The Paris dressmaker /

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

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 could not 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 Light 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 Hotel 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 to bolster 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 facade 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.

Stand-alone World War II historical fiction Includes discussion questions for book clubs

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Publishers Weekly Review

Woven within this beautiful historical tapestry of WWII from Cambron (The Painted Castle) is the stark reminder to keep friends close and enemies closer. Early in the occupation of Paris, Lila de Laurent, a former dressmaker for the House of Chanel, is on the run from the Nazis and intent on carrying out a mission for the resistance. She hopes stowing away in a bakery truck will allow her to evade capture--but she's soon discovered by the driver, who turns out to be the Jewish man she once loved and believed to be dead. Now they must help each other survive. Later in the war, Sandrine Paquet will do whatever it takes to keep her family safe while her beloved husband is away at war--even if it means working for the Nazis to catalog their stolen art. But when a beautiful gown with a cryptic message sewn into the lining arrives for her, she too is plunged into the resistance. Based on true events, this exquisite tale impresses with its historical and emotional authenticity. Historical fiction fans won't want to miss this. Agent: Rachelle Gardner, Books & Such Literary. (Feb.)