This book had me hooked from the first chapter to the last page truly enjoyed it. Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley

This book is something of a slow burner to begin with. To be honest, nothing much happens till about 40 % in. But stay with it, because the storytelling is wonderful. The story which is set in Paris in the 1940s is intriguing and chilling in equal measure, referring as it does to the designer Coco Chanel’s role in Paris during the Occupation in WW2. Told from the point of view of her assistant Adele, who is a general factotum now that all seamstresses etc have been discharged, keeping her mistress in the style to which she is accustomed, in return for food and a ‘safe’ roof over her head.
The dual timeline, with granddaughter Chloe, who has come to Paris to live and work for a belated gap year after her divorce, provides an excellent vehicle for Chloe to find out about her grandmother Adele’s past, and the part she suspects she may have played - had she been a collaborator with the Nazis? Was Coco Chanel a collaborator?
This dual timeline worked really well, especially as the mysteries were able to be explained by grandmother Adele, who told the true story to Chloe on her return to England.
What an amazing, surprising, and poignant story it was too, it gave me goosebumps reading it. I really enjoyed this book, and recommend it wholeheartedly,
My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for my advance copy of this book.

The Dressmaker's Secret is a dual timeline set in Paris during WWII and the present time. Lorna Cook writes about the Nazis occupying Paris and then people began to disappear. The backdrop of the war seeped into everything and changed the world, including the lives of the characters in this story. We read of loss, love, desperation and hope.

Adele, assistant to Coco Chanel, was poor and orphaned when she landed her job. Though in a privileged position, she was unaccustomed to Chanel's obscenely luxurious lifestyle, especially during the war. Her salary did not allow extras and she clung to her few belongings. Meanwhile, super rich Chanel was sleeping with the enemy but Adele was not paid to question her motives. Disgusted by the Nazis hauling off Jews and sympathizers, Adele decided to help. In doing so, she embarked on an adventure she would never had imagined.

Present-day Chloe moved from London to Paris and wishes to discover more about her grandmother Adele's life. She knows about her job with Chanel but everything else is glossed over. She is shocked to discover Nazi connections in her background. Along the way, she makes friends and becomes enamoured with one of them....and with Paris.

In the back the author describes her interesting inspiration for this book. I did not realize Chanel was involved in the war and read about this further. Cook beautifully ties the historical and modern stories together.

My sincere thank you to Avon Books UK and NetGalley for the privilege of reading this enthralling story.

A wonderfully written, thoroughly researched dual timeline story set in Paris.
Chloe has moved to Paris for an adult ‘gap year’ following the breakup of her marriage to Rob. She is working in a small dress shop, selling classic pre-loved clothes. Visiting an auction she meets Etienne, a gallery owner. During conversation, she discovers he had relatives who worked as seamstresses for the famous Coco Chanel. Chloe’s grandmother Adele worked for her too, as her assistant. Chloe is intrigued by this connected past. Her grandmother has never talked about her years in Paris during the Second World War when she lived in the Ritz Hotel with the famous couturier. Their conversation has piqued her curiosity and she is determined to find out more.
I loved this book. I almost felt as if I stepped into the story. 1940s Paris is very skilfully captured – the deprivation, the fear and the way the Nazis took over the city, endeavouring to change it to suit their own agenda. Contrast this with the description of present-day Paris; a vibrant city, with its restaurants, museums and architecture. I almost wanted to pack my bags and book a ticket on the Eurostar! One of the most difficult things must have been to bring to life such a well-known character as Coco Chanel, but Lorna Cook has done it wonderfully well.

