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    The Dressmaker's Gift
    The Dressmaker's Gift
    The Dressmaker's Gift
    Audiobook9 hours

    The Dressmaker's Gift

    Written by Fiona Valpy

    Narrated by Anne Flosnik and Justine Eyre

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    A Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, and Amazon Charts bestseller.

    From the bestselling author of The Beekeeper’s Promise comes a gripping story of three young women faced with impossible choices. How will history—and their families—judge them?

    Paris, 1940. With the city occupied by the Nazis, three young seamstresses go about their normal lives as best they can. But all three are hiding secrets. War-scarred Mireille is fighting with the Resistance; Claire has been seduced by a German officer; and Vivienne’s involvement is something she can’t reveal to either of them.

    Two generations later, Claire’s English granddaughter Harriet arrives in Paris, rootless and adrift, desperate to find a connection with her past. Living and working in the same building on the Rue Cardinale, she learns the truth about her grandmother—and herself—and unravels a family history that is darker and more painful than she ever imagined.

    In wartime, the three seamstresses face impossible choices when their secret activities put them in grave danger. Brought together by loyalty, threatened by betrayal, can they survive history’s darkest era without being torn apart?

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBrilliance Audio
    Release dateOct 1, 2019
    ISBN9781799748571
    The Dressmaker's Gift
    Author

    Fiona Valpy

    Fiona is an acclaimed, number 1 bestselling author, whose books have been translated into more than twenty languages worldwide. She draws inspiration from stories of strong women, especially during the years of World War II. Her meticulous historical research enriches her writing with an evocative sense of time and place. Fiona spent seven years living in France, having moved there from the UK in 2007, before returning to live in Scotland. Her love for both of these countries, their people and their histories, has found its way into the books she’s written.

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    Reviews for The Dressmaker's Gift

