The Paris Dressmaker

Written by Kristy Cambron

Narrated by Barrie Kreinik

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 could not 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 Light 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 Hotel Ritz—the heart of the Nazis’ Parisian headquarters.?But when dashing René Touliard suddenly reenters her world, Lila finds her heart tangled between determination to help save his Jewish family and to bolster 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 facade 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.

• Stand-alone World War II historical fiction
• Includes discussion questions for book clubs

• Language: English
• Publisher: Thomas Nelson
• Release date: Feb 16, 2021
• ISBN: 9780785232186

Kristy Cambron

Kristy Cambron is a vintage-inspired storyteller writing from the space where beauty, art, and history intersect. She’s a Christy Award–winning author of historical fiction, including her bestselling novels, The Butterfly and the Violin and The Paris Dressmaker. Her work has been named to Cosmopolitan Best Historical Fiction Novels, Publishers Weekly Religion & Spirituality TOP 10, Library Journal’s Best Books, and she received a Christy Award for her novel The Painted Castle. Her work has been featured at Once Upon a Book Club Box, Frolic, Book Club Girl, BookBub, Country Woman magazine, and (in)Courage. She holds a degree in art history / research writing and spent fifteen years in education and leadership development for a Fortune 100 corporation before stepping away to pursue her passion for storytelling. Kristy lives in Indiana with her husband and three basketball-loving sons, where she can probably be bribed with a peppermint mocha latte and a good read.

Reviews for The Paris Dressmaker

[debs4jc · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Lila de Laurent once worked for Chanel. Now she must do whatever she can to survive as the Germans threaten to occupy Paris. Saundrine Pauqet has already felt the sting of the war, as her husband has left to fight and she bears the burden of caring for her son and Mother-in-Law. These two brave women gradually become members of La Resistance - using their skills and their cunning to secretly keep records of the thousands of artistic works that the Germans loot from the Jews as they occupy Paris. They are live constantly in fear of being discovered, but along the way they find allies - new comrades and old friends - who band together with them to resist the Germans. As the story flits back and forth between the two women, and between the early and later days of the war, the reader gradually learns how their two stories are related, and how the bravery of women like them allowed the world to know just what the Germans did while Paris was occupied.I greatly enjoyed listening to this audiobook. It does jump around quite a bit, so readers who have trouble tracking stories like this might prefer the print version. But the audiobook does have wonderful narration with the French words and accents giving the story just the right feel. Fans of WWII historicals will love this take on the occupation of Paris - especially if they enjoy fashion and art.

[georgiako-694894 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I love historical fiction, especially stories that are related to World War II. “The Paris Dressmaker” is one of those stories, set in 1939 Paris and throughout the German occupation on the city, until the day it’s free again in 1944.With the war about to spread all over Europe, the Parisian haute couture is spending their nights at the last parties. The French are positive that even if war actually happens, there is the Maginot Line out there to protect them. So, when the Maginot Line breaks and the Germans start their occupation in France, Paris is no longer the city it used to be. All big fashion houses shut down and along with the closure of Maison Chanel, dressmaker Lila de Laurent is out of business. Now she has no income and no way to stay alive during these awful times. But then, out of a sudden, Lila de Laurent finds herself a new job and a purpose. She joins La Resistance with the hope to find everything she can about one certain gentleman that has stolen her heart and is in outmost danger. From that point on, she infiltrates the Nazi elite, becoming the dressmaker of all those women that keep company to the Nazi high ranking officers that are spending war in the Hotel Ritz suites, the heart of the Nazis’ Parisian headquarters.Some years later, in 1943, Sandrine Paquet is cataloguing priceless works of art that were stolen from Jewish families. All valuable art was to be boarded to trains heading either to the Fuhrer’s museum or other significant places in Germany. At the same time she is secretly foraging information for the French resistance, while looking forward to receiving news about her husband’s fate. One day, a crate comes in with a beautiful Chanel gown. One that hides a cryptic message that may tell the fate of a vanished dressmaker.Two normal life, next door women, who are so similar and so different at the same time. The fate of those women that risked their lives, risked everything for their country, for freedom, for fighting an evil that took over a whole continent. Just like Lila and Sandrine, so many other women and men, fought for what they believed. While the men joined the army and took to their rifles, women armed themselves with the weapons they had. Hiding in plain sight and playing dangerous games infiltrating German ranks, drinking champagne at their parties and playing spy games without the enemy even noticing.To those who believe that women are interested only in fashion and having a good time, this would make a great response. Making that same fashion work as a cover, as a weapon, as a means to get into places no ordinary person would, Right into the Nazis’ boudoirs, into the pockets of their uniforms and right next to their desk drawers, while their ladies were changing for a gown fitting.I really liked how it all worked out. It was pretty obvious that the stories of the two women were interweaved somehow. All I had to do was read it through and find out what made them so different and so similar at the same time, until I reached that point that everything fell in place. I liked how the two main characters came from so different backgrounds. The one was a young single woman, a woman in love but with not much hope for this love, seeing her dreams being shuttered because of the war and then seizing that one opportunity to do good, to fight and maybe find redemption. The other was a married woman, a mother, that had to think of her son and her parents in law and how they could all survive these devastating days, not knowing if her husband was alive and whether he was going to return to them.I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