The story concentrates mainly on Adele’s young life and at times is a bit of an emotional roller coaster. Adele treads a treacherous path when she becomes involved with the handsome American doctor Alex Dixon, who is aiding the French Resistance. I found myself hoping for a happy ending but fearing the worst.. Chloe and Etienne’s story wraps itself gently around Adele’s, giving the reader another romance to speculate about. I loved the scene where he cooked for her at his apartment. He was quite an enigma but just the sort of man Chloe needed after her divorce.
I have loved every book Lorna has written, but for me, this has to be the best one yet and well worth the five stars I have given it.
My thanks to Netgalley, Avon and Lorna Cook for an ARC of The Dressmaker’s Secret in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely loved this story! I picked this book because of the beautiful cover in addition to the description. The first two chapters had me second guessing myself for a minute, but then Adele made an appearance and from then on the twists and turns kept me guessing how the story would end.

This is set during WWII and the story focuses on the life of Adele during her time as a personal assistant/secretary to Coco Chanel. As I read through the story, it was heartbreaking to think of the things many women had to do to survive, and what others did to help the few Jews they could save.

Adele and Theo’s love story broke my heart, and I just adored how a book and a little girl led them to each other when everyone thought all was lost. The bit about Chanel collaborating with the Nazis was eye opening, and had me rethink about how much I’ve wanted a Chanel purse. Also, I didn’t know this is how Chanel N0 5 became famous—or maybe this is a bit of fiction the author worked in. Anyhow, there’s no doubt that Chanel’s involvement in the war happened.

I also loved how the author worked Chloe and Ettiene’s story and how Ettiene is connected to the women Adele had seen during reprisals.

Seriously, this is a MUST read. Grab some tissues before you dive in… you’ll need them.

Wow! I love learning something new about history. I had no idea of the role Coco Chanel played during the war.

This story is a dual timeline that follows Adele and her time in Paris during WWII. She is the assistant to CoCo Chanel who lives in The Ritz Hotel among all the high ranking Nazi officials. While Chanel is wined and dined by the Nazi’s Adele is uncomfortable with the Nazi views and unsure of her employers role in all of it.

Present day follows Chloe, Adele’s granddaughter who has just gone through a divorce and goes to Paris to find out more about her grandmothers past. She visits an auction for The Ritz Hotel in hopes of getting a momento for her grandmother who lived at The Ritz with her employer during the occupation. Is she ready for where this trip will lead and what she will find out about her grandmother?
At points of the book I was practically jumping up and down and the next minute I was near tears. What an emotional page turner and a very well researched look at life in Paris during WWII.

I can’t wait to read more from this author!
Thanks to Net Galley and Avon books UK for the advanced copy.

This is a dual timeline novel written by Lorna Cook.
Adele who is an orphan comes to Paris and got an assistant job with the famous dress designer Coco Chanel soon the WWII broke and how she becomes the part of Chanel's life in the Occupation in France .
In 2018 Adele's granddaughter Chloe moved to Paris and tried to know her grandmother's life in Paris. There she met some interesting man which was rather interested in learning that too.
This novel has everything fashion, glamour,love,romance and an exciting story revolving around the War
This is a different take on WWII books that I have read and definitely a gripping one.

Cook shares interesting research from WW2 occupied Paris, with Coco Chanel at the center. Adele’s character and story is wonderful. I enjoyed the glimpse into what life with Chanel at the Ritz might have been like. Every interaction with the Nazi soldiers and the gestapo had me on the edge of my seat.
Chloe’s search for answers many years later is not as gripping, but wraps up perfectly.
Advanced reader copy courtesy of the publishers at NetGalley for review.

Chloe has always wondered exactly what her French grandmother Adele did during WW2. All she knew was that Adele worked for Coco Chanel and lived in the Ritz with her during the German occupation of Paris. Her grandmother has always reused to talk about the past.

Chloe is now working in Paris and wants to find out more about her grandmother. She attends an auction of furniture and objects from the Ritz hotel and starts talking to a man called Etienne.
Chloe tells him she is there because her grandmother worked for Coco Chanel and she wants to know more about her. He asks her if she know that Coco Chanel was a collaborator and possibly a spy during the war and that Chloe might not like what she finds out about her grandmother.
Chloe is amazed by this news and starts to question what Adele did do while working for Chanel, did she work for the Germans as well ?

