The Paris Secret

by Natasha Lester

Paperback, 2020

Call number

MYST LES

Collection

Publication

Forever (2020), 496 pages

Description

"England, 1939: The Penrose sisters couldn't be more different. Skye is a daring and brash pilot, and Liberty the one to defy her at every turn. Even if women aren't allowed in the Royal Air Force, Skye is determined to help the war effort. She's thrilled when it reunites her with her childhood soulmate, Nicholas. She's less thrilled to learn Nicholas is now engaged to an enigmatic Frenchwoman named Margaux Jourdan. Paris, 1947: Designer Christian Dior unveils his glamorous first collection to a world weary of war and grief. He names his debut fragrance Miss Dior in tribute to his beloved sister Catherine, who forged a friendship with Skye and Margaux through her work with the French Resistance. Present Day: Fashion conservator Kat Jourdan discovers a priceless collection of Dior gowns in her grandmother's vacant cottage. As she delves into the mystery of their origin, Kat begins to doubt everything she thought she knew about her beloved grandmother"--Page 4 of cover.… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member susan0316
Natasha Lester is one of my favorite writers of WWII historical fiction. Two of her previous books (The Paris Orphan and The Paris Seamstress) were fantastic historical fiction books but The Paris Secret is her best book yet. It gives her readers a close look at what it was like to be a woman
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during war time and is about love, family and perseverance during this tumultuous time in history.

This novel is told in four different time lines by various characters:

1928 in Cornwall near in England: Skye and Liberty Penrose live with their mother in their home near the beach. Skye is daring and brave and learns to fly from her mother. Liberty is difficult and selfish and is content to stay in the house and live her life quietly. Nicholas, a neighbor who has come from America, shows up on the beach and he and Skye become best friends.

1939 - Skye has become an expert flyer and teacher. Though she wanted to help in the war effort, she was forbidden to fly until she gets a job flying planes from the factories to bases in the United Kingdom. She is estranged from her sister who lives in Paris.

1947 in Paris - Skye is trying to recover from the war with the love and friendship from Catherine Dior and Margaux who worked with her in the French Resistance.

Present Day in Australia - Kat is a Fashion conservator who was raised by her grandmother. On a trip to England, her grandmother asked her to check on her deserted cottage in Cornwall and Kat is amazed to find a collection of Dior gowns. Why does her grandmother have these gowns? The more Kat questions the more it appears that her grandmother is not the person she always thought. The more questions that Kat gets answered, the more questions she has for her grandmother as she tries to discover the connection between Skye, Liberty, Nicholas and Margaux and what happened to them after the war.