[janarose1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This book follow two characters throughout two different timelines. At the beginning of WWII in 1939 Paris, after the closure of her employer, Maison Chanel, Lila must find a way to make a living with her dressmaker skills. When a former friend becomes the mistress of a Nazi officer, Lila is summoned to make her dresses, and the dresses of other Nazi's women. Left alone with her young child, Sandrine must bid farewell to her husband as he goes off to fight. At the end of WWII, when caught spying at the Hotel Ritz, Lila flees through the woods. Taking shelter in a bread truck, she rediscovers her previous lover, Rene. Sandrine is working for the Nazi sorting art, and secretly working for the resistance. Despite her revulsion and avoidance, an officer has taken an interest in her.The back and forth between two different timelines, and two different characters did not really work. Sandrine felt like a secondary character, rather than a main character, which made her chapters slow and plodding. Overall, this book was a bust.

[wagner5sarah35 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

WWII-era Paris, espionage, fashion, art, and separated lovers make for great fiction and this novel does not disappoint. I didn't always appreciate the nonlinear structure of the book, especially at the beginning, but the storylines came together nicely by the end. Overall, a great read for fans of WWII-era historical fiction.

[tamidale · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I found this to be an intriguing story based on true events in Paris during World War II. Paris has long been known for their haute couture and in this story readers are privy to how the war affected the fashion world and those who were a part of it. Following two very different women, the story is told in alternating timelines that lead up to the liberation of France and beyond. Lila, a seamstress was working at La Maison Chanel when the business closed because of the war. Luckily she finds work at Nina Ricci, but soon finds herself working on her own, designing dresses for the French paramours of Nazi soldiers. During this time, she ends up working for the Resistance and is reunited with a former love interest that she thought had died.Sandrine, a young mother whose husband is thought missing in action, was recruited to work relocating and identifying precious works of art for the Nazis. She also begins to work for the resistance, but due to the unwanted attention of a Nazi Captain, her neighbors accuse her of being a collaborator.I’ll admit, it took me a while to get into this story, but once I did, I found it to be quite absorbing. The various timelines and the two women’s lives do interconnect towards the end, along with the liberation, which was also an intriguing time in Paris. In reading this, I discovered that I need to read more about Josephine Baker because I had no idea she was involved in the Resistance.Many thanks to NetGalley, First Editions and Thomas Nelson-Fiction for allowing me to read an advance copy. I am happy to give my honest review.

[bookscookslooks · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Paris in 1939 is not a happy place for the people of Paris. WWII has brought the Nazis and all that is joyful for the populace has left the city. The great house of Chanel has closed and one of its designers, Lila is now scrounging like the rest of the residents of the city but she has also joined the Resistance. Her skills have brought her into the highest echelons of Nazi powers as she makes dresses for their wives and she passes on what she learns. But danger lurks around every corner and when an old friend – an old Jewish friend – comes back into her life everything comes falling down.A few years later a woman named Sandrine is working to catalog treasures to be shipped to Germany but is secretly working with the Resistance. She comes across a stunning Chanel dress that has a story to tell. It is a dress of dreams but sadly it carries a litany of nightmares in it’s seams.As Sandrine tries to navigate the Nazis, the devastation of the War and the hope that her husband might still be alive she also tries to unravel the story of the woman who made the beautiful dress and what happened to her.Like all of Ms. Cambron’s books this was a page turner full of loss, love and hope. I keep promising myself to not read any more WWI and WWII books and yet I keep getting sucked in due to either an author I love or through a … beautiful dress. While I had to again suffer through what the Nazis wrought upon France and especially on the Jews I did find that this was a very compelling read. Ms. Cambron draws her readers in with dramatic story lines and well drawn characters.

