I grabbed this expecting some entertaining fluff that I may or may not finish. I did not anticipate bawling my eyes out in the last couple chapters. Was it still filled with fluff and absolutely predictable in parts, sure! But it resonated and gripped me.

The first third of the book was a little slow for me to get through, but the story picks up and the characters are slowly given more depth. By the end I was a big fan.

Loved Clare’s story, could have done without Harriet’s. It was just way too cliché for me

After browsing Kindle Unlimited, I found a number of titles I was interested in reading (as well as ones other members of my family would like.) And so, I decided to reactive my membership. Upon doing so, this was the first book I dug into.

Though fantasy is my first love, I also adore historical fiction. The 1940s era has a special place in my heart. The events of that time still majorly shape the world as I know it today; I even know people who served in the war! They're up there in years now of course, but still, the impact of World War Two cannot be denied. And as a result, I've read up on so a lot of history from that time.
In each of my studies, independent and otherwise, one group got overlooked a lot; the women. The women who fought the battles no one saw. The women who hid Jewish children and pretended they were their own. The women who resisted Nazi rule in any way they could as they smuggled messages to military resistance in France and those who even helped fallen airmen escape Nazi-occupied territory. They were so brave-brave as the soldiers on the front lines and their stories deserve to be heard. That's why I picked up The Dressmaker's Gift, as it follows three women in Nazi-occupied Paris and they struggle to survive and resist Nazi rule.

I greatly enjoyed the intertwining stories of Mirellie, Vivienne and Claire. They were brave women, each who came to the fight at different times but all for the same reason and each displaying courage, resilience and sisterhood as they survived the trying times. They weren't real women but they certainly honored the unsung heroes who did all that and more during the era. And I also really enjoyed the fashion history thrown into the book as well; the craftmanship that goes into sewing is something I greatly admire.

Truly, if the novel had just focused on those three women, I'd have given it a full four stars. However, it doesn't It flip-flops between the trio in 1940 and Claire's granddaughter, Harriet in 2017. Harriet was far less interesting than her grandma and her friends and her story even less compelling. I do think that was hugely in part to how Harriet's parts were more about reacting and reflecting on her grandma's story rather than her own independent one. Her struggles were addressed, but not built on long enough for me to really connect with them. Either way, I found it really dragged down the sorry and towards the end, I started skimming her chapters rather than reading them fully. Though I admit, I loved the ending that she featured in.

Meh.

The reviews for this book seemed pretty high and I've seen it around a lot. I was not too impressed. The darkest parts of the book don't at all show a realistic view of what happened during that period, and the less severe moments were painted as awful catastrophes. Also, the theory of pain affecting genes I thought horribly misplaced the overall theory.

Overall, this was disappointing. Not impressed.

I really liked this book. It was a time slip story from the 1940s and 2017. I think I worked really well as Harriets story set in the present was well told from her traumatic events of losing her mother and how this set her on her path to where she was and ultimately what she learnt along the way as the story of her grandmother Claire was told to her from her friend Simone who she flat shared with in Paris who’s grandmother Mireille was Claires friend during the war. Harriet has gone to Paris on an internship ship for a year, she is living above the agency where she is flat sharing with Simone who is already there. It’s when harriet is unpacking and Simone sees a photo that she tells Harriet that one of the women in the photo is her grandmother Mireille and Harriet asks her to find out from her grandmother about hers and there life in Paris during the war. Simone warns her that she may not like what she hears. There are three women in the old photo as the story unfolds you start to hear about the lives of the three seamstresses on how they lived as best they could in circumstances none of us now could even think possible. Impossible choices had to be made as loyalty is tested and what they endure is a dark and difficult time lived through courage and support for one another. This was sensitively written and i would like to know more about Mireille’s life after the war as we found out in this one of the other two. I will most definitely will read more by this author

The modern part was completely unnecessary and the end dragged because of it. The historical parts were good if you’re into WWII female resistance stories.

For me, these books are perfect during a pandemic! Many of the description are beautiful but the modern voices in all of her books don't work as well as the historical stories. The narratives are too simple, forced and repetitive. That said, I'm devouring these books like candy. What I do love, are the interwoven characters from each book, the multilayering of stories and Valpy's ability to draw me into WW2 France. They may be formulaic Valpy but there's a warmth I love.

DNF at 27%. I normally love this dual timeline style of writing but nothing grabbed my attention and drew me in.