WWII history, this time through the fashion and art world.


Book Details:

Book Title: The Paris Dressmaker by Kristy Cambron
Category: Adult Fiction, 400 pages
Genre: Historical Fiction/Dual timeline/WWII Fiction
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Release dates: February 16, 2021
Content Rating: PG (Mature theme of WWII)

Book Description:

Based on true accounts of how Parisiennes resisted the Nazi occupation in World War II—from fashion houses to the city streets—comes a story of two courageous women who risked everything to fight an evil they couldn’t abide.

Paris, 1939. Maison Chanel has closed, thrusting haute couture dressmaker Lila de Laurent out of the world of high fashion as Nazi soldiers invade the streets and the City of Lights slips into darkness. Lila’s life is now a series of rations, brutal restrictions, and carefully controlled propaganda while Paris is cut off from the rest of the world. Yet in hidden corners of the city, the faithful pledge to resist. Lila is drawn to La Resistance and is soon using her skills as a dressmaker to infiltrate the Nazi elite. She takes their measurements and designs masterpieces, all while collecting secrets in the glamorous Hôtel Ritz—the heart of the Nazis’ Parisian headquarters. But when dashing René Touliard suddenly reenters her world, Lila finds her heart tangled between the determination to help save his Jewish family and bolstering the fight for liberation.

Paris, 1943. Sandrine Paquet’s job is to catalog the priceless works of art bound for the Führer’s Berlin, masterpieces stolen from prominent Jewish families. But behind closed doors, she secretly forages for information from the underground resistance. Beneath her compliant façade lies a woman bent on uncovering the fate of her missing husband . . . but at what cost? As Hitler’s regime crumbles, Sandrine is drawn in deeper when she uncrates an exquisite blush Chanel gown concealing a cryptic message that may reveal the fate of a dressmaker who vanished from within the fashion elite.

Told across the span of the Nazi occupation, The Paris Dressmaker highlights the brave women who used everything in their power to resist darkness and restore light to their world.The story is about two brave women who use their work positions to get information for the resistance. Lila de Laurent is an haute couture dressmaker and Sandrine Pacquet works with an art historian cataloging art confiscated by the Germans. The story follows the lives of these two women during the four-year occupation in Paris. I enjoyed both of these women's stories that gave us a glimpse of what it must have been like living in Paris during those difficult war years and how some women chose to collaborate with the Germans while others courageously smuggled information to the underground resistance.

I usually love dual timeline stories, however, in this case, I did find it slowed the pace of the story. The reason is that there was a dual timeline for both women, so it became confusing sometimes to remember where the story left off for that particular character. The novel has a strong beginning with Lila de Laurent running for her life in the Meudon Forest as she is hunted by the Nazis. Then it switches to Sandrine's story. Then it switches back to Lila's story but to a previous timeline. The chapters had cliffhanger endings but it was a while before we would get back to it and this was at times frustrating. I think, in this case, this story would have been better told with one timeline and the use of well-placed flashbacks.

Also, I was waiting for the connection between the two women but it was minor and did not converge as I had hoped. That beautiful Chanel gown that is on the front cover concealing a cryptic message ended up being an anticlimactic plot for me.

AMAZON | BARNES AND NOBLE | INDIEBOUND | KOBO

The Paris Dressmaker

An ounce of courage. A split-second leap of faith. Together, they propel two young women to chase a new life---one that's reimagined from what they might have become.

A Sparrow in Terezin by Kristy Cambron
Thomas Nelson
ISBN: 978-1401690618
Published April 7, 2015
Trade paperback, 368 pages

My Review
Reviewed by Laura Fabiani

Last year I read The Butterfly and the Violin by Kristy Cambron which left an impression on me. I was eager to read the second book in the Hidden Masterpiece series, which I also enjoyed very much. This book can be read as a stand-alone. As in the first book, there is a dual timeline. In present day, we are once again introduced to Sera and William who are getting married, and Sera is moving her art gallery from New York to California.

