Fiona Valpy

The Dressmaker’s Gift by Fiona Valpy is a historical fiction novel set in nazi occupied Paris during WW II. It is the story of three young women who work as seamstresses for a designer. They live together in a small apartment on the 5th floor of the building that houses the designer’s workshop. While on the surface the three are going about their lives as best as they can in the difficult times but in actuality, all three have secrets as some are working for the Resistance and one is dating a German officer.

The author does an admirable job in her descriptions of 1940s occupied Paris and the plot although rather familiar in feel, is gripping. As with many historical novels today, we follow two timelines, one set in the 1940s and one set in modern times. In this book, I thought the double timeline worked quite well as a way to recount the past, as a granddaughter traces her family history through her grandmother’s war time activities. On the other hand I felt the book got a little clunky in the telling of the modern story as the author tried to make parallels between the two stories that just didn’t work.

Nevertheless, I thought The Dressmaker’s Gift was interesting and certainly held my attention with the details about the French fashion industry and the war-time conditions in Paris. Overall the book was a well-told account of survival and friendship.… (meer)

Wow! So glad I read this book and am sorry it took so long. This ARC has been on my digital TBR shelf since September 2021, and I had every intention of reading it sooner. But what finally propelled me to open the book and begin reading was when Val chose it for our Buddy Read in April 2023.

And we were both surprised at how much we liked this dual timeline novel that takes place in Casablanca. It’s the story of two women who both come from afar to the strange new city of Casablanca and must adjust to a different climate, culture, and people. Fourteen-year-old Josie, spunky and clever, chronicles her experiences in a journal during 1941-42. Thirty-something Zoe discovers the journal hidden in a house she and her husband rent in Casablanca in 2010. Josie’s story is influenced by the Second World War. Refugees from France, the family is expecting that this will be a brief stay before moving to the safety of America. Seventy years later Zoe arrives with her husband, who has taken a new job and works long hours. She explores the city on her own, cautiously making friends and embarking on a quilting project.

As Zoe reads Josie’s journal and becomes engaged in her story, so did I. Will their papers be approved so that they can travel to America? Is Josie’s father a spy? Is the family in danger? While Zoe’s story is not dangerous, it is moving and personal. I found myself caught up in both narratives and kept telling myself I would read “just one more chapter.”

Author Fiona Valpy describes how the novel “explores the legacy of loss and grief and how the power of love can help the most impossible wounds to heal.” I appreciated how Valpy weaves historic events and actual people into an unforgettable tale of hope, friendship, and second chances. I highly recommend this moving and memorable story… (meer)