The Dressmaker. Elizabeth Birkelund Oberbeck [Paperback]

Elizabeth Birkelund Oberbeck (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 2008

Monsieur Claude Reynaud is known throughout France for his talent for making fabulous clothes. The most elegant women in Paris regularly make the pilgrimage to the cobbled village of Senlis to be charmed by the tailor in the cluttered studio by the century-old apple tree. Claude can take a measurement at a glance, stores everything in his head, and fashions each dress by hand. And, despite his ex-wife's protests, he refuses to be lured by the promise of the Parisian fashion industry. He is too old change and certainly too old to fall in love: his only passion is his studio. Then, one afternoon, in a cloud of spring blossom, Mademoiselle Valentine de Verlay arrives on Claude's doorstep. She commissions him to create her wedding dress. But before the first stitch has even been made, Claude realises that for the first time in his life he has fallen passionately in love and, very quickly, the seams of both their lives begin to unravel...

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In the rural French town of Senlis, mild-mannered, middle-aged tailor Claude Reynaud fashions wedding gowns, dresses and suits for Parisian women in the know; for the locals, he repairs torn seams, sews on buttons and alters hemlines. Claude's predictable life turns upside down when the charming parisienne Valentine de Verlay commissions him to make her wedding dress, and he falls in love with her. Claude's wife left him eight years ago (but, we learn early on, no divorce papers have been signed), and Valentine's fiancé, Victor, is a singularly unlikable, one-dimensional character (whose last name, of all things, is "Couturier"). Claude and Valentine couple early on, but, despite being in love with Claude, Valentine stays on track for the marriage to Victor. When Claude joins up with a major Paris designer to be closer to Valentine, former Cosmopolitan columnist Oberbeck cleverly portrays Claude's entrée into high fashion, but she makes a weak case for Claude's dislike of all the attention. An inexplicably tragic side plot involving the teenage girlfriend of one of Claude's nephews further derails the proceedings. Oberbeck successfully creates the intrigue one wants for a wedding gown designer who falls in love with his client and vice versa, but doesn't manage it all the way through to the principals' New York collision. (July)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Oberbeck, a writer for Cosmopolitan and Glamour, injects an unexpected twist into the French fashion scene in her debut novel. She has built her romantic tale around a far-from-glamorous dressmaker, Claude Reynaud, who eschews the Parisian fashion runways, opting instead to design his wedding dresses and hand-sewn gowns in the small town outside Paris where he learned his trade from his father and grandfather. Claude, divorced, has no children, but dotes on his nephews, and has convinced himself he is happy living with only his loquacious parrot. But then his mundane existence is upended by Valentine de Verlay, a bride-to-be who comes to Claude to design her wedding dress and rekindles feelings he thought had died forever. Oberbeck chronicles their doomed romance on its dizzying journey to Paris and New York, during which Claude is amazed that a beauty like Valentine would find him at all appealing. Oberbeck's romp is as light and frothy as one of Claude's chiffon creations, yet it is also an engaging dissection of high fashion and those who determine its whimsical direction. Deborah Donovan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Arrow Books (February 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0099502879
• ISBN-13: 978-0099502876
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 1 x 7.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,878,448 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Lovely Debut and Romance - Great Summer Reading, July 4, 2006

By 

M. Rondeau (West Springfield, MA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Dressmaker: A Novel (Hardcover)

Living in a small town 30 miles outside of Paris, 46 year old Claude Reynaud lives an uncomplicated placid life with his parrot Pedant. For the most part townspeople know him as the devoted uncle of his sister Juliette's four sons, the tailor who mends their clothes, sews buttons, and adjusts hemlines. More than that, he is a hidden jewel that `in the know' Parisian society ladies had been keeping under wraps for his exquisite one-of-a-kind designer gowns. So it was that one day, a young woman was sent to Monsieur Reynaud to have a special gown designed and Claude's heart stood still. For Claude it was love at first sight for the glamorous captivating Valentine de Verlay, but with complications. The gown to be designed was her wedding gown, and Claude was still married, albeit he hadn't seen his wife for the last eight years.

Valentine was his ideal, his muse, and though she regarded Claude as the most lovely of men whom she developed a deep connection with, events and life intruded on the relationship including her fiancé Victor Couturier and Claude's wife, the petulant Rose Marie. Knowing that he'd never before experienced love before he met Valentine Claude threw caution to the wind. Subjecting himself to the back-biting world of haute couture, Claude would sign on with a Paris designer label which had always seemed an anathema to him; anything to stay within Valentine's orbit. Chasing his muse he'd leave behind the safety and security of family for the love of his life.

*** I found myself fascinated by this read - amused in some instances, and totally captivated by the deep character studies of Claude, a lovely man, and his muse, the very honorable Valentine. References to the fashion industry, descriptions of the fashions, the quaintness of the little town of Senlis, and the grandeur of Paris and the fashion shows were vividly pictured in my mind by the lyrical and lovely prose this debut author portrayed. While the main thrust of the romance and love Claude felt for Valentine was lovely indeed, the added bonus of seeing an uncle's devotion, love and tutelage for his nephews cannot be overlooked as this for me was even more of a testament of this beautiful man's character. The author wrote this with immense sensitivity and understanding bringing this reviewer to tears at the love and devotion of Claude for those he cared for. Claude wasn't the buff guy with the to die for abs, or the spy who snatches you from danger in the nick of time hero; he's the loving honorable man who will quietly steal into your heart when you're not looking and remain there long after the final page is turned! This debut should not be missed and definitely put on your summer reading list!

Marilyn Rondeau, RIO - Reviewers International Organization

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A sweet and unpredictable story, September 28, 2006

By 

Lisa A. Wysocki (Greenwich CT) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Dressmaker: A Novel (Hardcover)

The Dressmaker is a quick and beautifully written novel that makes me long for Paris and a wonderful wardrobe! The author creates characters that are sympathetic and believable, while weaving a story that does not turn out the way you would expect. I was surprised by the bittersweet ending and relieved that it was not a simple formula. It would make a lovely movie and is the perfect escape for a rainy day.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must Read for Summer 2006!!, June 27, 2006

By 

SSG - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Dressmaker: A Novel (Hardcover)

This debut novel by Elizabeth Oberbeck is wonderful! Elizabeth Oberbeck's lyrical and descriptive writing takes you to France and the world of haute couture, while also enchanting you with the chemistry between the dressmaker and his muse. This beautiful book is a must read for Summer 2006.