The Butterfly and the Violin by Kristy Cambron
Thomas Nelson
ISBN: 978-1401690595
Published July 8, 2014
Trade paperback, 336 pages

I just finished reading the last pages of this book, and my mind is filled with its images. It is a touching, heartbreaking and soul-lifting kind of book. I'm usually careful about which WWII books dealing with the Holocaust I choose to read, because I am sensitive and easily moved to tears. This one has a dual timeline and a mysterious painting so I couldn't resist. And I'm so glad I read it!

New York art dealer Sera James has devoted the last two years of her life to finding the painting of a young violinist with piercing blue eyes. It has kept her busy since the day her heart broke when she was left at the altar. Through her research, she meets William who is also searching for the painting but for different reasons.

The subject of the painting is Adele Von Bron, a talented Austrian violinist who was part of the aristocracy and whose father was a high-ranking member of the Third Reich. Adele leads a privileged life until she follows her heart and helps Vladimir, a fellow musician, smuggle Jews out of Vienna. Her whole world changes when she is condemned to Auschwitz.

I enjoyed the dual timeline, Sera's story in modern day NY and Adele's from 1939 to 1945. The modern story gave me some reprieve from the grim and horrific setting of Auschwitz's concentration camps. But I liked Adele's story more than Sera's. The characters were more developed in the historical part and the love story more compelling. I didn't really empathize so much with William and Sera's dilemma's as I did with Adele's. I found Sera cried too much and it was a little too coincidental that William turns out to be such a God-fearing man. Their love story felt too rushed for me.

I did like how the two stories converged. Most of all, I liked learning about how the prisoners were still able to create beautiful art even in the midst of such evil and cruelty, in hiding, under starvation and weakness. It is an ode to the human spirit and resilience. The author states in her notes at the end of the book: "Found in the rubble of partially destroyed warehouses and old barracks of Auschwitz were more than 1,600 pieces of art that survive to this day." I was astounded by this fact.

What's more, the prisoners who were musicians were required to form an orchestra and perform while prisoners were brought to the camps and torn apart from family members or when they marched to the gas chambers to their death. The author deftly explores the feeling of these women as they had to perform such hideous duties for the SS soldiers or be killed.

The author's theme of worship through God's creation—that is, our lives—was strong throughout. It kept such a hopeful note throughout the story. I've read enough life stories of Holocaust survivors to know that, for many, their strong belief in God is what sustained them. This passage in the book touched me:

"God plants the talent and it grows, sustained by a spirit-given strength to endure, even in the midst of darkness. It thrives in the valleys of life and ignores the peaks. It blooms like a flower when cradled by the warmth of the sun. It remains in a hidden stairwell in a concentration camp. It grows, fed in secret, in the heart of every artist." (p.278)

I will always remember Adele's story, a non-Jew, who willingly put her life at risk for what she believed to be right. I applaud the author for writing such a beautiful story, filled with hope and human strength. I read this book every chance I got, snatching stolen moments in my otherwise crazy schedule this week. If you like WWII stories with heart, I encourage you to read this one. Oh, and one last thing, both the cover and the book title are perfect for this story.

About the author:
Kristy Cambron has been fascinated with the WWII era since hearing her grandfather’s stories of the war. She holds an art history degree from Indiana University and received the Outstanding Art History Student Award. Kristy writes WWII and Regency era fiction and has placed first in the 2013 NTRWA Great Expectations and 2012 FCRW Beacon contests, and is a 2013 Laurie finalist. Kristy makes her home in Indiana with her husband and three football-loving sons.

Find out more about Kristy at http://kristycambron.com

Note: This book is rated C = clean read. Even though part of the story takes place in a concentration camp, the violence is not graphic, although the situations are horrific. They are for a mature audience.

Reviewed by Laura

Disclosure: Thanks to the publisher and to Litfuse for sending me this book for review. I was not compensated in any other way, nor told how to rate or review this product.