After a shocking discovery, Grace Woods leaves her vast Australian sheep station and travels to tumultuous post-war Paris in order to find her true identity.
While working as a mannequin for Christian Dior, the world’s newly acclaimed emperor of fashion, Grace mixes with counts and princesses, authors and artists, diplomats and politicians.
But when Grace falls for handsome Philippe Boyer she doesn’t know that he is leading a double life, nor that his past might inflict devastating consequences upon her. As she is drawn into Philippe’s dangerous world of international espionage, Grace discovers both the shattering truth of her origins – and that her life is in peril.
Inspired by an astonishing true story, The Paris Model is a tale of glamour, family secrets and heartbreak that takes you from the rolling plains of country Australia to the elegant salons of Paris.
Alexandra Joel is a former editor of the Australian edition of Harper’s Bazaar and of Portfolio, Australia’s first magazine for working women. She has also contributed feature articles, interviews and reviews to many national and metropolitan publications.
With an honours degree from the University of Sydney and a graduate diploma from the Australian College of Applied Psychology, she has been a practising counsellor and psychotherapist.
Alexandra has two children and lives in Sydney with her husband.
My thoughts: from the sweeping vistas of Australia to the glamour of Christian Dior’s Parisian atelier in 1940s Paris, Grace Woods (a real person, fyi) swaps her rural life for one of extreme elegance and romance a world away.
Fabulous fashions, famous faces, as well as romance with a handsome French spy, Grace’s new life doesn’t leave room to miss home. Swept up in the whirlwind of delight, her life seems to be perfect but deep down she misses her mother, Olive, and her search for her beloved lost “Siddy” consumes her.
When she falls pregnant and leaves Paris for her friend’s family chateau, she leaves everything behind. Hoping to be forgotten by handsome Philip, she buries herself in the countryside. But questions still haunt her. Can it all be put right?
Inspired by the details of Grace Woods’ life and that of Christian Dior’s emergence as the forefront of post-war glamour, this is a moving and entertaining read. Highly enjoyable.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.
ramblingmads 