Natasha Lester's previous book, The Three Lives of Alix St. Pierre, was one of my favorite reads of 2023 so I was so excited to read her latest, The Disappearance of Astrid Bricard. The book starts off a little slow, but I was quickly drawn into the characters and how they connected. Astrid is a flawed but beautiful character who fights for her place in the fashion world. I loved that each woman - Mizza, Astrid, and Blythe - was fully fleshed out, and I was hooked to find out what really happened to Astrid at Versailles. Loved this one, and the reappearance of Alix as a side character. As always, a great story from Natasha Lester!

TW: PPD

Thanks to Forever for the copy of this book!

“Why is the world so full of older men all telling a young woman she won’t be able to do what she wants? How do women walk down the street beneath the weight of all the doubt everyone wants them to carry? Why is powerlessness the only thing the world wants to gift them? An anger like she’d felt during the women’s march sweeps through her. And underneath it, the same desperate need to be more than what everyone wants to make her.”

Natasha Lester is a go-to author for my picky historical fiction self. THE DISAPPEARANCE OF ASTRID BRICARD is a fantastic read, full of lush fashion history, heartache, love, tenderness, and empowerment. Told through three generations of Bricard women in three timelines, we see the way that women are treated in the fashion industry and how it impacts every relationship in their lives. I think this is a book to pick up even if you aren’t typically a historical fiction reader - it’s very relevant while also focusing on some interesting history.

Read if you:
- like generational stories or multiple timelines
- enjoy fashion
- want some aching & longing with your romance
- love women’s empowerment

WOW!! 🤯 This book had me HOOKED from the first chapter. This is one of those historical fiction books that makes you want to Google whether everything is historically accurate or not. It took everything in me to wait until the end (and I did, go me 🎉) and the authors note gave me all the information I wanted.

I don't want to spoil the plot because so much amazing stuff happens, but if you love historical fiction, fashion, or a bit of family drama/intrigue this book is absolutely for you!

Thanks to @netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Fascinating history that follows three generations of the Bricard family who were all involved in the fashion industry. The story starts out slow and I almost gave up on it, getting confused between the various women, but once it picked up, I was drawn in and couldn’t get enough of all three of them. From the strength of Mizza in the war, then the resilience of Astrid in the tough, male-dominated fashion industry, and finally the resolve of Blythe with her family issues, everyone of them was compelling and had you rooting for them. Highly recommended for those who love fashion and/or multi-generational novels.

This timeless story was beautifully written. Natasha Lester always does a fabulous job of melding fictional drama with real-life people and events. I was equally captivated by each of the three timelines, which isn't always the case in books with multiple perspectives.

Blythe is the daughter of Hawk Jones and Astrid Brickard and she is an up-and-coming fashion designer. Her grandmother was Mrs. the muse for Christian Dior. She was also a joke to the media or a sex symble depending on who you ask. Her mother Astrid was making headway in the business until she disappeared although some would accuse her of letting Hawk Jones design her Fashion line. No we’re supposed to believe that Blythe is not doing well financially even though she has money from her dad that she refuses to touch and maintenance payments from her husband Jacob which she also refuses to touch yet she’s flown her and her two kids into Paris and is staying at one of the most affluent hotels there before she drives to the castle where they’re staying for the next three weeks for her ex mother-in-law irises birthday. Conveniently she also has an appointment with a fashion house who wants to do the new Mrs. line with the Blithe being the creator. Daniel the head of the fashion house is also her husband Jacob Black‘s biggest rivalry in the business. Despite the rivalry and her initial hard pass he convinces her to at least think about it. Over the course A first day at the castle she will renew a lot of things one of the biggest is her relationship with her ex-husband Jacob and she starts investigation to see what happened to her mother thanks to Jacobs niece Coco… Hence the title of the book the disappearance of Astrid Brickerd. With the exception of blithe I found her mother and grandmother to be very selfish women and I also don’t like when inbox people have access to loads of money but choose to suffer on principle it’s almost as if they’re pretending to be those who struggle financially because when you have access to money and you struggle that almost seems like a mental health issue. I mean who refuses to spend their child support and alimony… That’s just ridiculous and I felt like she was letting her children go without just so she could appease some great need in her… Either way I did find this book interesting but there came a point in the book almost at the end actually where I wanted to throw my kindle at the wall and fell tripped and I hate to be so scathing in my review but… OMG… Really? However up untill that point I was very interested in the book and although I have no interest in fashion I still found this book interesting especially New York in the 70s with Astrid I do think the author was a little over the top with her romantic sentiments but that’s just me for the most part I really did enjoy the sport and at the end was very happy for Blithe and her children. I do recommend this book for those who love historical fiction because the one thing I know is that things that bother me and books don’t seem to bother others and in this book it didn’t bother me to the point where I wanted to stop reading it this really is a good book I love Natasha lesters books this one not as much as others but I would still definitely recommend it. I want to thank the publisher and NetGalley for my free arc copy please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

Blythe Bricard is a designer in New York married to Jake and they have formed a fashion line "Blake" (for both of their names). Blythe is the daughter of the mysterious designer and muse Astrid Bricard who disappeared when Blythe was just a baby and no one knows what happened to her. Her father Hawk Jones was also a designer during the 70's when the famous Battle of Versailles fashion show blew up with Halston verbally attacking Bill Blass.

