The Chanel Sisters
-
- £3.99
-
- £3.99
Publisher Description
'Delicious and utterly absorbing... This is a book to be relished and savoured. I can't recommend it enough' GILL THOMPSON, author of THE CHILD ON PLATFORM ONE
'Historical fiction at its finest. Antoinette Chanel will capture your heart' ANN WEISGARBER, author of THE PERSONAL HISTORY OF RACHEL DUPREE
---
The unforgettable story of the sisters who changed fashion forever. For readers who fell in love with THE PARIS WIFE and THE AGE OF LIGHT.
Gabrielle and Antoinette know they're destined for something better. Abandoned to a convent orphanage, they are raised for simple lives. But at night they dream of a glittering future, and the Chanel sisters are determined to prove themselves worthy.
Their journey propels Coco and Ninette out of poverty to performing in bohemian cafés and stylish music halls, and soon on to Paris and a small hat shop on the rue Cambon, where a boutique business takes hold and expands to the glamorous French resort towns.
But when war breaks out, everything changes, and the Chanel sisters must navigate great loves, devastating losses and fight harder than ever to make their mark on the world.
THE CHANEL SISTERS draws readers through all different walks of Parisian life in the early twentieth century to the extraordinary legacy that lives on today - the most iconic fashion house in haute couture.
Praise for THE CHANEL SISTERS:
'I loved this story of two ambitious women who dare to envision brilliant futures for themselves and refuse to settle for anything less... A fascinating behind-the-scenes look at the rags-to-riches rise of fashion's most intriguing icon' Elise Hooper, author of The Other Alcott and Fast Girls
'Hits all the right notes: luxury settings, especially Paris, love and betrayal, and family bonds that both build and bind' Karen Harper, New York Times bestselling author of The Queen's Secret
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Little (Wickwythe Hall) imagines the relationship between Coco Chanel and her younger sister, Antoinette, in this admirable fictional biography. The story of the sisters' onerous childhood begins in 1897 after their mother dies when they are 11 and eight, and their father, a wandering peddler, abandons the family and gives the girls to a convent orphanage. The author mines the girls' austere upbringing by the nuns to show how they would later develop their fashion sensibility ("An insistence on craftsmanship, of stitches perfectly made. The calming contrast of black and white," Antoinette observes), which is further stoked after their aunt shows them fashion magazines. Later chapters follow Coco's trajectory from Paris hatmaker to fashion force of nature, as well as both sisters' shifting fortunes in romance. Antoinette improves on the construction of Coco's signature hats, while accepting Coco's personal life as a well-kept mistress. Though aspects of each sister's love lives occasionally come off as tiresome, the descriptions of the millinery trade are consistently fascinating. Little's story of two indomitable women offers an eye-opening account of the unsung Antoinette and her pivotal role in her famed sister's success. Fashion aficionados in particular will appreciate this take on the life of a legend.