[brangwinn · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The cover art pulled me in. The excellent narration of the audiobook kept me listening. With two different storylines going, it can be challenging for a narrator to clearly delineate the two stories. Lila de Laurent is a designer for the House of Chanel, and with the German Occupation of Paris, life has become a nightmare and she finds herself being forced to design for the mistresses of the German officers. In this role, she finds herself drawn into the French Resistance as she uses her dressmaking skills listening to the gossip of these mistresses. Sandrine Paquet, the other heroine of the story is forced to catalog the stolen art being sent to Berlin. As she is doing it she is secretly recording what is being sent. If you watched “The Monument Men”, it was women like her who helped in the return of stolen art to rightful owns. I appreciated this different look at World War II, showing the courage of the French Resistance, and the importance of their work. I also learned how Josephine Baker was an important part of the Resistance.

[lifeofliterature · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Kristy Cambron has such a gift for storytelling. In each of her novels, I am immediately submerged in the story, easily transported there by her ability to describe scenes, people, and events in such a talented and illustrative way. Her words are rich in their communication and bring forth the history to life as the novel unfolds. I greatly enjoyed this book and loved how the split-time story wove such an interesting and complex plot into a beautiful masterpiece. I really felt connected to the characters and their struggles and triumphs in the novel. I loved the way the two stories came together in the book and was struck by how easily the book flowed despite its jump between characters and timelines. I had a hard time putting the book down as I wished to know how it all ended. This is truly a remarkable novel and one that sticks with you long after you close the last page. (And the cover is gorgeous!) I highly recommend this book!I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author. Opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

[alekee_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Another great read by Kristy Cambron and she sure didn't disappoint. This quickly became a riveting read, and once you start you won't want to put it down.We all know the story here, the lawless acts perpetrated on these people and an entire race or religion. So much hate, but we are with those who actually led a double life and worked with the Resistance, and risking all they had including their lives.We walk in the shoes of those who work to counter the acts of those who are committing these horrendous acts on the people of Europe.We put faces on these people, and one is the title of this book, what a talented woman, but a woman who cares deeply and uses her talents for the good of mankind. Can you even imagine doing what these people did, pretending you agreed with these terrorists, and using all of your gifts to subterfuge them!This book is a great reminder that we need to never forget, and never repeat!I received this book through Net Galley and the Publisher Thomas Nelson, and was not required to give a positive review.

[cats57_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The stories about the women depicted in this book were engaging and, at times, had me quite upset. I learned a lot about the Resistance and the roles women played during the war. However, you have to remember that this is a romance, and things will work out! The romantic aspect was a tad overly dramatic -but I can also see why it needed to be that way.The most interesting part of the book (for me) was the author's notes at the end. It helped me put more of the book into perspective.All in all, this book was a fine novel that just didn't fit for me.*ARC supplied by the publisher and author.

[thequietreader · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

In 1939, Nazi invades Paris and the City of Lights becomes dark as its people struggle to survive. Lila de Laurent uses her fashion dressmaking skills to learn all she can from the wives and girlfriends of Nazi officers. Sandrine Paquet's husband left to fight the war, and now she uses her training to catalogue the art stolen by the Nazi. Two stories woven together in the fight to outwit the evil that hung heavy over the city.The story is told alternating flashbacks between Lila and Sandrine, so this was not something I could just pick up and continue. I had to flip back to remember who it was about and where in time the scene was happening. This made it difficult to enjoy at times.And, although I wish I could say I enjoyed both storylines equally, I found Lila's story a little tedious. When the story tells how she became dressmaker for the Nazi's, it was interesting. When she was hiding with the resistance, it was uninteresting. Sandrine's story, on the other hand, had my full attention. I felt her plight faster, with how she does her best to remain loyal to her husband and keep an interested Nazi officer at bay. I also found the details about the art being shipped out the most interesting part of the story and wish there had been more focus there.It was well written and seemed to be historically accurate. I liked how the author pulled influence from events that actually happened to tell the story.For readers who enjoy World War II stories, I would recommend this. I received a free copy through NetGalley and all opinions expressed are my own.