The Designer

“The Designer” opens its pages to admit you into the immediate aftermath of Parisian life following the expulsion of Nazi Occupation. Immediately, you find yourself loyally befriending Copper, a red-headed Irish American doing the real work of the photo journalism for which her cold, adulterous husband and their drunk British housemate are taking credit with their respective bureaus. With the innate strength born of growing up strong & good-hearted in a large, poor Irish-American family, Copper’s work covering for others leads her into the inner circles of Paris’s rebels, from the grime of Resistance - turned - Bolsheviks to the steamy, smokey underground haunts of the bohemian artists, composers, performers, and fashion designers, who are each dedicated to their own visions of returning Paris to her seat at the pinnacle of the art world. From these murky introductions, Copper finds herself welcomed into a warm, eccentric, and encompassing circle of friends. In this lofty, eccentric, even “deviant,” company, shy, diffident Christian Dior immediately proves himself to be both a gentleman and a friend.… To say that “The Designer” is “about Copper” and her meteoric rise to covering issues that burst from Paris as she recovers, and, in particular, the rebirth of Parisian fashion to dominate style and economics, is as narrow and misleading as to say that “The Designer” is “about Christian Dior,” from his self-imposed obscurity as LeLong’s chief designer, to his recovery of his sister from Ravensbruk, to the supporting role he played in consistently, literally saving Christian “Bebe” Brerard, to his own dazzling burst upon the world of fashion, his launch as revolutionary and with as many repercussions as only could be done with a his true overturning of the history of fashion and the concomitant, direct impact of restoring Parisian haute couture on the futures & economies of the Paris versus New York houses of fashion, even salvaging the economy of war-ravaged France.“The Designer” introduces you to over fifty full drawn, 3-dimensional characters, some straight from history, from fame and obscurity, to characters that people and breath life into each person’s story as it intersects, overlays, intertwines, or seeks to overrun the heart-warming, realistic story of Copper & Dior’s unique friendship and mutual support.You don’t need to be an aficionado of history of the Occupation, the Holocaust, the Collaborateurs of Paris, journalism, or fashion to be swept into the folds of “The Designer.” Your sex and gender matter not in the circle of these bohemian artists. You can be a male as sexist and coarse as Hemingway and enjoy both “The Designer” and appearances by Hemingway himself.“The Designer” is riveting because it absorbs you completely into that world, with the sights, smells, and sensations experienced by our protagonists, and you experience all along with them as they take small, small steps out of the privations of war, starvation, and militaristic oppression, as well as the sufferings and traps we create as humans, for others and for ourselves.

I was given this book by Amazon Publishing, which is a goodreads giveaway in exchange for an honest review. Thank You!My Thoughts on……Characters ★★★★★Copper Reilly in my opinion was a really amazing character. She started out really unsure of herself from years of being in a one sided loveless marriage with a cheating spouse, until she finally got tired of it. Only to befriend Christian and he helps her and she becomes a reporter in the 1940s in a time of war in France. I really loved how in the book you actually got to see and feel just how much she grew. I was really pissed when she called off her wedding to Henry because frankly I was rooting for them along the way. She made it up to me in the end though.Christian Dior seems at first to be this really shy designer who is completely happy to be in the background working for someone else. He turns out to be an awesome friend to Copper and a numerous others and I kinda think he helps keep Copper grounded when she feels she is losing control.Amory Reilly, honestly what can I say. He is … I have nothing nice to say about him, but I do like how the author really helped you to see him how Copper saw him.Henry, was absolutely perfect for Copper, he brought out all my feels.And Lastly, Suzy. I get it, I do think the relationship between her and Copper was widely confusing for both me and the character, but it did make me wonder which way she would go.Plot ★★★★★The book starts out in the early 1940s with Copper who had come to France in the middle of war, (Nazi’s, Hitler, etc) and meets and befriends this french designer named Christian Dior, who only wants to make her the perfect dress. Yes, the same one that designs dresses and perfumes and still has stores even now. Despite her husbands infidelities she stays, because she loves him, until one day she realizes she can no longer stay with him and be happy. After securing lodgings and figuring out what she will do and moving in with Christian she files for a divorce and he leaves! Woot! She wants and proceeds to write human interest stories and enters the fashion world and wants to fly and no longer commit to any one thing.But then… she meets Henry, albeit when he is paying her for a commissioned article and wanting her to write for their magazine permanently, which she refuses and just wants to freelance to get her the freedom she so desires throughout the book. We get to see Christian Dior’s rise to fame through someone else’s eyes: Copper’s who helps push and support him along the way and rooting for her being able to learn to love again.Writing/ Pacing ★★★★★The writing… AMAZING, I had so much fun reading this book, the writing just flowed seamlessly and every detail just brings the world and the characters to life. It keeps you on the edge of your seat wanting to know what will happen next, and not just with the designer: Christian, but also with Copper and Suzy and Pearl and any number of the rest of them. The research was expertly weaved and actually made me google some parts to be sure it actually really happened.Why Should you Read/Not Read this Book?Surprisingly I passed up this book last month as a Amazon Kindle First read. Now I am so blown away by it I can’t believe I even did that. The author did an amazing job mixing fiction with enough non-fiction that I had trouble keeping the two apart. Had to Google some of the things to see if it really happened or not. I could NOT put this book down and even stayed up all night just to finish it. You can tell he put a lot of research into this book, I strongly recommend this read! I now want to own a printed copy! He literally made this world and the characters come to life for me.