Astrid was the daughter of Mizza Bricard who was a muse/ designer with Christian Dior and the only real life character used in this book. So we follow all three women and the time they lived, but what was the most exciting for me, having worked in the fashion industry during the late 70's and early 80's, was reading the Author's Note at the end of this book. So much of what she writes about in the book really happened with some names and dates and changed but the designers and the incidents (especially the Battle at Versailles) was based on the real story.

My thanks to Net Galley, Hachette/ Forever Publishing, and Hachette Audio for an advanced copy of this e-book and audio book.

Wow to a prologue that definitely kept me reading. This felt like a 3D puzzle through time that I got to help piece together.
With each introduction to a new character & their POV, I was more interested. The prologue & the hints along the way that things go very wrong for them made me all the more anxious to get answers.
What these three generations of talented women have to endure to survive & succeed is heartbreakingly portrayed. The people who truly love them sometimes suffer collateral damage in their battles.
The world of high fashion is a great way to highlight the old guard’s attempt to keep women from gaining too much power in their industry. Fashion is art, & business, & it seems like a never-ending campaign. Fighting to get noticed, achieve success, stay relevant, & be remembered in history. Many of the villains in this story need only words as weapons. Sadly, women are sometimes the ones taking down other women. It’s a joy when they decide to hold each other up instead.
I had a really tough time setting this book aside to do anything else. It had my anticipation level off the charts. Knowing heartbreak & truths are on the horizon will do that. This is a deep exploration into familial relationships, expectations, & secrets. It’s also about the importance of close friendships. All complicated subjects, to say the least. I think the author did a great job keeping an emotional story suspenseful & real. It made me rage because life can be very cruel, but soothed me by pointing out life’s beauty, too.
I found the author notes about the real Mizza interesting. I hadn’t heard of her before, & it prompted me to do more reading. Thanks to NetGalley for allowing me to read an advance copy.

Three generations of Bricard women- a name synonymous with mystery, allure, sex and fashion. A name also overshadowed by the accomplishments of the men in their respective lives.

Mizza Bricard: Paris, early 1900s. Known as Christian Dior’s muse during the backdrop of the Great Wars, Mizza, a brilliant creator in her own right, plays a critical role in the resistance movement during Nazi occupied Paris.

Astrid Bricard: New York, 1970s. Mizza’s daughter, Astrid, desires to make a name for herself outside the fame and notoriety of her mother. As she struggles to make her mark in a fashion industry deeply rooted in misogyny, she finally feels that she’s coming into her own when she mysteriously goes missing at a fashion show in Versailles.

Blythe Bricard: present day. Blythe was only months old when her mother, Astrid, disappeared at Versailles. The recently divorced, mother of two, is also struggling to shed the infamy and rumors surrounding her famous mother and grandmother, while simultaneously living up the legacy of her family.

Each woman feels trapped by the constraints of the gender roles of their times, and each desires to forge a path of their own. The author has captivated the struggles, frustrations and triumphs of women over the last century, right up until present day. In doing so, she has cast three strong, independent women into each role.

The three storylines weaved back and forth effortlessly, continuing to build on the well executed storyline. You can tell that a great deal of work went into cultivating this story—the detail is meticulously researched. Natasha Lester has done a brilliant job setting atmosphere—from the streets of Nazi occupied Paris to the glitzy discos of the 1970s to the tumultuous woman's rights movements, into the fashion shows, dinner parties and design rooms-- I felt like I stepped into each setting fully. 

The mystery of Astrid's disappearance and the affect it had on each character was a delight to unravel. This novel was a slow burn that never lost any steam, and the journey to the conclusion was well worth it!

4.5 ⭐

The Disappearance of Astrid Bricard had me hooked from start to finish and I absolutely loved it! The tale of the Bricard women over 3 generations was so intricately woven into a complex, beautiful, engaging, and gripping tapestry. I fell in love with Mizza, Astrid, and Blythe and was transfixed as I read their stories and followed them through their lives. I confess I was up way later than I should have been on multiple nights because I could not put this book down. While the story revolves primarily around the 3 women, it shines because of the people they loved who lived alongside them. Thank you, Natasha, for not only giving us Mizza, Astrid, and Blythe, but for giving us the gift of Hawk, Velvet, Graham, Benji, Alix, Jake, Eva, Sebby, Iris, Ed, Ida, Jeanne, Lev, Christian, Hubert, David, James, and Bernard. I adored spending time with each and every one of them.