We then go back to the war years and find out from Adele exactly what she did and what it was like living and working for Coco Chanel .
This is such a good read. I had recently read another fiction story based on facts about Coco Chanel's life from childhood right up to the war so this book was so interesting to read next.
It was amazing how Coco could manipulate everyone she met and yet keep herself so mysterious.
She came from such a humble background, an orphan brought up in a Covent leaving it with only the clothes on her back. When she made her money she didn't seem to have any sympathy for anyone who was poor or needy she expected them to work no matter what the circumstances. She also payed her staff a pittance.
Coco lived in luxury at the Ritz during the occupation of Paris and acted like a queen while partying with the Nazis high ranking soldiers.
Your heart will be in your mouth reading this book. I feared for Adele and wondered when her activities would be questioned. I cried too but I loved the ending.
Lorna Cook always gives us a good read and this book is no exception. Loved it.

Our Closest Enemies are Within Us

A dual timeline with two stories. The story of the Grandmother Adele during WWII and the second story is that of her granddaughter many years later traveling to Paris to escape a recent divorce and hoping to find information on her grandmother and her employer Coco Chanel during WWII.

The year is 1941, the place is the Ritz Hotel in Paris, France. Adele lives there with her employer Coco Chanel. Adele is thankful for her job , but never agrees with her employers collaboration with the Nazi's. Living under the same roof with high ranking Nazi's she is constantly on edge. When she meets an American doctor and works for the resistance she must make a choice between loyalty to her employer and the life of her loved one.

Years later as Chloe and Rob divorce she escapes to Paris and finds a job in a dress shop. She wants to find out about her grandmother's time in Paris during WWII, but she doesn't know where to start. While at a museum she meets an art director and as they become friends she learns that his mother worked as a seamstress for Coco Chanel before the war. Together they dig into the war time records to find the past and the truth of Coco Chanel's wartime activities and the past of her grandmother who was working for her during the war.

I enjoyed reading about the famous buildings, parks and museums in Paris. The Ritz Hotel sounded like a very extravagant place. It all sounded like a beautiful city marred by the boots of the Nazi soldiers. I enjoyed both of the stories told, they were both interesting and engaging. The characters were true to life and very well staged in the story.

This book was a good read and I would recommend it.

Thanks to Lorna Cook for writing a great story, to Avon Books, U.K. for publishing it and to NetGalley for making it available to me.

Combining one of the most tense periods in Parisian history - the time Hitler swept into Paris and took it over
completely and the shock of the average French person who could not believe this unimaginable thing that befell
their country. The story also featured the enigmatic and controversial Coco Chanel - herself described as a
collaborator but one who was very clever at disguising the truth and who eventually got away with the whole thing.

The main story however is about Adele, Chanel's assistant who from very humble beginnings started work as an
assistant to Chanel and when the occupation of Paris happened became a jack of all trades for Chanel, her right
hand man almost handling all Chanel's work and thus knowing much more of her activities than anyone else did.
Adele was horrified at the proximity of the Nazis at the Ritz Hotel where Chanel lived and the fact that Chanel
actively participated in all Nazi social gatherings. Chanel was a survivor and her way was to join them rather
than fight them. Adele was swept into it because she had no other option. Being an orphan she had no home to go to
but her meeting an American doctor brought her love and help in a great way for the one act of Resistance she did.
Finding and keeping a Jewish infant (an act which would have brought instant death if discovered) she provided
a refuge for the child and Dr. Dixon helped her out in this.

The story continues with Dr Dixon's disappearance in a raid and the end of all Adele's hopes for the future. The end
of the story was a happy one and a totally unexpected one.

The story however has a dual timeline and we also face Chloe who is in fact Adele's grand daughter. She has taken a gap
year and works in Paris. Never knowing anything about her French ancestry and what Adele did during the war, she is
now drawn into the story of where her grandmother worked, and finding a friend who is more knowledgeable than she is
she starts on unraveling the story of Adele and Chanel.

