Estella Bissette and her mother take turns at night handing out soup at the train station to weary refugees arriving in Paris, fleeing the Germans. By day, the mother and daughter work for Monsieur Aumont in the atelier, creating flowers from fabric. Estella also moonlighted by selling sketches of haute couture dresses that the copy house or department store buyers from America highly desired. That was life for Estella and her mother in 1940 until a walk through the park on her way home from a jazz club changed everything.

In 2015, the annual gala at the Met features an exhibition, "The Seamstress of Paris," and granddaughter Fabienne Bissette is thrilled to attend wearing a gown by Stella Designs. However, there is much that Fabienne does not know about her grandmother's life before she came to New York. It is a life story filled with tragedy, heartache, and secrets opposite the beauty of the creations for which the grandmother is best known.

I love novels written in dual timelines, but especially in historical fiction. This well-written novel captured my appreciation not only for the characters but also for the thoughtful, descriptive writing on courage, love, living life, and the prospect of death—a story of friendship, love, sacrifice, grit, resilience, and second chances.

The Author's Note shares insights into reality vs. creativity and reflections on a question that remains a haunting inquiry that has changed the lives of too many women throughout history and continues, as is evident in current headlines and news articles. ( )

This book club read wasn't bad. A couple of petty things bugged me - extremely unlikely coincidences and people having a sudden and unexplained changed of heart. I think I'm becoming a grouchy reader. But overall, I enjoyed it. ( )

I realize that Natasha Lester made a real effort to build her fictional story from actual people and events. I wish that I had listened to the author's note at the end of the recording. I did listen to this as an audiobook and perhaps that wasn't the best format for this story. For me, I don't get as personally vested with an audiobook as I do with an actual book or e-book. This story is set in two time-frames--in and around the second world war, and in 2015. The book is called the Paris seamstress, but actual events in the book were in the United States more than in Paris, but Paris and the war are the backdrop for the story. Estella grew up in Paris with her mother who was a seamstress, but when the war came to France, her mother told Estella that she must go to the States in order to avoid the war, and at that time, Estella found out that she had an American passport. After she is in the States, more and more things about her childhood and origin keep coming out. She finds that she has a twin sister that she did not know about, and that she was actually born in the States. The secrets that her mother kept were legion, and Estella has difficulty figuring out where she belongs. She is a very talented seamstress, and she starts her own atelier in New York. She meets the man she loves, but their romance is as star-crossed as it could be and mostly because of Estella does not know anything about herself. She doesn't feel that there is anyone she can trust. The book seemed to limp along for most of it, and the coincidences and scenarios seemed just a little hard to believe. I often wondered if we would ever get to the point. When the author introduces Estella's granddaughter in 2015, there is no connection as we never see them together. Fabienne doesn't seem to fit into the story and it seems like a distraction when we skip ahead to her story. The book started to come together a bit at the end, and that is why I gave it three stars instead of the two I was thinking I would give for most of it. And the romances, thought enjoyable, were a little too sappy to be believed. Are there really people like Estella and Alex in the world? They seem to stumble along not really knowing where they are going. The book was ok as it did redeem itself at the end, but I was glad to finish it. ( )

In 1940s Paris, Estella Bissette lives with her seamstress mother. As the Germans advance, her mother decides to send her to America with only her meager belongings, a few Francs, and her sewing machine. Somehow, Estella must figure out how to make a name for herself in the fashion industry to make her mother's wishes for her come true. Throughout the story, we discover how Estella made her mark, remembered her mother, and gained the family she chose.

In this dual timeline in 2015, Fabienne Bissette, Estella's granddaughter, takes part in the Mets Gala that looks back on her grandmother's amazing career. It was this night that started her journey to discovering her beloved grandmother's mysterious past and how her life is changed because of choices other people made.

This almost 500-page book takes you on a full journey of Estella and Fabienne's lives. This historical fiction includes the story of Evelyn Nesbit and Harry Thaw and their extremely toxic dangerous relationship. Natasha Lester did such an amazing job of putting the story and timelines together to make one cohesive story. This was a book my daughter picked for me off my shelf for me as I was having a hard time choosing and this was a perfect fit for the moment. This is my first Natasha Lester read but I will definitely be reading more. ( )

Okay, how does Natasha Lester do this??? The Paris Seamstress was another touching, heartfelt book that I teared up to. I think I need another millenium for my recovery from Natasha Lester’s books, which we can add to the initial one that I needed (and still need) from The Paris Orphan. The characters - Estella, Lena, Alex, Fabienne, Sam, and others - were all so well written, and I know I’m going to miss these characters when I’m not reading this book. Both The Paris Seamstress and The Paris Orphan will now be part of my official yearly reread list. ( )