In addition to this being a delight to read, there is such an important message and commentary about society at large and the ways men and women are viewed and valued differently. Even as a woman who knows this is true, it was so eye-opening and maddening and heart-breaking to see it play out within the fashion industry and at 3 very different time periods within the last century. It is such a relevant topic. Even as I type this review - there is a piece on tv about the Barbie movie being nominated for an Oscar and Ryan Gosling getting nominated for his portrayal of Ken ---- but the actress that portrayed Barbie and the phenomenal female Director, Greta Gerwig, are not nominated. It falls right in line with Natasha's story of men getting the glory and the respect that the women deserve.

There are difficult topics and triggers to be aware of: WWI and WWII, drug and alcohol addiction, racism, sexism, loss of parents, loss of partners, and Post-partem depression..

If you are a woman, a man, an activist, a fashionista, a parent, a child, a husband, a wife, a friend, a sibling, a fighter, or a survivor --- then I 100% recommend you pick up this book. This was my first Natasha Lester book but certainly not my last. I received a review copy from the amazing publishers via Netgalley and all opinions are my own. This book hits shelves on January 30th.

I was glued!

Hate Couture and three generations of women who are designers. Mizza Bricard, Astrid Bricard and Blythe Bricard. Then there’s those Names rolling off the tongue—Dior, Givenchy, Oscar de la Renta … and Hawk Jones.
Mizza is in Paris in 1917, working as a designer. Her story is tragic, occasionally joyful, and hard. Dismissed by the magazines and journalists of the day as Dior’s muse, she fights not only the political times of the day, the Nazis, but the gender issues.
Then we come to the swinging 69’s and all that entails. Astrid, Mizza’s abandoned daughter, is fighting for the right to be heard in the New York fashion scene. Unfortunately she’s dogged by her mother’s history. She meets Hawk, a talented designer inspired by fabrics, rather than being able to draw designs. Theirs is a tragic love story. Astrid like her mother is dismissed as Hawk’s muse. She’s not! Time and time again the media deliberately tells the story it wants the public to hear, rather than what is. No-one hears the truth about Astrid’s phenomenal talent. Her designs are unacknowledged, in reality stolen. Astrid disappears, a spectacular visual commentary, at the fashion showdown between France and America in Versailles in 1973. All that is left is a silver dress with blood on it. The dynamics between Astrid and Hawk is likened to Hamlet and Ophelia. “Ophelia drowning offstage while Hamlet rules.”
Fast forward to 2012 and Blythe, Hawk and Astrid’s daughter. She too is on the fashion treadmill fighting her mother’s reputation as nothing more than Hawk’s muse. She try’s to go her own way, but anything she does has huge media scrutiny. When she decides to design clothes under her grandmother’s label, Mizza, she faces challenges on more than one front.
Based loosely on some characters in haute couture, I was immersed, flicking pages as the story, its mystery, its highs and lows, unfolded.
Three strong women, three passed by women in terms of the fashion industry.
A truly fabulous read!

A Forever (Grand Central Pub.) ARC via NetGalley.
Many thanks to the author and publisher.
Please note: Quotes taken from an advanced reading copy maybe subject to change
(Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.)

A well-researched novel that opens up the world of fashion through the history and mystery of Astrid Bricard. The misogyny of the industry is presented as blatantly as it was felt by so many women who tried to make their way and achieve success. This is the story of three generations of women descended from Astrid Bricard and how they face many of the same challenges that Astrid dealt with. There is love and loss and love again through all the craziness that fame throws at beautiful, talented, ferocious women. The effects of women's lib were felt in the design community, but men still ruled the fashion industry. It's deeply compelling, poignant, sad, and triumphant. Confusion and lack of communication and trust ruin much of the lives of these women, and still they persist and resist being abused. Fascinating tale based on the life of a real person that so many have forgotten. Thoroughly mind-absorbing.

A sweeping story of forgiveness fashion and feminism over the course of history. Natasha Lester delivers a masterfully woven story spanning multiple generations.

Three generations of women all face similar challenges. Mizza, Astrid and Blythe. All with a love of fashion and difficult choices to make.

I know nothing about fashion. I’m sitting here in ripped jeans and a hoodie 😆😅 but I appreciate comfort and the freedom to wear what I want. The fight that women went through to see these changes is something I mostly take for granted. I have a lot of freedoms. I can wear what I want, own land, start a business, hold any job, vote, drive, marry who I want and I am so grateful for the women of the past who sacrificed to grant us those freedoms today.

