Review: Miss Dior

I feel like Dior is one of those fashion names that I’ve always been aware of but never really knew much about. So I definitely didn’t know Christian’s sister, Catherine, was involved in the French Resistance until I read Natasha Lester’s novel The Paris Secret. I was fascinated with the work of the Resistance during WWII and the stories that were never told. So, when I had the chance to review Miss Dior: A Story of Courage and Couture, I jumped at it because I wanted to learn more about Catherine. A hefty book full oh photos, Justine Picardie’s latest work was interesting, if far lighter on Catherine’s life than I would have liked.

Here’s the book’s description:

When the French designer Christian Dior presented his first collection in Paris in 1947, he changed fashion forever. Dior's "New Look" created a striking, romantic vision of femininity, luxury, and grace, making him--and his last name--famous overnight. One woman informed Dior's vision more than any other: his sister, Catherine, a Resistance fighter, concentration camp survivor, and cultivator of rose gardens who inspired Dior's most beloved fragrance, Miss Dior. Yet the story of Catherine's remarkable life--so different from her famous brother's--has never been told, until now.
Drawing on the Dior archives and extensive research, Justine Picardie's Miss Dior is the long-overdue restoration of Catherine Dior's life. The siblings' stories are profoundly intertwined: in Occupied France, as Christian honed his couture skills, Catherine dedicated herself to the Resistance, ultimately being captured by the Gestapo and sent to Ravensbrück, the only Nazi camp solely for women. Seeking to trace Catherine's story as well as her influence on her brother, Picardie traveled to the significant places of Catherine's life, including Les Rhumbs, the Dior family villa with its magnificent gardens; the House of Dior in Paris; and La Colle Noire, Christian's chateau that he bequeathed to his sister.
Inventive and captivating, and shaped by Picardie's own journey, Miss Dior examines the legacy of Christian Dior, the secrets of postwar France, and the unbreakable bond between two remarkable siblings. Most important, it shines overdue recognition on a previously overlooked life, one that epitomized courage and also embodied the astonishing capacity of the human spirit to remain undimmed, even in the darkest circumstances.

After reading Lester’s novel, I did a bit of research myself to see what was out there about Catherine Dior. The answer is: not much. She was incredibly close-lipped about her time in the Resistance, her arrest, and her imprisonment and eventual release from a Nazi camp. Picardie gives life to a woman who stayed towards the shadows after the war – but there’s only so much she could do. I found the book was far more about Christian and his fashion house than it was about Catherine. Interesting? Sure. But not exactly what I signed up for.

Because there isn’t a lot of information from Catherine directly, Picardie used stories from other people who were experiencing similar things as Catherine during the war. In this, Picardie did very well and I could begin to have a sense of what Catherine would have gone through. She shares stories of other people who were also captured by French informants and tortured by the Gestapo, and women who were imprisoned at Ravensbrück at the same time as Catherine. Those stories, as you can imagine, were hard to read. Not only did it highlight that there were completely terrible people who had no qualms about sending people to die just because they were “different” but there were so many others who were complicit. Catherine was tortured because she was trying to help stop the war and the atrocities. She was tortured and injured so badly she was never able to have children. French citizens turned on each other and helped the Nazis. And the conditions at the camps were horrifying. There really is no other word for it.

Picardie visited a few of the places that were of significance to Catherine’s life, including Ravensbrück. She puts quite the personal spin on the visits, which I wasn’t expecting but isn’t surprising. I imagine one can’t help but reflect when visiting a place like a concentration camp. What was somewhat irksome was she referenced her own grief in such a way that I felt like I was supposed to know Picardie’s own background and history (from a brief search, I learned her sister died). It seems a bit…harsh, I guess, to remark on the author’s own grief but it took me out of the narrative I was expecting from this book.

The photographs and other images used throughout the book were great and added a lot to the overall narrative of the book. While I wasn’t expecting so much fashion talk, I was glad of the photos that accompanied those chapters. I did a listen/read combo with this one but I’m definitely glad I had a (hefty) physical copy as well so I got the full experience. The audiobook is narrated by Picardie herself and was well done.

Miss Dior: A Story of Courage and Couture was definitely more couture than courage. If you know what to expect going into Justine Picardie’s latest book, I think you’ll enjoy it more. Catherine Dior may have been the focus of the book but she still remains an elusive historical figure.