I wasn't really sure where this book was going at first and that made it a slow start for me. However, once the characters and timelines were established it took off in a nice direction. The storyline was enjoyable. I'm a fan of historical fiction and I'm sure you will recognize some of the names in the story that made it somewhat fascinating.

This was my Kindle First choice. I have to admit I only chose it because I didn't fancy reading any of the others and I didn't have any great expectations of it, particularly as designer clothes are not something I am interested in. I was also unsure about it being a biographical novel which seems to be neither one thing or the other.However my pre-order reservations were wrong. The book is excellent and is one of those books you don't want to put down. It isn't the fusty book I was expecting. Copper, an American, came to Paris with her journalist husband and the story starts at the time near the end of WW2 when the German army was retreating from France. She meets Christian Dior when her husband agrees to buy her some new clothes but from that meeting a friendship grows and many changes occur for both of them. I won't spoil the story by going into detail other than to say it gives insights into Paris at the end of the war and also into the restart of the fashion industry in Franch after the war. However it does this while managing to be an excellent read.

I’m very confused about the reviews of this book, especially the one that talks about the fascinating rise of Paris fashion. I was very disappointed indeed - I had hoped the novel would be a well researched piece about Dior and Parisian fashion in general, but sadly there is virtually no detail about design or fashion at all. There are a couple of pages on which gowns are mentioned (Coppers wedding gown for example) but virtually no description or detail - in the case of the wedding gown, for example, we find out only what fabric it is made from and nothing else. Perhaps the title of the book is meant to refer metaphorically to one of the other characters, but I don’t think any of them are strongly enough portrayed in this way. I’m reading to the end but not really interested. Others seem to love this so I guess this is just not my taste, but be warned - if you are looking to this novel because you are interested in the detail of fashion you will be disappointed.

I chose this book for free as part of the Kindle First selection, and I'm glad I did! Copper is the kind of woman I admire: adaptable, independent, with a good head on her shoulders and unwilling to settle for anything less than she deserves. She refuses to stay in a miserable marriage, and sets off to live her own adventures, together with her new friends - the best couturiers in Paris, and their extravagant company. She becomes the closest with Dior, and their friendship is based on unconditional help and support, as well as mutual respect - just like all good friendship do. We see her evolve from an innocent American girl into a well-rounded woman, at a pace that effortlessly keeps you reading page after page; all in all, it's a very good combination of history and fiction, and I recommend you give it a shot once it's officially released in October.

Beautifully written, engrossing. This is a story of Paris at the end of the war seen through the eyes of a young American woman who meets a shy Christian Door and is introduced to a new Bohemian life full of drug addicts, male and female gays, artists, writers, singers, dress designers and a lot of wounded bitter war survivors. The joy of this book is that is full of hope, life and rebirth. A city, a people, an industry pulling themselves out of the dirt and into a New Look world. Marvellous. It is not sordid. It not grim. It is marvellous. Although it does not flinch from the horrible details of the time it concentrates on the decency in people. I felt a glow of happiness while reading it and I hope you will do too. Our lovely American abroad is one of my favourite fictional characters. I am glad to have met her.

Most women have a fascination of the world of haute couture. Most of us will never experience that glamorous world first hand, but we gaze at the impossibly sumptuous creations with the thought 'one day - perhaps!'This novel covers the 're-emergence of Paris fashion in the dying days of World War 2. The need for something new after the deprivation of the war, the political struggles for supremacy and the rising star of Christian Dior in all his ambiguous glory, form the backdrop to the emergence of Copper as a journalist and as a fulfilled happy woman.Read it!