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A Vintage Affair: A Novel
 
 
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A Vintage Affair: A Novel [Hardcover]

Isabel Wolff (Author)
4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (113 customer reviews)


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Book Description

June 29, 2010
Every dress has a history. And so does every woman.
 
In Isabel Wolff’s captivating A Vintage Affair, a treasured child’s coat becomes a thread of hope connecting two very different women.
 
Her friends are stunned when Phoebe Swift abruptly leaves a plum job at the prestigious Sotheby’s auction house to open her own vintage clothing shop in London—but to Phoebe, it’s the fulfillment of a dream. In the sunlight-flooded interior of Village Vintage, surrounded by Yves Saint Laurent silk scarves, Vivienne Westwood bustle skirts, cupcake dresses, and satin gowns, Phoebe hopes to make her store the hot new place to shop, even as she deals with two ardent suitors, her increasingly difficult mother, and a secret from her past that casts a shadow over her new venture.

For Phoebe, each vintage garment carries its own precious history. Digging for finds in attics and wardrobes, Phoebe is rewarded whenever she finds something truly unique, for she knows that when you buy a piece of vintage clothing, you’re not just buying fabric and thread—you’re buying a piece of someone’s past. But one particular article of clothing will soon unexpectedly change her life. 
 
Thérèse Bell, an elderly Frenchwoman, has an impressive clothing collection. But among the array of smart suits and couture gowns, Phoebe finds a child’s sky-blue coat—an item with which Bell is stubbornly reluctant to part. As the two women become friends, Phoebe will learn the tale of that little blue coat. And she will discover an astonishing connection between herself and Thérèse Bell—one that will help her heal the pain of her own past and allow her to love again.
 

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Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

When vintage clothing expert Phoebe Swift decides to abandon her career as a Sotheby’s auctioneer, she opens London’s Village Vintage, selling only the best recycled designer duds. However, it isn’t long before we discover that the cupcake dresses and alligator clutches that populate her quaint neighborhood shop aren’t Phoebe’s only baggage. Reeling from the death of a close friend and the subsequent collapse of her wedding engagement, Phoebe is in need of a change. She certainly loves the clothing she sells for its history, but it takes a new and profound friendship with the elderly client Mrs. Bell to show Phoebe to care for herself in the same way. Although the novel is sometimes predictable, UK best-seller Wolff keeps us entertained by sending a few courtiers Phoebe’s way and threading intriguing wartime historical fiction into Mrs. Bell’s backstory. Readers with a passion for couture fashion will appreciate (and feel vindicated by!) Wolff’s well-researched and intricate descriptions of beautiful, significant vintage pieces. While the dialogue is occasionally a bit bloated, this book is a smooth read with enough flair and fun for the beach or the pool. --Annie Bostrom

Review

 
“What makes this book stand out is Wolff’s passion for vintage fashion; velvety, silken prose describes the clothes and their history, with several pieces telling rich stories that develop into compelling sub-plots.”
—Easy Living
 
“Romance in a vintage clothes shop—we were sold from line one. Luckily, this book lives up to its hype, and is filled with all the sensory goodness that leads to inevitable comparisons to Joanne Harris—this is an author to bookmark.”
—Irish Tatler
 
“What a lovely book!”
—Daily Mail

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 368 pages
  • Publisher: Bantam; 1 edition (June 29, 2010)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0553807838
  • ISBN-13: 978-0553807837
  • Product Dimensions: 6.2 x 1.2 x 9.6 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
  • Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (113 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #97,293 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Isabel Wolff read English at Cambridge and was a journalist and BBC broadcaster before becoming a full time writer. A Sunday Times best-seller, her eight poignant romantic comedies have been published in 29 languages and include 'The Making of Minty Malone', 'Behaving Badly' and 'Rescuing Rose'. Her latest novel, 'A Vintage Affair' was an Amazon.co.uk 'Best of the Year' title, 2009, and in 2011 it was shortlisted for the American Libraries Association Reading List award (in the women's fiction category). Her ninth novel, 'The Very Picture of You' will be published by Random House Inc on October 4th. Isabel lives in London with her partner, their children and her stepchildren and in her spare time enjoys playing with dolls and trains. For more information please visit www.IsabelWolff.com or see Isabel's author page on Facebook. Thank you...