*A copy of this novel was provided by the Canadian distributor, Publishers Group Canada, in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*  

My review of The Paris Secret

Review: Eight Perfect Hours

Lia Louis’s novel Dear Emmie Blue completely blew me away in 2020 so I was very much looking forward to her 2021 release, Eight Perfect Hours. It took me awhile to get to it – only reading it earlier this year – but I quite enjoyed it. Perhaps not as much as the earlier novel but it was still a good story in its own right.

Here’s the book’s description:

On a snowy evening in March, 30-something Noelle Butterby is on her way back from an event at her old college when disaster strikes. With a blizzard closing off roads, she finds herself stranded, alone in her car, without food, drink, or a working charger for her phone. All seems lost until Sam Attwood, a handsome American stranger also trapped in a nearby car, knocks on her window and offers assistance. What follows is eight perfect hours together, until morning arrives and the roads finally clear.
The two strangers part, positive they’ll never see each other again, but fate, it seems, has a different plan. As the two keep serendipitously bumping into one another, they begin to realize that perhaps there truly is no such thing as coincidence.

First things first. This one was, for some reason, somewhat marketed as a Christmas/holiday novel. I don’t know if that was the intention of the publisher or if it wasn’t even them marketing it, it was early readers deciding that a book released in the late fall with a cute, wintery cover MUST be a Christmas book. It’s so not. The story opens in March. *checks calendar* Yeah, nowhere near Christmas. It’s not even really a wintery novel. Noelle and Sam get meet each other because of a freak snowstorm and the rest of the novel takes place over the following months. So, basically, you could read this one at any time of year and be delighted.

You really have to believe – or allow yourself to believe for the length of the novel – in the concept of fate to be able to fully enjoy this story. It was a sweet idea and something I had fun thinking about while reading. It was a nice little escape from *waves arms at world* The little coincidences that were revealed throughout the story were sometimes completely unexpected and kept things from getting too predictable.

Noelle’s ex-boyfriend was a complete asshat. She’s the caregiver to her mother, who had had a stroke a few years prior and really struggled with going out because she knew she wasn’t the person she used to be. So things fell to Noelle. All the things, basically. Earning money, paying bills, and so on. Her ex couldn’t understand why she kept looking after her mother and didn’t go after what she really wanted in life (to be a floral designer). No one can fully understand someone else’s life but he was such a…well, kind of a gaslighting jerk about it. She deserved so much better and I hated reading as she got sucked back into his orbit. I might be a bit harsh but I had such a “yuck” feeling when reading the scenes with him that that feeling has stuck with me way more than some of the other things about this book.

Sam, on the other hand, was lovely. That said, I don’t feel like I really got to know either character enough over the course of the story which may have kept me from enjoying it as much as I expected. I cared about them both, most definitely. I wanted to read their Happily Ever After. But there just seemed to be a little something missing from their development.

All in all, Eight Perfect Hours was a lovely read. It wasn’t, unfortunately, perfect but if you want a sweet, reflective read, Lia Louis’s latest might be the one for you.

Some content warnings: death of a friend/family member years prior, depression (including postpartum), suicide.

My review of Dear Emmie Blue

*An egalley of this novel was provided by the publisher, Simon & Schuster Canada, via NetGalley in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*

Review: The Maid

I love when a book meets my high expectations. I had been looking forward to Nita Prose’s debut novel since the second it was announced. She’s an amazing editor and I was excited to see how she fared as an author. Fast forward several months and I finally had a copy of The Maid in my hands. I chose it as my first read of 2022 and, friends, it set the bar really high for all the books after it. I enjoyed it immensely!

Here’s the book’s description:

Molly Gray is not like everyone else. She struggles with social skills and misreads the intentions of others. Her gran used to interpret the world for her, codifying it into simple rules that Molly could live by.
Since Gran died a few months ago, twenty-five-year-old Molly has been navigating life’s complexities all by herself. No matter—she throws herself with gusto into her work as a hotel maid. Her unique character, along with her obsessive love of cleaning and proper etiquette, make her an ideal fit for the job. She delights in donning her crisp uniform each morning, stocking her cart with miniature soaps and bottles, and returning guest rooms at the Regency Grand Hotel to a state of perfection.
But Molly’s orderly life is upended the day she enters the suite of the infamous and wealthy Charles Black, only to find it in a state of disarray and Mr. Black himself dead in his bed. Before she knows what’s happening, Molly’s unusual demeanor has the police targeting her as their lead suspect. She quickly finds herself caught in a web of deception, one she has no idea how to untangle. Fortunately for Molly, friends she never knew she had unite with her in a search for clues to what really happened to Mr. Black—but will they be able to find the real killer before it’s too late?

