The Paris Dressmaker by Kristy Cambron Review

 Happy Monday Friends :)

I pray today finds you all in good spirits.

Did you have a good Valentine's Day? My hubby and I chose to have dinner at home, and spent the evening together watching a movie and playing board games.

With everything that's been going on with me personally and with the state of our world this year, I felt like Valentine's Day this year more than ever needed to be focused around Christ's love for us, and not so much on the other side of things.

 I'm been studying my Bible so much more these last few months, and have been really sad to see some of the Christian speakers I've always so admired speaking in ways that completely contradict the scriptures. I've realized more than ever just how important it truly is to know the Bible inside and out, and I'm disappointed in myself for not noticing these discrepancies in the years prior. I've been thinking a lot lately about the scriptures that talk about people being lead away in later days, and I think this is happening more and more in our current society. I've heard a popular saying that states that Biblical Christianity isn't popular, and popular Christianity isn't Biblical. There is so much truth in this statement, and it's scary just how easy it is to let the world's ideals on wrong notions slowly creep into your thinking

In previous years, I hadn't been nearly as diligent with the type of content I was putting into my mind, and I've definitely been paying the price for that. I truly want to live more and more for Jesus each and everyday, and while I'm still a wreck and a huge work in progress, I know He has great plans in store for me to share His truth with others who need to here it!

This was a much longer winded intro than I originally intended it to be, but nevertheless I wanted to share my thoughts about it with you all. Now let's go ahead and jump into today's review.

The Paris Dressmaker by Kristy Cambron:

Source: Publisher via NetGalley

Publisher: Thomas Nelson

Publication Date: February 16th, 2021

Genre: Christian Fiction/Historical Fiction

Synopsis

Based on true accounts of how Parisiennes resisted the Nazi occupation in World War II—from fashion houses to the city streets—comes a story of two courageous women who risked everything to fight an evil they couldn’t abide.

Paris, 1939. Maison Chanel has closed, thrusting haute couture dressmaker Lila de Laurent out of the world of high fashion as Nazi soldiers invade the streets and the City of Lights slips into darkness. Lila’s life is now a series of rations, brutal restrictions, and carefully controlled propaganda while Paris is cut off from the rest of the world. Yet in hidden corners of the city, the faithful pledge to resist. Lila is drawn to La Resistance and is soon using her skills as a dressmaker to infiltrate the Nazi elite. She takes their measurements and designs masterpieces, all while collecting secrets in the glamorous Hôtel Ritz—the heart of the Nazis’ Parisian headquarters. But when dashing René Touliard suddenly reenters her world, Lila finds her heart tangled between determination to help save his Jewish family and bolstering the fight for liberation.

Paris, 1943. Sandrine Paquet’s job is to catalog the priceless works of art bound for the Führer’s Berlin, masterpieces stolen from prominent Jewish families. But behind closed doors, she secretly forages for information from the underground resistance. Beneath her compliant façade lies a woman bent on uncovering the fate of her missing husband . . . but at what cost? As Hitler’s regime crumbles, Sandrine is drawn in deeper when she uncrates an exquisite blush Chanel gown concealing a cryptic message that may reveal the fate of a dressmaker who vanished from within the fashion elite.

Told across the span of the Nazi occupation, The Paris Dressmaker highlights the brave women who used everything in their power to resist darkness and restore light to their world.

(synopsis from goodreads)

My Review:

One of my favorite things about reading historical fiction is the many, many things I end up learning about history in the process. I've read quite a few books that are set during World War Two, and it's usually one of my favorite historical time periods to read about. However, this book brought with it many new facts and details that I'd never heard before, and while I still think I prefer Kristy Cambron's Lost Castle series to this one, I still ended up really enjoying it.

The Paris Dressmaker focuses around two strong, resilient Parisian women, Lila and Sandrine, who are determined to take a stand for their country against the Nazi invasion. At first glance, it may appear that neither are in the position to accomplish anything of significance, but that doesn't stop either of them from joining forces with the Resistance to try and have a handle on the German's theft of the art and other collectible items from the Jewish people. 

Told in both Lila and Sandrine's POV's, across a non-linear timeline, The Paris Dressmaker is a beautifully written, well researched historical fiction novel that functions as a tribute to the many brave women who chose to take a stand for the city they loved, even though doing so meant the potential loss of their lives. A fictional story woven within true events and real places in Paris, I found myself really enjoying this one, and I loved how the faith element was blended in so seamlessly and authentically.

My only real complaint, and the only thing that kept this from being a five star read, was the timeline and POV's. I personally felt that Lila and Sandrine's voices kind of blended together, and considering that the story is told from both of their point of views back and forth across different time periods during the Nazi invasion, it was a little hard to keep track of who was who and what year we were currently in. It ended up taking me a little bit longer than normal to get into this one because of this, but I still ended up enjoying it, and continue to be impressed with how immersive Kristy Cambron always makes her stories to the reader.

I definitely enjoyed this one and can wholeheartedly say that the beautiful story definitely lines up with the gorgeous cover. Another story to watch out for from the talented Kristy Cambron.

Final Rating: 4/5.

Thanks so much to Thomas Nelson for allowing me to advance read this!

I voluntarily read and reviewed a complimentary advance reader copy of this novel from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own. I was not required to give a positive review.

Have a great rest of your day guys! I'll see you back here on Wednesday for another book review.