A Good Read

The Dressmaker’s Gift by Fiona Valpy
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, adrift and 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 dark and painful.

The story follows a common trend - modern day person finds an intriguing photograph in an attic, connected to a family member and embarks on a journey of discovery. The first chapter is a bit of a cliché. Harriet moves to Paris, obtains a job in the same building that her grandmother, Claire, worked in, and settles in the same apartment that her grandmother lived in. And Harriet’s roommate in that apartment happens to be the granddaughter of one of the girls in the photograph who also lived in that same apartment. It does get more interesting when the story goes back to 1940 and the lives of the three seamstresses unfold.

∼ Be safe and well ∼ 

Polly x