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! ( )

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 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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This book is definitely one of the most heart wrenching books I've read this year. As with the other books I've read by Natasha Lester, I had to take a bit of time to recover from the book in its entirety (and not just the end). The relationships in this story were very well done and well established, and it was so nice to see D'Arcy and Josh in this story and see where they were in their lives. The ending left me in tears, and the overall story was beautifully told. It was easy to connect with the characters, and each POV was well done and intertwined well with the others. ( )

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.

Historical fiction at it's best. Memorable characters, exciting locations and romance during war will tug at everyone's heart strings. I could not put this one down and kept reading late into the night to find out the mystery of who Margaux really was and the secret of the gorgeous Dior dresses.

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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 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. ( )