Elegant and Entertaining
The Paris Gown
New Adult, Historical Fiction, Women's Fiction
William Morrow Paperbacks
August 20, 2024
Kindle, Paperback, Audiobook, Audio CD
336
Paris, 1955 Three friends—Claire, Gina, and Margot—who parted as very young women with their whole lives ahead of them, reunite in Paris years later, determined to start life anew. Parisian Claire has been working hard to become a Michelin-starred chef one day, but ever since the heady time she spent in the company of socialites Gina and Margot, her dream has been to own a Dior gown. This seemed like a far-off fantasy, until the eccentric and wealthy Madame Vaughn, who lives above Claire’s family brasserie, abruptly leaves Paris, asking Claire to mind her apartment. More bafflingly, Madame Vaughn also makes Claire a very special gift: a stunning Dior gown. Meanwhile Gina, a cool American blue blood, lands on Claire’s doorstep nursing a broken heart and a broken engagement after her father lost all of the family money in a risky business venture. A journalist aspiring to be a novelist, Gina has returned to Paris in the hopes of pursuing her dream. But when her father begs her to attend the United States Embassy ball in the hopes of persuading Hal Sanders, her former fiancé, to invest in her father’s new business venture, she is torn. She wants to help her father, but seeing Hal again will be exquisitely painful. And what on earth is she going to wear? Warm-hearted Claire insists Gina wear the Dior gown to the ball, and after some hesitation, Gina accepts. At Dior for Gina’s fitting, who should assist them but Margot, the friend they thought had gone back to Australia to be married. But Margot is living in Paris and working at Dior under an assumed name, and clearly, she is not happy to have been found. Is their close friendship at an end? Or will the wonder and delight of the Dior gown bring these young women back together? Gorgeous, perfectly fitted, lustrous and luxurious, the Dior gown has the power to change lives—as these three remarkable women are about to discover…
“Lifting her chin and straightening her shoulders, Margot looked at herself in the mirror. The young woman staring back was no Cinderella. Her belief in fairy-tale princes had shattered long ago. But that didn’t mean she needed to deny herself happiness where she found it.”
Christine Wells threads themes of friendship, self-discovery, and love around an exquisite Dior gown in her novel, The Paris Gown. In the 1950’s a Christian Dior dress was the epitome of class and fashion and the dream of many women of the day, yet very few were fortunate enough wear, let alone own one of these distinctive beauties. Yet, it is a last season Dior gown that becomes the very thing that reunites three friends separated by time and distance and reinvigorates the dreams of their youth.
The native Parisan – Claire, American – Gina, and Australian – Margot, became fast friends in their early twenties as they set out to experience life in bustling Paris. Even with such varied backgrounds their inquisitiveness and fondness for each other helped meld their personality differences into a tight-knit friendship. But life responsibilities took them down separate paths leading them to loose track of each other. Unitl years late Claire’s excentric and wealthy neighbor leaves Claire as custodian of her apartment and owner of a never worn Dior dress. This puts into motion a chain of events that lead to an unexpected reunion between the young women. As they mend their relationships with each other they each have the opportunity to wear the dress, which in its own way helps them to envision their lives, both professionally and romantically, as they once thought it would be.
“They had reignited their friendship and learned much about themselves because of that Dior gown.”
The Paris Gown was a wonderfully emmersive experience. Christine writes in a beautifully descriptive and flowing style that carries the reader through the ups and downs that Claire, Gina, and Margot go through as they mature personally, reconnect their friendship, and figure out what a romantic relationship for each entails. The theme of the dress unfolded in a very creative way and made for an enjoyable reading pursuit. Claire, Gina, and Margot were all unique personalities and while their savoir-faire was different, their dreams and goals helped to design and create a great story that is enjoyable for all ages. If you love stories of strong friendships embellished with romance set in a fascinating time and place, you will enjoy The Paris Gown.
Tanya’s love for books has been a lifelong passion that she likes sharing with others. Reading is also the thing that relaxes her after a day of juggling the many responsibilities that come with being being wife to an amazing man, mother to four great kids spread around the world, business manager, and farm hand on their place in southwest Missouri; home to Akaushi cattle and a menagerie of pygmy goats, horses, chickens, dogs and cats.
