Thanks to NetGalley for a copy of this new title. I had never read this author before and was impressed by both her writing style and character development. My only complaint was the modern timeframe with Harriet. I think the story would have been better with just the wartime story of the three friends.

Fiona Valpy has become one of my favorite historical fiction writers! The Dressmaker’s Gift set in both WWII and modern day France weaves a tale of three courageous women and the toll their part in the war takes on future generations. Set against the backdrop of France’s fashion business, the story is just the right mix of intrigue, suspense and love backed by historical incidents. It is a must read for anyone who is a fan of WWII historical fiction.

I really enjoyed this book. Set in two time periods, present and 1940’s, it tells the story of a granddaughter trying to find herself and about her grandmother. Her grandmother was a dressmaker in Paris during the war and became friends with two other seamstresses. They become involved it the resistance program and many interesting things follow after that. The granddaughter, Harriet, begins to understand not only what her grandmother went through but also begins to understand her own mother.

Unable to give feedback as issues with this and several other titles and unable to download another copy

The Dressmaker’s gift was a beautiful story. Young Harriet follows a picture of her grandmother all the way to Paris. She never expected to find a friend who’s grandmother knew her own grandmother, Claire. The story of Clair’s time in Paris during WWII unfolds. It’s a heartwarming story of how love got three friends through terrible times.

The Dressmaker's Gift - Wow this book captured my attention from page one and held it until then last page. The courage of the resistance people was amazing. I loved this book! I have a couple other books by his author that I can't wait to read.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing this ARC. I loved the dual timeline. Gripping from the start. Very emotional story. This is my first time reading Fiona Valpy and I'm looking forward to reading more

This one fell short for me. The characters were lackluster and somewhat uninteresting. The coincidence of two granddaughters sharing the apartment just seemed to far reaching. And I could not follow how Harriet was getting the back story. It started out with Simone telling her the story, but then going forward there are random scenes from the past and then scenes from the future, with Harriet ruminating on the past story, but no idea how she came to know about it. This story could have been so much better than it was.

This book vastly overcomes its wobbly start, and reader can more easily immerse in the layered plot, connecting with these characters. When you're reading a long line of books, it can be easy to DNF a 'challenging book beginning,' but Valpy grabs us at just the right moment, weaving an engrossing storyline, and impressing us with just how great she is with crafting nuanced characters and believable plotlines. I enjoy WWII fiction and expected great things from this author's work. Plus, there's something so special about working to get into a book, staying with it when it would be easier to lay it down, and turning a page to be completely immersed. The jumps in time worked masterfully, and the intrigue lives and breathes in the story's world. I enjoyed this book immensely and am now looking to find additional titles by this author. Time well spent,

Just wow. I absolutely loved this book. Told over two timeframes - WWII and present day - it tells the story of Harriet who goes to live in Paris in the same building as her deceased grandmother did. She uncovers the story of her grandmother Claire and her friends Merielle and Vivi. It is a brilliantly told tale of love and loss and human spirit. I wish I had not yet read this book so I had the experience of discovering it afresh. Normally I devour books in a day or two but I spent several days slowly reading this book taking in the language, the descriptions of wartime Paris juxtaposed with modern-day Paris and the terrorist attacks that took place a few years ago. A highly recommended read.

Really enjoyed this book, the story and the characters were beautifully written, I felt like I was right there along with Harriett as she followed her grandmothers story.

The story of this book is about Harriet discovering her past with a photo of her grandmother and two friends in Paris during the war. This picture leads Harriet to head to Paris for work but also to put together her past and the journey that her grandmother made.

This book was truly moving.

