Review:The Paris Model

Title: The Paris Model

Author: Alexandra Joel

Publisher: 20th January 2020 by HarperCollins Publishers Australia

Pages: 352 pages

How I Read It: ARC book

Genre: historical fiction, romance

My Rating: 4.5 cups

Synopsis:

Sometimes you have to lose everything to find yourself ... A stunning novel of love, betrayal and family secrets for all fans of Fiona McIntosh and Natasha Lester.

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.

My Thoughts

‘She had learnt harder lessons: about the complexities of identity; the truths that hid behind secrets and lies; the challenges of making heartbreaking decisions in a world of elusive certainties and infinite grey shades.’

Alexandra Joel, a former magazine editor, has turned her hand to historical fiction and what a fabulous job she has done! The Paris Model is based on a true story with Alexandra even keeping the original names for authenticity. It is a work of fiction, however, based around events of the time.  In this story the reader will travel from rural New South Wales Australia to the fashion houses of Paris France in the 1950s. This is a tale of family secrets with a wonderful window into the fashion of the time. On a deeper level, it is also an examination of several themes including the role of women in a time of great change. 

The story is set in post WWII and begins in outback Australia. It is a wonderful tale in itself: Grace was in a difficult marriage with a returned airman and then was plucked from a Sydney showing and selected to be a ‘mannequin’ for the famed fashion house of Christian Dior! There is a book right there especially with the people Grace mixes with including one, Jacqueline Bouiver. I was happy with this story - old life, new life and love and a great tale of family secrets etc. What was then thrown in the mix was espionage - this I was not too sure about. 

To me it seemed unnecessary that Grace become a part of conspiracies and secret missions - all a bit too much in my opinion. This is where the tale launched into full roller coaster mode of people, politics, even shootings and car chases! Was this needed in an already complete story ... I’m not too sure. 

Overall, however, this only detracted half a star for me as I found the story as a whole very compelling. Historical fiction (based on fact) with locations of Aussie outback to the City of Lights, a great story of heritage and family ties all sprinkled with a bit of romance. As Alexandra cited at the end of her story:

‘The epigraph at the front of The Paris Model quotes Simone de Beauvoir’s The Second Sex, published in Paris in that landmark year, 1949. In it, the author exhorted women to challenge the myth that their modest and compliant ‘essence’ was immutable, and to instead throw themselves into lives that were not defined by gender.’

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher and provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The quoted material may have changed in the final release.