WW stories are so sad, so emotional in so many aspects the fact that this ended well years later was something that
was different and very pleasing to read.

The story of Chanel was as much a part of the story as Adele's story and this added a great deal of impact to the
story.

The story of Chloe in present times and her part in bringing a story that remained buried for decades (Adele's story)
was a part of this story.

I have read several historical fiction books about Coco Chanel. I thought this book would be interesting from a different point of view. Basically, the book tracks two stories. The first follows Adele who is Ms. Chanel's assistant during the Nazi occupation of Paris. The second being her granddaughter Chloe who is Paris to restart her life and learn about her grandmother's time in Paris.

Many books have this parallel storyline. So this aspect was not novel. The title of the book is misleading as the primary focus is on the dressmaker's (Chanel) assistant. Both stories have love interests. Chloe's love story is muddled especially as it pertains to her ex.

Unfortunately, the book did not hold interest and was very predictable. I knew who the grandfather and daughter (Chloe's mother) were about half way through the book. I would give this a 2 1/2 stars but rounded it up to 3.

Thank you NetGalley for the advanced copy.

I really enjoyed this dual timeline book, set in Paris in the present day and the 1940s when the Nazis were in occupation. And who knew that Coco Chanel was a Nazi spy?!

The 1940s were about Adele, who worked for Coco Chanel just before and during the war. She had been orphaned, brought up in a convent and luckily had managed to get a job with Chanel when she was old enough to leave the convent and came looking for work in Paris and to improve herself. But then the war happened, and again she was lucky enough to be the only member of staff Chanel kept on, both of them living in The Ritz in Paris, a luxury compared to what was happening in the rest of Paris. Chanel was looking after herself and had a German lover, keeping her relatively safe.

Whilst there Adele met an American doctor, Theo, who whilst working at a hospital in Paris also secretly helped injured airmen, or those trying to escape the Nazis, putting his life in danger but something he felt he had to do. Adele also helped him slightly with this, whilst they slowly fell in love. But it was war and anything could happen, and often did, so they promised to wait to be together until after the war was over.

Present day we have Chloe, Adele's granddaughter, recently divorced and having a year out for herself away from her life in England, working at a friend's vintage clothes shop in Paris, and slowly getting her life together again. Then she meets Etienne at an auction of items from The Ritz in the 1940s and through him learns a lot more about what happened in the war, and with her grandmother, who has always been very quiet about what actually happened.

An absolutely fascinating story of life in Paris and, through a lot of actual documents unearthed, we find out that Coco Chanel was working for the Nazis, but it seems mainly to keep herself safe, she didn't have any particular allegiance to anyone but herself, maybe because she also was an orphan and had to struggle for everything she achieved. I suppose who knows what any of us would have done living in a daily life or death situation like that, survival of the fittest I supose, but I don't think I could have been like her. But she always seemed to just get away with everything.

A riveting story that I couldn't put down, and even better there was a happy ending after all the atrocities that had been happening. Highly recommended.

Life at the Ritz during WWII with Coco Chanel was quite eye opening. With Nazi soldiers occupying the Ritz, Adele, Coco's secretary found herself in an uncomfortable position. Was Coco a Nazi collaborator? It's unclear to Adele. Fast forward to 2018, Chole, tries to uncover her grandmother Adele's past. Was Adele also a Nazi collaborator? This dual time story slowly comes together to a surprising ending.

I'm nearly at a loss of words with this book. Just absolute perfection by Lorna Cook. I love historical fiction with a dual timeline! I loved the amount of research and passion that so clearly went into this book to help reveal some fascinating hidden history! I learnt so much and am now completely fascinated by Coco Chanel's WW2 history! I never knew! I don't want to give anything away, of course, but this book shocked me!

My emotions ran the full course in this book, there was suspense, romance, deep sadness, loss, and surprisingly a lot of happiness.