This is a beautiful and well researched novel about friendship, love and family. It also showed how unappreciated women were as they did their best to help win the war often in dangerous situations. All of the characters had secrets from each other that they couldn't share because of the war but they all remained friends as they went through cruel and inhumane situations. This book will make you proud of the woman and the work they did in the war, it will make you cry but overall it will make you appreciate their bravery.
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LibraryThing member Cecilturtle
This novel has it all: true love, harrowing war scenes, intrepid women, spies, haute couture and beautiful landscapes. It's definitely a page turner where fact and fiction blend beautifully, speaking to the bod yet often untold contributions of women in war efforts. The characters are vibrant with
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a strong emotional range. I enjoyed reading the adventures, love stories and parallel unfolding of generations.
The last few chapters, however, become needlessly complicated, even melodramatic, for a story which, on its own merit, was compelling enough that it didn't need the extra sap.
I would recommend it - a perfect book to plunge into to capture an era and stories not well-known. Lester is definitely a gifted story-teller.
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LibraryThing member khoyt
I received Natasha Lester's book, "The Paris Secret", as an ARC from the publisher and am giving this review/recommendation of my own volition.
I found this book to be worthy of all the previous praises it has received. I thought the characters to be wonderful, fascinating, appealing, and
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believable. The storyline is original with many twists and turns that keep you wondering from its intriguing beginning to startling conclusion. The book has been well-researched and brings to light many unknown biases of people of that day while also bringing to light many of the subterfuges and sacrifices used to bring the Second World War to a close. Natasha Lester's prose, descriptions, and writing abilities all come into play to make this a truly wonderful novel. This is the first book I have read by her, however, it will not be the last. I hope everyone will read this entertaining, moving, and poignant novel to be able to experience it for themselves.
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LibraryThing member lori6868
The book is called "The Paris Secret" and it is written by Natasha Lester.
The book starts with two sisters Skye and Liberty Penrose who live with their mother on the coast in England. Born illegitimately to Vanessa Penrose, a fortune telling airplane pilot who had her own ideas of raising two
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girls that didn't fit with society in the late 1930's. Skye has a best friend Nicholas with whom she spends all of her free time, making her sister jealous and vindictive to her.
Unexpectedly they lose their mother when a plane she was flying gets caught in heavy cloud cover and crashes. The sisters are sent to live with a aunt in France where they have a falling out and Skye leaves Liberty when she turns 18.
Soon most of Europe finds itself engaged in war against Germany. Wanting to do her part for the war effort , not being allowed to join the Royal Air Force because she is a woman, Skye joins the ATA ( Air Transport Auxiliary) delivering planes that need repairs or upgrades.
After the war ends a line of fashion is introduced to Paris and the world by designer Christian Dior, who names it Miss Dior, in honor of his sister Catherine who became acquainted with Skye during the Resistance.
In the present day Kat Jourdan is a conservator of fashion. She is sent by her grandmother Margaux Jourdan to a mysterious cottage on the coast, in which Kat finds a astonishing collection of over 60 Dior dresses dating all the way back to 1947. Not long after discovering the dresses Kat is contacted by a writer, Elliot, who says he is looking for Margaux Jourdan, who during the war worked for a secret department that ran spies throughout France, and knew Skye and Liberty Penrose. Thinking he must be mistaken, Kat joins Elliot to search for the answers to the questions of the Dior dresses and the much larger question, just who is Margaux Jourdan, and why has her grandmother lied all these years?
I loved this book! It was so good. I was hooked from the first page till the end, causing a sleepless night because I couldn't stop reading. But it was totally worth it. It has real characters, and is well written, a great flow to the story. I recommend this to all historical fiction fans especially those with a love for WWII historical fiction. I give it 5 stars! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ And paws
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LibraryThing member Jacsun
Amongst the many war books, this one is unforgettable. It grabs on to your heart and soul as you're reading about the past. I imagine all the secrets that are still buried and this one that just happened to come to the surface with a lot of research.

As soon as I started to read this book, I was
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captivated. There's two timelines starting with a single mother, Vanessa Penrose, that has two daughters- Skye and Liberty - in Cornwall, England, in 1928. It begins with a fairy tale setting with a beautiful cottage next to the sea as Vanessa is a happy mother, pilot and fortune teller. Yet the daughters have no clue what will happen. I momentarily stopped when the young teenage daughter was "flying." What? Was this really happening in the 30s with a young girl learning to fly an actual plane? There's more. It introduces early on the beautiful fashion designs by Christian Dior as one daughter becomes a model later with a figure that any girl would love to have.

In the meantime, the book takes you forward to 2012 with the granddaughter, Kat. She has a career in fashion conservation and finds 65 dresses in the back closet of the cottage by the sea. Kat happens to meets a handsome man writing a book about her grandmother and together, they learn about the truth which highlights some of the brave women during the war.

The book was packed with historical events but what was so moving was the romance and how it worked so well. This was one of my favorites of the year.
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LibraryThing member bereanna
4.75. Not a classic or to reread, but this stiry had worth. The women pilots must break anti-female barriers in WWII before the can fly, there’s an intriguing true love story, there’s espionage, there’re beautiful Dior gowns, tgeres a mystery to be solved. A can’t out diwn for me!

ISBN

153871728X / 9781538717288
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