The mystery in this one kept me guessing the entire way through. The twists Prose weaves into the story were so good and I was constantly surprised and delighted. As delighted as one can be when reading a murder mystery, of course. This wasn’t a gruesome murder mystery – it was…well I hesitate to call it fun. I’ve seen it referred to as a Clue-like story and it kind of is (though not as madcap as the movie). It’s a well written puzzle. It just so happens that at the heart of the puzzle is a very dead man.

Molly was a gem of a main character. She struggles socially and it’s led a lot of my book blogging/bookstagram friends to talk about whether or not she’s on the Autism spectrum. It’s never explicitly stated and I wonder about that. Is it because she’s not and is just an awkward young woman? Or is it because Prose is not on the spectrum herself and she and her editors wanted to avoid any “own voices” debates? Is it that Molly was never tested and has no idea? Or is it just because labels shouldn’t matter? I think I was contemplating this more than necessary because Molly and her perception of the world played such a large part in how the crime was discovered and solved. Those who have read this one – I’d love to know your thoughts!

One of the things I liked about this mystery was that it didn’t descend into ridiculous amateur sleuth territory. Molly wasn’t going rogue and trying to solve the murder on her own (though there were some questionable decisions). She works with her lawyer and her friends to figure out the truth because the police weren’t listening to her. The lead detective clearly didn’t understand how to work with Molly and she was exasperated and didn’t try to understand how best to get to know how Molly’s brain worked. The comeuppance that the detective got was, perhaps, a bit heavy handed but it was a nice reminder to everyone to take a second to figure out why communication may be failing with someone and not assume that everyone’s brains work the same way.

The Maid was just the kind of mystery I have realized I love reading and I’m so thrilled with Nita Prose’s debut novel. The book has already been optioned for a movie and I’m really looking forward to seeing it on screen. I think it’ll be so enjoyable. I can’t wait to read what Prose writes next!

*A copy of this novel was provided by the publisher, Penguin Random House Canada, in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*

Review: The Inn on Sweetbriar Lane

Foiled again by my “Ooh, a small town romance! Yes, I’ll review it” impulse. The Inn on Sweetbriar Lane should have been really sweet and enjoyable. And I’m sure some people felt that way about Jeannie Chin’s novel. I just…didn’t. The story really didn’t work for me and the characters drove me up the wall.

Here’s the book’s description:

June Wu always has it all together—only now, she’s in over her head. Her family’s inn desperately needs guests, her mother’s medical debts are piling up, and the surly, if sexy, stranger next door is driving away the customers she has left! When he asks for June’s help, though, she can’t say no. After all, his new bar could be just what the upcoming Pumpkin Festival needs to bring in more tourists. But with the fierce attraction between them, will working together be playing with fire?
Ex-soldier Clay Hawthorne prefers being on his own. He’s moved to Blue Cedar Falls for one reason—to carry out his best friend’s dream of opening a bar in the hometown he’ll now never return to. But the town’s business association is trying to stop Clay’s progress. June soon becomes his biggest supporter, and while their partnership is supposed to be only temporary, for the first time Clay wants something permanent—with June. Can two total opposites really learn to meet each other in the middle?

I received an advanced audiobook copy of this novel to review and, personally, I felt like the narrators didn’t help me enjoy Chin’s novel. There were dual narrators, which I often really like especially when it’s a romance being told from two characters’ perspectives. This time it really grated me. Katy Tang and Zachary Webber were the narrators and Webber, especially, really didn’t work for me. His female voices were so, so bad. And the rest of his narration felt…flat. I've seen other reviews that praise his work but for my earballs? Hard no.

I know I sound like a broken record but I’m really particular with enemies to lover stories. And I don’t really appreciate it when a so-called “opposites attract” story ends up being more enemies to lovers. That’s what happened with this one. The pair get off on the wrong foot and they can’t move past that for awhile. June tries to be a nice neighbour but she goes in with certain expectations and doesn’t allow Clay, who’s grumpy and hates everyone and everything about the small town, to explain whatever he’s willing to explain (he’s such a closed book…also frustrating). But then! They kiss and fall into bed with each other and…all is well? I couldn’t buy into the relationship at all.

Not only did the relationship not work for me – zero chemistry – but the characters themselves did nothing for me. I wanted to like them. Truly. They had had hard pasts but neither were willing to communicate with anyone about anything and I’m so over stories where no one talks. There are other ways to create conflict! I appreciated that June was Chinese American, something that isn’t seen all too often in romance novels, but that was about the only high point for me.