The ending. THE ENDING. I cried my eyes out, I was a blubbering mess trying to quickly explain the entire book to my husband while crying. Goosebumps. Sheer goosebumps. Thank you Lorna Cook, thank you for writing this.

I cannot thank netgalley and Avon Books UK enough for allowing me the privilege to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book turned out much differently Than what I had anticipated. It’s an excellent read. I have read a lot of both fiction and non fiction about Chanel’s life. I liked,the approach Cook took with the Information. I loved all the history interwoven within the story. The scene in Kensington Gardens was like something straight out of a movie. The end scene will make readers catch their breath.

While taking a gap year in Paris, Chloe finds herself at the auction of the infamous Ritz Hotel. Her ties to the legendary building are strange, her grandmother lived there during the war as the assistance to the famed designer Coco Chanel. But…Chloe doesn’t know much more than that. It’s thanks to charismatic Etienne, whose interest in Chanel and her history, that Chloe begins to question her own grandmothers experience during the war. With new documents being released and the idea that Chanel had collaborated with the Nazis, Chloe began to wonder if her grandmother did too. Set in dual timelines of occupied Paris in 1941 and 2018, this is a terrific story of what the people of Paris went through to survive.

I loved this story. I was already somewhat aware of Chanel’s actions during WWII but was intrigued to know more. So this story was a great source of information set against a terrific coming of age story set during the war. It’s a lesson of right and wrong, of good and evil, of heroism and betrayal. I couldn’t put it down. I also loved that the author includes a “for further reading” list in her notes at the end. You can only get so far with google and they serve as an nice reference.

Thank you to NetGalley, Avon Books UK and Lorna Cook for early access to this great story! What a good book to kick of my 2022 reading journey!

Recently I’ve read a few books set in wartime Paris, and this is one of the best, keeping me guessing and my heart racing, from start to finish. Right from first page I was invested in Adele and Chloe’s stories, especially the turbulent days of the occupation. Though never shying away from how grim life was, how fear lurked everywhere, the bravery, heart and determination to survive, especially from the women, shines as bright as The Ritz likely did. This is a book to race through, to keep you up at night for just one more page, and to make you bite your nails with the tension. And as for those endings - so perfectly and beautifully plotted. Spot on!

I love it when historical fiction authors weave information into the story that makes you stop and think… What? Is this for real?
The author’s vivid descriptions of the world of Chanel during wartime was fascinating. Portraying the style icon as a strong, often difficult woman to please. Surrounded by secrets and lies, Adele the dressmaker’s assistant finds herself in impossible situations. Risking her life to support the resistance, whilst living in the same hotel as German officers, reading this book had me holding my breath and my heart thumping in my ears.
Gripping, tense and a book that you can’t put down. The Dressmaker’s Secrets is now in my Top 3 favourite Historical Fiction reads.
If you love historical fiction I'd highly recommend this one.

The Dressmakers Secret is the story of Coco Chanel and her assistant and their life during World War 2. Truly it is mainly about the assistant, Adele. While Chanel plays a part in what life was like for Adele, the story is mainly about Adele. It is told in 2 timelines, one being the war timeline, and the second is Adele’s granddaughter Chloe trying to discover what her grandmothers life was like during the war, since Adele does not talk about it.

This is a World War 2 era book in that the bulk of it takes place during the war, but most of it felt more like a romance story than a war story. The romance story is fairly unoriginal… woman meets man by happenstance, war throws them together, war turns romance into a whirlwind and causes couples to throw caution to the wind, war splits them apart.

The modern timeline also felt more about Chloe falling into a relationship also by happenstance. She spent about 5 pages trying to find out about her grandmother and the rest of her share of the story is about the man she meets in the process.

Many readers will probably love this one. The inclusion of Coco Chanel and insight into her life as a collaborator during the war is interesting. The writing is well done. Ultimately for me this one fell flat as I prefer my WWII era books to be less romance focused. But if that is your kind of book you will probably love this one!

3 stars