 

Customer Reviews

113 Reviews
5 star:
 (58)
4 star:
 (42)
3 star:
 (10)
2 star:
 (2)
1 star:
 (1)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.4 out of 5 stars (113 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

50 of 51 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars NOT just chick lit!, April 21, 2010
By 
This review is from: A Vintage Affair: A Novel (Hardcover)
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
Most of the other reviews have gone over the plot of this charming book, so I won't belabor that. What I will do is tell you that I absolutely LOVED A Vintage Affair and didn't put it down until I finished it in one day. Now, for me, that is NOT just chick lit. This book has a wonderful main character, Phoebe Swift, who narrates the story and captured my heart early on, in the Prologue. She's definitely not perfect, and we feel her confusion, her disappointment, and most of all, her regrets. But she's also filled with passion and enthusiasm and hope, and we, the readers, are taken along for the ride. Phoebe is not afraid to risk in love or in business, but she is unable to get beyond regrets about what she sees as her own failings. There's also a bittersweet story of World War II friendship and tragedy that parallels in many ways a complex friendship in Phoebe's own immediate past. Both stories of betrayal and friendship touched me deeply, and I have to admit that tears were flowing freely as I read.


What makes this book a can't-put-it-down page-turner is the fact that mystery lurks around every corner, as does coincidence (or fate?), and this combination, while it may strain credulity at times, also keeps the reader guessing and hoping, right along with Phoebe. In addition to mystery, there's romance that includes just about all the various shades of romantic entanglements, including lost love, found love with complications, and budding romance with great potential. Somehow the author manages to keep it believable enough that the reader is swept along with the story, unable to put the book down or forget about what's going to happen next.


To make the novel even more interesting, there are fascinating details about vintage fashion, classic films, vineyards, and World War II in Europe. The story is set in England, and the British setting provides interest without becoming off-putting to American readers. Somehow this author pulls all the above together beautifully, even though this review may make it sound like a hodgepodge of plots. The successfully unifying elements are friendship, parent-child relationships, romance, and regrets, and who can't identify with most all those facets of life? I adored A Vintage Affair, and I highly recommend it. I definitely intend to investigate other novels by Isabel Wolff.



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24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars I want to give this book 6 stars!, May 29, 2010
This review is from: A Vintage Affair: A Novel (Hardcover)
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
I wish I could give this book 6 stars because 5 doesn't seem like enough. I'm not going to bore you with another recap of the plot in this review but I will say this about it: it's the first book I've read in a long time where the plot unfolded for me as a surprise rather than an expectation. I loved every second of reading this book because the author did such a great job of not giving away too much at once. Phoebe, the main character is incredibly charming and likable. All the characters in the book are so well written that by the time you turn the last page you can't help but feel a connection with all of them. The descriptions of the garments are described in such a way that you have no trouble seeing in your mind what they look like. Don't pass this book by if you're not into vintage clothing or couture because there's so much more here than that. This book will make you laugh and cry but most of all it will make you glad to have read it. I will definitely seek out other books written by this author!
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27 of 31 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Lovely Story, April 16, 2010
By 
This review is from: A VINTAGE AFFAIR (Paperback)
I love fashion so when I read the summary I knew I must read this book so I was really excited when I won. It was a light romantic novel with some heavier stories told within the main plot of the book.

Phoebe Swift's love for all things vintage leads to her opening her own shop, Village Vintage. She meets many different and unique people with many wonderful stories. One of these people is Mrs. Therese Bell who grew up during the war in the 1940's. She tells her story of growing up during the war and the person she felt she betrayed and has kept a part of it, the beautiful blue coat, to herself all these years. Which is something Phoebe could relate to all to well.

I really enjoyed reading this book. The descriptions of the vintage clothing was wonderfully detailed, I could picture every outfit perfectly. I enjoyed the story of Mrs. Bell somewhat more than I did the main storyline with Phoebe, but Phoebe's was just as interesting to read about.

There were so many characters each with their own individual personalities. Phoebe's two or well three, I suppose, love interests Miles the older man with the snobbish daughter, Dan a sweet and quirky journalist/ film aficionado, and of course the ex-fiance she left behind. One of my favorite characters was her mother who was obsessed with wanting to stay young and learning about all these different procedures she was thinking of doing. I enjoyed all of the characters even the not so nice ones.

A Vintage Affair was a really fun and at times sad book to read. It makes me want to open up my own vintage shop in hopes of meeting a wonderful person like Mrs. Bell and being surrounded by all the beautiful clothing.
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