The Dressmaker’s Gift by Fiona Valpy is a story that pulls at the heartstrings. Set in two-time periods, Claire's granddaughter, Harriet travels to France to complete a one-year internship in a Paris fashion house in 2017. Her internship includes housing in an apartment on an upper floor of the fashion house. While settling, her roommate sees a picture of three women that Harriet places next to her bed. Her roommate tells her one of the girls is her grandmother Mirelle. Harriet’s grandmother, Clare, and Vivienne. The three women also lived in the same apartment and worked for a fashion house during WWII. Valpy made the stories of these three women come to life and provokes a variety of emotions for the reader. We learn what each of the women do to help the Resistance and follow two of them to a concentration camp. I felt this was a powerful book and learned so much about these three strong women. Thank you NetGalley, Amazon UK , and Amazon First Reads for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 ⭐

Wow!! I have so many feelings about this book! I love this authors writing style. She made the characters come to life for me. I could feel their pain, sadness, happiness, joy... All their feelings. So much so that I would be crying and then laughing almost at the same time.

Fiona Valpy's research was just impeccable! I have read many non-fiction books about WW2 so I knew what to expect in that regard and she was dead on with her descriptions. This part made the book! I enjoyed the women being at the center of this story. She showed how they could not only hold down a job, but be a part of the resistance as well.

You know the story is well written when you get up early so you can read the book before you go to work!

Thank you Netgalley, Amazon Publishing UK and Fiona Valpy for giving me a copy of this book for my honest review!

This book was wonderful. Lots of tears while reading it, which is always a good sign of a well written novel. You won’t be disappointed reading this. Thank you to netgalley for the arc.

Fiona Valpy is new to me, and quickly becoming a favorite author! Thanks to Net Galley for the preview copy of The Dressmaker's Gift for my honest review. The Bee Keeper's Promise and Dressmaker's Gift stand out, are certainly meticulously researched novels that develop emotional responses. Dressmaker's Gift is a stand-alone novel encompassing the same time period as The Bee Keeper's Promise. It includes one of the sisters from the Bee Keeper's Promise and her part of the French Resistance during Nazi Germany's occupation of Paris. The format interweaves chapters from the present with chapters set during WWII. Vivid descriptions and superb character development kept me riveted, just as in this author's previous novels. In the plethora of WWII fiction on my shelves, Fiona Valpy stands out as well researched and more importantly superb read that allows the horrors of the era to be told from believable characters that you feel you have known in real life!

3.5*

An enjoyable read set in present time as story goes from Harriett gaining information about her grandmother & two fellow dressmakers and their fight with the resistance during the war in Paris

An emotional and harrowing read at times it reminds us, the readers, that ordinary people did extraordinary things during the war

The book made me cry but I enjoyed it. A engaging story that's set in two different time zones. The flow of the writing is easy to follow and means you dont get mixed up between the characters but are still invested in them. You could tell a lot if work has gone into making sure the different settings are told correctly.
Overall I really liked this book.

‘I see now it is one of the paradoxes of life that if we love it so much that we are frightened of losing it, it can make us live a half-life, too scared to get out there and live whole-heartedly because we have too much to lose’

Guided by a photo from her grandmother’s past, Harriet finds herself in Paris. Desperate to find a sense of identity and recover from her past, she sets about finding out the truth of what happened during World War II, and what became of those three women in the photo...

Unfortunately this one wasn’t really for me. I found the writing quite simplistic at times, and didn’t feel the characters were very well written. There was no real complexity, and they were all very flimsily constructed - who goes from loving a German officer to being part of the resistance within a few short pages? Many of the situations like that could have been handled far better, but instead just felt like lazy writing.

Also, I personally found any of the sections that were meant to be emotionally charged - such as those focusing on the death of a character, or two people falling in love (yes this book also throws in the dreaded instalove) - just felt completely flat. As a reader, it made for a very dull reading experience.

The changes between past and present were also not that great. Harriet was not a good character, and her chapters really added nothing but a bit of bulk to the book. There was also the issue of how she knew what was going on in the past - how exactly did all of that inner dialogue get into letters? It just didn’t make sense, and like another reviewer commented, having used a diary would have made this issue far stronger. Also, the forced links between the two were just bad writing - we didn’t need to read Harriet reflecting on what had just happened to Claire. We read what happened to Claire ourselves. It was pointless, repetitive, and felt like a way to bulk up the word count. To be honest, once I realised that Harriet’s sections were just fluff and trite nonsense about finding herself with no real story, I ended up skimming most of them, which is good, because it ended up being completely ridiculous.