This book threw me back into a time that I sometimes forget about and I’m grateful for the reminder and the glimpse at what it must have been like to be a woman in previous generations.

I loved the multiple layered timelines and the way that Natasha tells a story. Solving the mystery of Astrid’s disappearance was beautifully done.

If you enjoy historical fiction, feminism, multi-generational stories and fashion, you should snag this book as soon as it’s released next week.

4.5/5

THE DISAPPEARANCE OF ASTRID BRICARD by Natasha Lester will undoubtedly be one of my favorite books of the year. It is a sweeping historical novel set over three time periods and following the journey of three generations of women fighting to prove themselves in the high-stakes fashion industry. In Paris, 1917, Mizza Bricard is a parentless sixteen-year-old, who has worked her way up in the turbulent environment of the best couture houses in Paris. Over the years she becomes a legendary designer, but not always for the reasons she had hoped. Mizza’s daughter, Astrid Bricard, comes to New York in 1970, determined to rise to the top of the fashion world on her own talent and vision. But when she meets and falls in love with Hawk Jones, already a fashion phenom, she is recognized not for her innovative designs, but as her boyfriend’s muse. When they are both invited to compete in the fashion event of the century, the Battle of Versailles, between the top American and French designers, Astrid mysteriously disappears with nothing left behind but the dress she intended to showcase. In the present, in the French countryside, Astrid’s daughter, Blythe Bricard has her own designing dreams, but having always been overshadowed by her famous mother and grandmother, Blythe puts her dreams on hold to care for her two young children. There is plenty of drama, mystery and intrigue in each of the time periods. The author notes that the story was inspired by the real Mizza Bricard, but Astrid and Blythe were fictional characters. Fact and fiction were so perfectly blended in this story that I never would have guessed that Astrid and Blythe weren’t also real people. I was totally engrossed in this beautifully-written and emotional story and I know it stay on my mind for a long time. I most highly recommend this outstanding book. Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the chance to read and review an early copy.

A fascinating book that moves between generations but unfortunately shows how women's struggle for power and acknowledgement hasn't changed much.
Mizza's story is told during the two world wars, mostly in Paris. Her daughter, Astrid, is in 1970s New York, attending Parsons School of Design and trying to become a designer. Blythe is Astrid's daughter, wanting to be a designer herself but stuck because of her divorce, caring for 2 young children, and the legends and stigmas she inherited from her famous mother and grandmother.
This book kept me intrigued from the beginning. It showed just how powerful the media and society are at coming up with stories about someone that are taken as fact. These three women all deserved better and to be recognized for who they truly were and what they accomplished, but too often the credit went to the men around them. Lots of interesting fashion, and three different views of motherhood.

“There’s a danger in power, he thinks now. The people who have it see those that want it as dangerous. And those who don’t have it see the people who do as the true threat. Danger isn’t always wildness—it’s when you’re vulnerable and everyone knows it.”

Woah! 4.5 stars rounded up. What an utterly engrossing tale of the Bricard women. Told over multiple generations and from each womans POV this book grabbed me and didn’t let go. It delves into the frustrations of being a woman in the worlds of both fashion and motherhood. How can a woman make a name for herself in the fashion world when the media only portrays her as the muse for a man?! Ugh!

Mizza, Astrid, and Blythe Bricard all have their own challenges to face in the world in their respective generations. I enjoyed all of their perspectives but I think Blythe was actually my favorite. I loved how not all of the men were villains, either, because there are a lot of good men that appreciate strong and talented women in this world.

The audiobook made this book for me! It is done so well and really gets you into the hearts and minds of these incredible women. These ARE fictional characters, right? I’m struggling to believe that as they just seem so REAL.

“I want to make clothes that are both beautiful and give women back their power—clothes that damn well never make them feel like their only job is to make a man more powerful.”

Thank you to Netgalley, Hachette Audio, Grand Central Publishing, and the author for the ARC and ALC in exchange for an honest review.

Loved this book a lot more than I thought I would! Especially as I got to the end and it all made more sense.

Historical fiction at its best as the women in this book are built so well from real figures in the fashion industry. I loved reading at the end of the book about the real inspiration behind the book, and the plot of the book itself moves along really well.

Read if you like: historical fiction, women's fiction, fashion

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book. #sponsored

The book revolves around the disappearance of Astrid.
She’s a talented designer by herself. However she never really gets the credit she’s due. The mind set of the times doesn’t believe a woman could be a great designer.
While I enjoyed the book, it did seem a bit too long. The chapters alternate between characters and years. It does keep you on the edge of your seat rushing to find out what happened

DNF.
I really struggled to get into this. Gave up at 10%. While this wasn't for me, I'm sure others will love it!

Another wonderful read by Natasha Lester historical fiction at its best.The world of fashion the women come come alive.I could not put this saga down.#netgalley #forever