I’m always bummed when I don’t like a book. I really did expect to enjoy The Inn on Sweetbriar Lane but it just didn’t work for me. Will I read more of Jeannie Chin? Maybe. Maybe not.

*An advanced audiobook copy of this novel was provided by Hachette Audio in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*

Review: Noble Ambitions

I’ve been trying to read more nonfiction for the last few years because I just don’t tend to gravitate towards them. There’s no real reason why. I just…don’t! With that in mind, I thought I would try the audiobook of Noble Ambitions: The Fall and Rise of the English Country House After World War II. I was pretty captivated with Adrian Tinniswood’s book and narrator Roger May was excellent.

Here’s the book’s description:

A rollicking tour of the English country home after World War II, when swinging London collided with aristocratic values
As the sun set slowly on the British Empire, its mansions fell and rose. Ancient families were reduced to demolishing the parts of their stately homes they could no longer afford, dukes and duchesses desperately clung to their ancestral seats, and a new class of homeowners bought their way into country life. A delicious romp, Noble Ambitions pulls us into these crumbling halls of power, leading us through the juiciest bits of postwar aristocratic history—from Mick Jagger dancing at deb balls to the scandals of Princess Margaret. Capturing the spirit of the age, historian Adrian Tinniswood proves that the country house is not only an iconic symbol, but a lens through which to understand the shifting fortunes of the British elite in an era of monumental social change.

Raise your hand if you watched Downton Abbey. *looks around* Yes, I thought there were a few of you. You know how Lord Grantham, Mary, and the rest had to find a way to save the house? And how the real life owners of the house it’s filmed at, Highclere Castle, also had to find a way to save their house and did so by opening it up for filming? This book essentially told the real life story of people just like the Crawleys. It shared how the houses fell into disrepair after years of glory and then started to become popular and established once again. Some of the stories were absolutely mindboggling and I can’t believe what some of the owners went through to try and keep their home.

May was a great narrator and I could have listened to him talk about just about anything for much longer than 13.5 hours of this audiobook. His tone was more conversational than lecturing, which I appreciated.

I have to say, though, as much as I loved the audiobook and narration, I couldn’t help but wish I could have seen all the photos of the houses (that I assume are in the print edition). Tinniswood talks about SO MANY houses that it was hard to keep straight and seeing it in writing and in photos may have helped a little bit.

It was interesting to read this one and feel so much sympathy for the owners of these massive houses. You can’t really help it because, for a lot of them, they were losing their family's homes because of taxes and death duties and the sheer expense of the upkeep of a crumbling stone house. But on the flip side…some of those families were at the tippy top of the elite and some of the Haves did nothing to help the Have Nots. Tinniswood doesn’t get into the social divide too much – other than to talk about the servants and how they left service because there were other options available to them. All of it gave me something to ponder as I listened to the descriptions of the opulence that was once seen – and then seen again – at these houses.

Those who enjoy history, and English history in particular, will like Adrian Tinniswood’s book. There are tons of interesting facts – and equally interesting gossip – in the pages of Noble Ambitions that made for an enjoyable read.

*An advanced audiobook copy of this novel was provided by Hachette Audio in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*

Review: The Clockmaker’s Wife

You all know I love my historical fiction, especially when it’s set during WWII. I thought The Clockmaker’s Wife sounded interesting but I really didn’t expect to be completely captivated by Daisy Wood’s first adult novel. There was no real reason for that expectation but I am SO glad this book exceeded those expectations. I didn’t want it to end!

Here’s the book’s description:

The world is at war. And time is running out…
London, 1940. Britain is gripped by the terror of the Blitz, forcing Nell Spelman to flee the capital with her young daughter – leaving behind her husband, Arthur, the clockmaker who keeps Big Ben chiming.
When Arthur disappears, Nell is desperate to find him. But her search will lead her into far darker places than she ever imagined…
New York, Present Day. When Ellie discovers a beautiful watch that had once belonged to a grandmother she never knew, she becomes determined to find out what happened to her. But as she pieces together the fragments of her grandmother’s life, she begins to wonder if the past is better left forgotten…

I actually ended up listening to the audiobook of this novel – since it had been so long since it had been released (oops) and I needed something to listen to while driving to and from work. I kept finding excuses to listen to it because I couldn’t put it down. A lot of that had to do with the narrator. Sophie Bentinck was great with this novel and I’ll definitely be looking up more books that she’s narrated. She was able to move between English and American accents seamlessly and neither grated. I could have listened to her all day!

