Croitoreasa din Paris

Estella Bissette leaves Paris in 1940 as German troops draw near. The young French seamstress heads to New York. She plans to make her name in fashion there. She takes a gold silk dress and a little money. A British spy and an American heiress also play a part.

In the present day, her granddaughter Fabienne works in Australia. She is a curator, in charge of works on show. She goes to the yearly gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. A show there honours Estella’s life in fashion. Her grandmother is now ill. She has become a top designer of ready-to-wear clothes. But Fabienne looks into her past and finds grief. She also finds lost love and family secrets. What she learns will change her own life.

Natasha Lester’s novel spans two eras and follows two women across oceans. It looks at the costs of love. It also explores what people give up for family. The book blends wartime events with a family mystery. It suits readers who like fiction set in the past. This edition gives the novel first titled The Paris Seamstress.