The Paris Gown: A Novel

Paris, 1955 Three friends—Claire, Gina, and Margot—who parted as very young women with their whole lives ahead of them, reunite in Paris years later, determined to start life anew. Parisian Claire has been working hard to become a Michelin-starred chef one day, but ever since the heady time she spent in the company of socialites Gina and Margot, her dream has been to own a Dior gown. This seemed like a far-off fantasy, until her neighbor, Deidre Martin, who lives above Claire’s family brasserie, mysteriously disappears from Paris, quitting her job at the United States Embassy and leaving Claire to mind her apartment. Most bafflingly, Deidre also makes Claire a very special gift: a stunning Dior gown. Meanwhile Gina, a cool American blue blood, lands on Claire’s doorstep nursing a broken heart and a broken engagement after her father lost all of the family money in a risky business venture. A journalist aspiring to be a novelist, Gina has returned to Paris in the hopes of pursuing her dream. But when Deidre goes missing, Gina’s journalistic instincts scent a story, and an invitation to the United States Embassy ball is too great an opportunity to miss. Only what on earth is she going to wear? Warm-hearted Claire insists Gina wear the Dior gown to the ball, and after some hesitation, Gina accepts. At Dior for Gina’s fitting, whom should assist them but Margot, the friend they thought had gone back to Australia to be married. But Margot is living in Paris and working at Dior under an assumed name, and clearly is not happy to have been found. Is their close friendship at an end? Or will the wonder and delight of the Dior gown bring these young women back together? Gorgeous, perfectly fitted, lustrous and luxurious, the Dior gown has the power to change lives—as these three remarkable women are about to discover…