The Paris Dressmaker: Book Review & Giveaway

Review at a Glance

• The Paris Dressmaker
• My Rating: 4.5
• Genre: Historical Fiction
• Format: eARC*
• Publication Date: February 16, 2021
• Author: Kristy Cambron

Similar To

The Paris Dressmaker Book Blurb

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 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 Paris Dressmaker REVIEW

As a quick reminder, here is my rating structure:

• 1 star: Did not finish
• 2 Stars: Finished but I do not recommend
• 3 Stars: Liked but could use some improvements
• 4 Stars: Loved this book!
• 5 Stars: Rare. The unput-down-able, binge read obsession.

My star ratings are also based also genre based. I compare all books with books of the same genre. While I would love to believe that my love of books in general transcends all bias, there are genres I prefer over others.

I’m human.

Example: If I read a mystery novel and think it deserves a 5-star rating, then I have compared it to other mystery books, and determined it to be one of my absolute favorites. The unputdownable mystery.

This will hopefully keep me from comparing Outlander, a personal obsession of mine, with the experience of reading The Hate You Give. Both 5 star books for me, but completely and totally different. I couldn’t even try to rate them against each other, so I don’t. Makes my life easier. 🙂

My Thoughts About The Paris Dressmaker

Let’s start this review with the obvious, that stunning cover! GAAHHH!!!

The colors, the Eiffel Tower, and that dress just jumped out and grabbed me. I didn’t have any choice about reading this book, because the cover just wouldn’t let go of me.

So, I snapped up The Paris Dressmaker and soon found that the story of these women wouldn’t let me go either. In fact, I’m sure it will stay with me forever.

Every time I read a WWII book, I’m amazed at the change that took place within the cities and people of France. From the occupied streets of Paris, The Paris Dressmaker is the story of two women who do what they can with their own skills to resist the Nazi invasion and survive the third reich.

Beyond the captivating and often mysterious plot, Kristy Cambron uses her thoughtful storytelling gifts to paint an almost magical scene of Paris during the war. With every page, I could sense the beauty and bleakness come over me, setting up my understanding of this time and these women in a particularly unique way.

Conclusion

Using two different women and two different timelines threaded together, The Paris Dressmaker weaves the fabric of a beautiful and tragically accurate story of art, fashion, and resistance in the occupied City of Lights.

Historical fiction fans will adore this.

About the Author

KRISTY CAMBRON is a vintage-inspired storyteller writing from the space where art, history, and faith intersect. She’s a Christy Award-winning author of historical fiction, including her bestselling debut, The Butterfly and the Violin, and nonfiction, including the Verse Mapping series of Bibles and Bible studies. A self-proclaimed history nerd, she loves to chase all things research, going behind the scenes at a Ringling Bros. Sarasota mansion, touring a former TB sanitarium, making bee friends at a working honey farm, or embarking on a back-roads jaunt across Ireland being a few.

She holds a degree in Art History/Research Writing and spent 15 yrs in education and leadership development for a Fortune-100 corporation, partnering with such companies as the Disney Institute, IBM/Kenexa, and Gallup before stepping away to pursue her passion for storytelling. Her work has been named to Publishers Weekly Religion & Spirituality TOP 10, Library Journal Reviews’ Best Books, RT Reviewers’ Choice Awards, received 2015 & 2017 INSPY Award nominations, and received a 2020 Christy Award for her novel, The Painted Castle. She’s been featured at Once Upon a Book Club Box, CBN, Lifeway Women, Jesus Calling, Country Woman Magazine, MICI Magazine, Faithwire, (in)Courage, and Bible Gateway.

Kristy lives in Indiana with her husband and three sons, where she can be found penning her next stories in a beloved coffee shop corner with kayaks on the wall. (She’s only bumped her head twice…)

To connect with Kristy, visit: kristycambron.com

*Thanks so much to Kristy Cambron, Thomas Nelson, and HFVBT for my copy of The Paris Dressmaker in exchange for an honest review.