The Paris Model by Alexandra Joel

Book BlurbAfter 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.

My Review

The Paris Model is the fabulous debut novel from Alexandra Joe. Set in Australia and Paris and covering the years 1934-1951 this is the story of Grace, a young women who leaves her life in Australia to become a Mannequin for Christian Dior in post war Paris. Mixing with the rich and famous, Grace soon finds herself embroiled in espionage that could put her life in danger. Set against the beautiful city of Paris this is a book about identity, secrets lies and love.

I think the most remarkable thing about The Paris Model is that it is based on the life of Grace Woods. Grace led such a wonderful life, if difficult at times that I was completely in awe of her. We follow her from her childhood on her families farm in Australia where she helps her father run the farm during World War II, to her new life in Paris where the glamour is the complete opposite of her life in Australia. Grace faces a lot of heartache and loss in Australia, always doing what is expected of her rather than what would make her happy, she wants more than to be a wife to a farmer, and she grabs an opportunity to go to Paris and start again. It was wonderful watching her flourish in Paris, working as a model for Christian Dior, meeting the rich and famous and finally finding love with Phillipe. I was completley in awe of her venture into espionage, using her looks and intelligent to help try and prevent a diplomatic incident, and how her realtionsip with Philippe came to answer so many questions about her identity. There are so many amazing characters in this book that I loved including the women who ran The House of Dior, Reuben, a friend of Grace’s family in Australia, and actual figures like Jacqueline Bouvier, and Christian Dior himself.

The Paris Model and Graces’s life at Dior was something I drank in. I have always had a life long passion for fashion, so reading about Grace’s life was like a dream for me; the beautiful clothes, the society she mixed in and the glamoures parties she attended. Alexandra Joel really captured the zeitgeist of this period, post war people were wanting to enjoy life again but there was still political factions trying to bring France down. I loved that she took the reader to some of the iconic places in Paris including Maxim’s, Cafe de Flore, Monet’s Giverney which influenced his Water Lily’s Series, bringing Bohemian Paris to life. Alexandra Joel seamlessly mixes the fact and fiction of this period, and her knowledge of post war Paris shined through in her writing that flows with ease making this book so pleasurable to read. The descriptive prose captivated the senses, I felt I was there with Grace, seeing smelling and feeling the places she went to, places I would love to have experienced. I seem to have focused on the lighter side of Paris in the 1940’s and Grace’s story but there is a darker side to this story, how secrets and lies can cause long term damage to someone’s life, the darker side of politics after the war, the communists wanting to take over France and the horrors faced by many during the War. I found that this really balanced out the plot, adding drama but also adding an authenticity as these things really happened.

I was totally consumed by The Paris Model, the sophisticated elegance of The House of Dior, the beautiful clothes, and the glamerous locations of Parisian society. Grace’s story is inspirational, her confidence in starting a new life on the other side of the world, a life so different to the one she led in Australia; Farm worker to Model. I was in awe of her bravery in using her position and intelligence to help prevent an assassination that could also put her own life in danger. The writing was evocative, bringing this period in history to life, and capturing the atmosphere of post war Paris. This is a stunning read, and one I highly recommend. I am now looking forward to reading Alexandra Joel’s new book, also based on a true story, The Royal Correspondent that Harper Collins kindly sent me with my copy of this book.

I would like to thank Harper Collins 360 and Anne Cater from Random Things Tours for inviting me to be part of the blog tour in return for my honest review.