The Dressmaker's Gift

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 show more 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! show less

This is a split time story, which follows Harriet, a contemporary young woman, as she moves from England to France to take up an internship at a couture PR firm in Paris and to learn more about her grandmother Claire, a French woman who had died before she was born. Claire's story along with that of her two friends, Mierelle and Vivienne (Harriet has a photograph of the three together in Paris) is set during the Nazi occupation of Paris in WWII. This book follows a similar pattern to most of the WWII books popular now, but is well done. Harriet's quest to find out about the women is believable, as she has always felt out-of-place in her father and stepmother's home where she went to live after her mother committed suicide. She is hoping show more that the story of Claire, her mother's mother, will help her feel connected and at home in France, and possibly help her understand her mother's actions.

I did like the book for the most part, and can recommend it. I was not sold on the theory the author (through Harriet) propounded, that a traumatic event that triggered depression could go so far as to alter one's actual DNA and then be passed down to future generations. At least in the afterword, Valpy acknowledges that this theory is controversial. I do believe that depression can be triggered by a traumatic event, or a genetic predisposition, and that the two together is quite devastating. And I bought the ultimate conclusion that by being aware of her mother's and grandmother's history, Harriet can manage her own destiny and not necessarily blindly follow that path. show less

The Dressmaker’s Gift by Fiona Valpy
Source: Netgalley, Lake Union Publishing, and Audible
Rating: 5/5 stars

It 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 show more 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. show less

"The Dressmaker's Gift" wasn't a bad novel but I don't think it deserves the high praise it is receiving on GoodReads. I was unimpressed with modern-day Harriet. She was a pathetic character, and her continual wallowing in self-pity had me wanting to shake throughout the book.

However, I did enjoy the story of the three young French seamstresses who became resistance fighters. Their friendship was unbreakable and enduring. I especially admired Claire and Vivi, who showed courage, humanity and kindness despite the brutalities they suffered under the hands of their Nazi captors.

Personally, I think "The Dressmaker's Gift" would have been a better novel had the author just focused on the war years. Harriet's story was totally unnecessary. I show more don't know why historical fiction writers feel they must include two timelines in every book they write. show less

The Dressmaker’s Gift by Fiona Valpy is a historical fiction novel set in nazi occupied Paris during WW II. It is the story of three young women who work as seamstresses for a designer. They live together in a small apartment on the 5th floor of the building that houses the designer’s workshop. While on the surface the three are going about their lives as best as they can in the difficult times but in actuality, all three have secrets as some are working for the Resistance and one is dating a German officer.

The author does an admirable job in her descriptions of 1940s occupied Paris and the plot although rather familiar in feel, is gripping. As with many historical novels today, we follow two timelines, one set in the 1940s and one show more set in modern times. In this book, I thought the double timeline worked quite well as a way to recount the past, as a granddaughter traces her family history through her grandmother’s war time activities. On the other hand I felt the book got a little clunky in the telling of the modern story as the author tried to make parallels between the two stories that just didn’t work.

Nevertheless, I thought The Dressmaker’s Gift was interesting and certainly held my attention with the details about the French fashion industry and the war-time conditions in Paris. Overall the book was a well-told account of survival and friendship. show less

The lives of 3 young seamstresses in Paris' fashion industry merge during WWII amid Germany's occupation. In the shocking brutality, violence and deprivation that follow these women risk everything to save lives, forging bonds of friendship that last for generations.

Vivacious, smart and beautiful Vivienne, Claire,and Mireille are excited to work in the atelier of Delavigne Couture catering to a wealthy & stylish clientele. Living in the apartments above the sewing workshop they quickly become friends.

Each day they witness abusive attacks and round-ups of Jewish men, women and children who are driven off and rarely seen again. Each woman decides on her own to join and help the resistance.

The Dressmaker's Gift is a moving story of show more making courageous decisions despite fear to protect innocents and the future.

Quick, engaging read. show less

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