I’m always so intrigued by the stories that dive into a family’s history and expose secrets that had been hidden since the war. I wonder how many of those stories have died with the people who experienced them, especially now as their descendants are dying as well. How much don’t we know about what happened during the war, specifically? And just…generally? I’m sure I’m not alone when I say I wish I had asked my grandma more about her life. You don’t care as much as a youth and then, suddenly, it’s too late. All that to say – I really enjoyed reading as Ellie put together the mystery of her grandmother’s life and I’m pretty sure my jaw dropped as the final puzzle piece was revealed.

The plot Wood laid out in this novel – that Big Ben was going to be attacked during the Blitz – is totally fictional. She notes that right off the bat, lest anyone think the clock was ever in grave danger. But, with a typical writer’s brain, she thought…well, it could have happened. And I agree. I’m sure there were plans to bomb the buildings that never materialized. I was anxious as the story went on and Nell got closer to danger and Ellie got closer to the truth. I found it really well done. It may not have been real but Wood did the research and the rest of the story – the setting and so on – rang true.

All in all, I enjoyed The Clockmaker’s Wife. Daisy Wood’s first foray into adult novels was well done and I’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for her next. This one wasn’t perfect but it kept me entertained and that was good enough for me!

*An egalley of this novel was provided by the publisher, HarperCollins Canada, via NetGalley in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*

Review: The Christmas Village

After Christmas 2020 I told myself I would do Much Better when it came to reviewing Christmas 2021 books. I would be on top of it and get the reviews up in a timely manner. Reader, that did not happen. No, I simply couldn’t keep up with full time work and full time school and reading and reviewing All of the Books. So, here we are, over a month after the Big Day and I am still reviewing Christmas romances. Woohoo! The Christmas Village by Annie Rains was a sweet romance read that was, unfortunately, completely forgettable. Seriously. I couldn’t remember a thing about it when I sat down to write this review. *cringes*

Here’s the book’s description (which did, thankfully, remind me what the book was about):

Lucy Hannigan has inherited her mother's bulldog, Bella, and her childhood home, the only pink house on Gingerbread Lane. With the holidays coming up, the pressure is on to decorate the house for the annual lights competition and maintain her parent's winning streak. But Lucy already has her hands full as a midwife and a new landlord-to her ex-fiance.
When Miles Bruno is suddenly asked to move out of his rental home, he's grateful to Lucy for taking him on as a tenant. But their broken-off engagement doesn't make it easy to live next door. Sparks still fly between them, and he'd give anything to get back in Lucy's good graces. But to do that will take much more than just tree trimming and house decorating and contest winning. Will one wildly grand romantic gesture on Christmas Eve finally soften her heart?

Once again, the small town + second chance got me. With a bonus Christmas storyline! How could I turn it down? I didn’t and maybe I should have. I’m finding I’m totally over the whole “we were so in love but were torn apart by Circumstances and now we’ve been thrown back together and we remember why we were in love and we’ll live happily ever after” storylines when they were So In Love when they were, like, children (or, you know, eighteen). I love romances. I love the predictability and warmth and loveliness of the stories. I don’t love when I don’t care one iota for either of the leads and have a hard time understanding why they broke up in the first place. And don’t seem to actually work through the “issue” in the end anyway. That’s what happened with Lucy and *checks description again* ah yes, Miles. The reason they broke up was valid enough but there was SO much happening with it that just got brushed aside when they really should have had more conversations about it. It blew my mind a little, to be honest. You can’t just start over, friends!

I also admit I wasn’t expecting such a chaste storyline. I’m fine with all sorts of steam levels but considering what had happened in the couple’s past, I kind of expected more than just handholding (I think there were kisses too but please see: “Kaley doesn’t remember anything about this book” as discussed above). And, for some reason, it irked me a lot and my poor little romance reading mind was a bit boggled.

Now, the Christmas element was lovely. There’s Christmas in the title and there’s Christmas in the story. Most notably, the light decorating competition. I LOVE Christmas lights so it was really fun to read as the pair decorated the house. Christmas spirit was also found in the storyline about family and how sometimes your found family is just as important as your blood relatives.

So…no. I didn’t like The Christmas Village. I’m sure there are fans of Annie Rains out there and I do really wish I had become one of them but I will never again think of this novel once I press publish on this post. I know you can’t win ‘em all but it really does make me sad!

*An egalley of this novel was provided by the publisher, Forever, via NetGalley in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*