The Dressmaker’s Gift by Fiona Valpy Book Review

Note: Hi, when I review books, or anything really, I’m big on discussing what works and what doesn’t work. That often involves spoilers, and seriously I do mean SPOILERS. If you’re not cool with that, that’s totally fine. I have a spoiler-free review that you can read here on Goodreads. But if you’re cool with spoilers, then let’s sit back and chat about this book.

Note: I bought this as part of Amazon’s First Reads program which gives early access to select books for a low price each month.

A Brief Summary

-Taken from Goodreads-
From the bestselling author of The Beekeeper’s Promise comes a gripping story of three young women faced with impossible choices. How will history – and their families – judge them?

Paris, 1940. With the city occupied by the Nazis, three young seamstresses go about their normal lives as best they can. But all three are hiding secrets. War-scarred Mireille is fighting with the Resistance; Claire has been seduced by a German officer; and Vivienne’s involvement is something she can’t reveal to either of them.

Two generations later, Claire’s English granddaughter Harriet arrives in Paris, rootless and adrift, desperate to find a connection with her past. Living and working in the same building on the Rue Cardinale, she learns the truth about her grandmother – and herself – and unravels a family history that is darker and more painful than she ever imagined.

In wartime, the three seamstresses face impossible choices when their secret activities put them in grave danger. Brought together by loyalty, threatened by betrayal, can they survive history’s darkest era without being torn apart?

What works

We find out pretty early on that both Simone (a new friend/co-worker in France) & Harriet have grandmothers in the photo that brought Harriet to France. Because of that, Simone is essentially the main storyteller of the past (with her sharing the stories from her grandmother Mireille)
The present-day/Harriet sections are 1st person and the 1940s sections are in 3rd person. I was a little worried that the past sections would also be told in 1st person, but thankfully they weren’t. It helped make it easier to keep track of where/when I was reading.
The story flowed pretty well, with both timelines moving forward chronologically and with each chapter labeled so that it made following along much easier.
Props to the writing of the 1940s sections. The tone and language used in the story feel very dated which is good.

What May or May Not Work

I liked the quality of the research regarding France during World War II but the present-day material wasn’t as enjoyable to read.
There were some interesting stats about the Holocaust that were included, but I didn’t like how they were presented, as almost groundbreaking information shared by Harriet. I’m not saying they shouldn’t have been shared or that her not knowing about them was bad, but at least she was consistent with her melodramatic reactions to apparently any new information.
I don’t find myself having much sympathy for the main characters, past or present. Claire got a bit better as I read on, but Harriet seemed to get worse.
Harriet’s remarks about specific details in Claire-only scenes make me question them. I believe that she got a general understanding through Mireille via Simone, but I doubt the details.
Harriet is a bit (or a lot) melodramatic. Part of me can understand why she acts and says the things she does, what with not having any knowledge of her maternal family’s history, but still, she needs to calm down.
- ‘I recall Simone’s words of warning from earlier that I should only ask questions if I am absolutely certain that I want to know the answers.’ (duh duh duhhhhh cue suspenseful music)
- ‘How can I ever see the world as a good and kind place to be when I know what obscene cruelty humanity is capable of?’
  - Seriously Harriet? It is 2017, have you been living under a rock?
  - This quote comes from Harriet after she learned about just some of the many terrible things that occurred during the Holocaust. And honestly, it bugged me that she would say such a thing. First of all, did she never learn anything about the Holocaust in school? They do still talk about that in history classes in school, right? Second, again, it is 2017, a lot of terrible things have happened in the world, not to compare with the Holocaust, but enough that to act as if just finding out about the torture acts during the Holocaust would ruin your faith in humanity when that was 70 years ago seems ridiculous.
- ‘I’ve ruined it, I’ve proven to myself what I’ve always feared, that I am too damaged to be loved.”
  - While this quote is a totally valid thing for someone to have on their mind, coming from Harriet, it just makes me shake my head that here is yet another example of Harriet’s melodramatic character.

Honorable Mentions

‘It was simply not an option to run back home to Brittany with her tail between her legs … where nobody had the slightest sense of style and where the only men left were either ancient or stank of sardines, or both’ – Claire (because isn’t that why we all leave home, because of the lack of style and terrible dating choices)
‘I have to admit to feeling a little disappointed that it was Mireille who wanted to join the Resistance and not Claire, who quite frankly seems to have been a bit of a wimp.’ – Harriet (I both laugh and say ouch for calling her grandma a wimp)

Side Questions

Harriet sobbing (in order: for all the people who were brought here, for their terror and their pain; for Claire; for humanity, for a world which can be easily broken; for her mother; for herself)
- why is she crying for herself? I don’t understand.

Would I read this book again?

While I did enjoy parts of the book, I don’t really plan on reading it again. That’s not to say others might not find enjoyment from it, but it just wasn’t my cup of cocoa.