Jade Beer, The Last Dress from Paris (Berkley 2022)
1952. Alice Ainsley prepares the Residence for a grand reception. She is dressed flawlessly in the latest Dior, yet her much older husband Albert, the British ambassador to France, pays her little attention. Not so, the young Antoine du Parcq.
2017. Lucille is sent by her grandmother to Paris to retrieve from her friend’s daughter, Veronique, a certain dress. When she gets to Veronique’s, she finds there are eight dresses—all Dior, each accompanied by a card marking the name of the dress and the occasion worn, headed by the enigmatic ‘A & A’. Why are these dresses so important to her grandmother?
Lucille embarks on a detective investigation seeking out the story of these dresses. It begins with ‘the Maxim’s’, a gown whose story was so moving the shop owner has held onto it all this time. The note on this dress’s card was ‘I need you as much as you need me’. She is helped by Veronique and boutique owner Leon.
Lucille is on a personal quest as well, seeking ‘adventure and realness’ and independence from her too-busy successful corporate mother. If there’s a romance for her in the bargain—well, Paris is the City of Love, after all.
The final, the last dress, it turns out, is exhibited at the V & A Museum, and Veronique joins Lucille in London for the last chapter of the story. On the Eurostar, the two women do some more Google researching. There is a delicious and heart-warming twist in the end.
This novel is a fashion treasure hunt. A story is woven around eight real historic haute-couture dresses. Each has its own story to tell, the story of a romance from the glory days of Dior.
I adore the Concept, telling a story around eight dresses from Paris. I longed for illustrations.
This review first appeared in Historical Novels Review.
Susie Helme 
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