Mignonne Lachapelle,
a young fashion designer, leaves her comfortable life in Montreal to
pursue success in New York. At first she is chagrined to learn that
Madame Professor Vera Fiche, one of her teachers at the New York
Fashion School, has stolen her designs and that the show created a
sensation. At first she wants acknowledgment and nothing more to do
with Madame Fiche, but when she's offered a chance to collaborate
with her former professor, she agrees.
She knew Antoine in
Montreal, but was surprised to meet him again in New York and in the
Garment District. Through her fashion design work, she meets
Consuelo, Antoine’s fiery wife. The triangle is set up. Antoine
seeks Mignonne as an easier love than Consuelo. Consuelo wants to get
him back, although she also has affairs, and Mignonne is forced to
work with Consuelo although she is in love with Antoine.
Mignonne, the main
character, is fictional, but the Saint-Exuperys are real people and
their lives parallel the outline of the story. Both had a number of
extra-marital affairs, but the details in this book are imagined by
the author.
The fashion world of
New York during WWII is well described and fascinating. However, the
plot moves around a great deal and is made more complex by the
structure which interleaves chapters by Mignonne in the first person
with chapters by Consuelo in the third person. There are also long
flashbacks which disrupt the flow of the story.
The most fascinating
part for me was the discussion between Mignonne and Antoine about the
artistic constraints of writing and fashion design. The parallels are
helped by the fact that Saint-Exupery is working on The Little
Prince during the the novel.
I enjoyed the
descriptions of war time New York, but I found the love triangle hard
to follow at times. Although I don't have reservations about using
historical characters in fiction, I thought the portrayal of Consuelo
was unfair. However, if you're interested in the WWII fashion world
and in Saint-Exupereys life at the time when he wanted to return to
liberate France and worked on The Little Prince, it's worth
reading.
I reviewed this book
for the Amazon Vine Program.
No comments:
Post a Comment