Final complaint is about the level of repetition - towards the end, someone’s true identity is revealed. The fact that they said they were someone else is then repeated every. single. time the character is mention. Seriously, we can remember basic facts that were mentioned just a few minutes ago. Don’t assume your reader is dumb, and don’t overexplain.

All in all, just not a fan. I read it in a few hours, simply due to the fact that I really hate not finishing books, so decided to blitz in instead. Personally, I thought it was the weakest book I’ve read in a while, but that might be because I’ve had some very good World War II fiction over the last few months. Personally, I’d give it a miss and read something else instead.

Disclaimer - I received an advance reading copy from NetGalley. This has not affected my review in any way, and all opinions are my own.

Book Review: The Dressmaker's Gift by Fiona Valpy

2017. In first person narrative, Harriet from England, a newly accepted fashion intern or "stagiaire" in Paris, searches obsessively for the history of her grandmother after she finds an old photo of her as a young woman with two companions.

1940-1945. In third person omniscient, Harriet gives a detailed account of the exploits of three French seamstresses in a couturier's atelier in Paris - Mireille from the Pyrenees, Vivienne from Lille, and Claire from Brittany, and their harrowing experiences during the Nazi occupation as Special Operations Executive (SOE) agents of the French Resistance.

In every chapter after the first, Harriet repeatedly reminisces about the grandma she never knew, which felt largely like maudlin interlude fillers barely contributing to the flow.

Furthermore, it is hard for the reader to understand how Harriet in 2017 could have known the thoughts, deeds and feelings of her granny and the women. Although dramatic and entirely engaging, the incredulity renders the account concocted and contrived right through the final chapters, when Harriet finally meets Mireille. But still, Mireille couldn't have been cognizant of details, for example, during Claire's and Vivi's internment.

As a Francophile who lived in Paris, I love the authentic setting of the story. The address 12 Rue Cardinale in the 9th Arrondissement of Paris is indeed about a fifteen minute leisurely walk to Ile de la Cite as mentioned in the book. That Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris is in the exact spot is a bonus. It's not a fashionable area but a couturier's atelier or workshop could be anywhere in the district.

The story's timeline is spotted a dash of creative license. This was famously a time of turmoil for Parisiens, with the Charlie Hebdo terrorist attack in January 2015, the Bataclan Theater massacre (138 dead) in November 2015, and the terrorist truck attack (86 dead) in Nice on Bastille Day on July 14, 2016. All three are mentioned in the book. A subsequent attack directly involves Harriet and her friend, Simone, which proves key to the plot.

The mental state of a person living in Paris during this time, apart from day to day living, would concede little time for concern and research much less be melancholy about an unknown grandmother. Moreover, all three attacks predate the prologue, so we'll have to assume Harriet first arrived in Paris earlier in 2015.

Finally, I cannot imagine anyone with Breton blood not be knowledgeable of their ancestry from the day of birth. The Bretons are fiercely proud of their Celtic heritage. In fact, most consider themselves Breton before French, regardless where they live.

Claire, Harriet's grandma was a full-blooded Breton.

A tale far from compelling, but writing par excellence and good light reading.

Review based on an Amazon First Reads edition, and an Advance Reading Copy from Amazon Publishing UK and Lake Union Publishing through NetGalley.

I love this book! Historical fiction is one of my favorite genres and I particularly like to read about the world war two era. And being a woman of course I enjoy fashion and this book has it all. The characters were very realistic and I genuinely liked them. The author did a great job describing the city itself and also the horrendous acts of war that the Parisians people had to endure.
The story is told in two different parts; one in the present and one in the 1940's. I have always enjoyed this concept and how the author blends them seamlessly together. This is a great book and I highly recommend it.