    4/5

    248 ratings11 reviews

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    • 5/5
      A book of little known history, resilience, strength, and healing.
    • 5/5
      The most accurate history and heartbreaking story ever, enjoyed totally. The story and narrations left me emotionally drained, however hopeful knowing what others endured and survived.
    • 5/5
      This is a very sensitively written account of Paris and World War II and the horrors faced by women. Hard to say it’s a book that you would love because of the subject matter but it is absolutely brilliant and gripping I could not put it down. Incredibly well researched. I highly recommend this book.
    • 4/5
      Great story well done just a bit too wordy,Loved the history
    • 5/5
      The fact that this book has a resemblance to the reality faced by these woman is humbling. This book took me through a journey and had my heart clenched in moments.
    • 5/5
      Love this author! Amazing books, every one of them. Highly recommend!
    • 5/5
      The Dressmaker’s Gift by Fiona ValpySource: Netgalley, Lake Union Publishing, and AudibleRating: 5/5 starsIt always makes me feel crappy to say I love books about the Nazi regime and World War II, but it is the truth. I tend to soak up these books and the stories of the people who lived through and triumphed over such misery and depravity. Fiona Valpy’s The Dressmaker’s Gift is no exception to the rule, and I made through all but the last few chapters in a single sitting. I am particularly fond of books that shuffle between the past and the present. There is always some grand truth, some awful secret that is revealed in these types of books and I am quite a sucker for them. In this case, young Harriet has come to Paris to begin her life’s work in the fashion industry; upon her arrival, Claire discovers she is working and living in the same location her grandmother once lived and worked in many, many years ago. Harriet’s grandmother, Claire and her two best friends, Mireille and Vivienne, not only live and worked at the same location, but they also undertook secret and tremendously dangerous missions to aid the French Resistance against the onslaught of Hitler and his Nazis’. For Harriet, her time in Paris isn’t just about beginning her own bright career, but also about connecting with her past and understanding the legacy left to her through the women in her family. As fate would have it, Harriet’s roommate is the granddaughter of one of Claire’s greatest friends and she (Mireille) is willing to help Harriet piece together the puzzle of the past and Harriet’s own family history. For Harriet, the adventure has only just begun and what she discovers is a harrowing tale of three women – unsung heroes – who sacrificed everything for the greater good. From start to finish, I found the chapters related to Claire, her friends, and the war the most interesting. Each of the three women, Claire, Mireille, and Vivienne were all such bright and wonderful characters, each with their own unique voice and story to tell. There is a great deal of backstory in this book related to these women and how they each came to be Resistance fighters. The backstory really brings the women’s lives and sacrifices into focus and helps both the reader and Harriet to understand how each woman came to be who she was. With each chapter related to the three women and their Resistance efforts, the drama increases and the tension mounts. Every page is a study in tension and when the dam finally breaks, you are swept up in the devastation and depravity as much as the three friends certainly were. From the streets of Paris to the concentration camps, three lives unfold to reveal what true passion, compassion, daring, and caring can do when the will and heart are strong. As Harriet learns more about her grandmother and her friends, the sacrifices they made and the risks they took, Harriet must come to terms with some of her own truths. For much of her life, Harriet has blamed her inability to truly connect with others on the loss of her mother at an early age and the rather standoffish nature of her father and his new family. In the face of her grandmother’s story, Harriet resolves to stop blaming others, to deal with her own issues, and live a life worthy of Claire, Mireille, and Vivienne.The Bottom Line: As a means of full disclosure, I listened to the Audible version of this book rather than read a physical copy. I believe I may have had a far better experience with this book on audio than I would have simply reading it myself. With two narrators – one for Claire and one for Harriet – I was able to more fully connect with the women and their stories. What’s more, Claire’s narrator in particular is so very skilled at conveying emotion through tone. I was able to feel the tension, the sadness, the fear through the narrator and it greatly enriched the experience for me. I found the transitions from one narrator to the next to be flawless and easy to follow which means the transitions from past to present were also flawless. I preferred the chapters related to the past the most and found the detail and historical accuracy to be spot on. Again, it always makes me feel awful to say I loved a book such as this, but I did! The story of these women is told with compassion, empathy, and a very real sense admiration. Though Claire, Mireille, and Vivienne are fictional characters, the most certainly represent real women who sacrificed everything to help bring evil to an end.
    • 3/5
      Another book on the horrors of WWII in France and in the German “work” camps. Fiona Valpy does a wonderful job presenting Paris in the early 1940’s and showing Paris today. The current Paris lives in constant fear of terrorist attacks such as the ones in 2011 and 2015. Paris, in the 1940’s, faced the brutality of the German invaders. The story covers three seamstresses during WWII and the hardships these girls faced and their determination to resist the Germans. The other story follows two granddaughters of the seamstresses learning about their grandmothers’ bravery. Harriet wins an internship in Paris and discovers her past and learns her place in the world. Valpy’s novel depicts the human element of war and love and friendship. Claire and Mireille survive the terrors of WWII, but only Mireille relates the history to Harriet and her own granddaughter. Fiona Valpy creates brilliant imagery with the description of the dresses, the scenery, and the food of Paris.
    • 4/5
      Excellent book. Interesting people. Nice to have trauma being passed on discussed in a novel. Liked the stuff about fashion, war and terrorism
    • 4/5
      Harriet finds a picture in her deceased mother's things and sets off to Paris to find out the story behind the 3 girls (1 of whom is her grandmother). Paris, 1940, the city is occupied by Nazis. 3 seamstresses try to live normal lives, each with a secret.
    • 5/5
      A wonderful dual timeline story set in Paris during WWII and the present day. In 2017, after discovering a photograph of her grandmother as a young woman, Harriet travels to Paris to explore her family’s history. In the 1940s three seamstresses become members of the French Resistance and find themselves in grave danger.The Dressmaker’s Gift is a moving tale of friendship, courage, resilience, love, loss and hope. I found it gripping, suspenseful and somewhat harrowing. It kept my attention throughout - I was eagerly turning the pages to find out what happened next. I thought the two interlinked stories were sewn together quite seamlessly, a little like the lovely blue dress which one of the characters wore, and I very much enjoyed both timelines. I liked the way it was told and thought it had a lovely, easy style. Having read The Beekeeper’s Promise by the same author, it was great to recognise the name of Mereille, one of the seamstresses, and read her personal story. Well researched, beautifully written and nicely plotted with some captivating characters, it gives a fantastic insight into the life of the resistance fighter and how the French coped with life during German occupation in such perilous and disturbing times. Well worth the read. I loved it!