The Three Lives of Alix St. Pierre
A New York Times bestselling author delivers a lavish, unforgettable story of an orphan turned WWII spy turned fashion icon in Paris.
Alix St. Pierre. An unforgettable name for an unforgettable woman. She grew up surrounded by Hollywood glamor, but, as an orphan, never truly felt part of that world. In 1943, with WWII raging and men headed overseas to fight, she lands a publicity job to recruit women into the workforce. Her skills--persuasion, daring, quick-witted under pressure--catch the attention of the U.S. government and she finds herself with an even bigger assignment: sent to Switzerland as a spy. Soon Alix is on the precipice of something big, very big. But how far can she trust her German informant...?
Alix St. Pierre. An unforgettable name for an unforgettable woman. She grew up surrounded by Hollywood glamor, but, as an orphan, never truly felt part of that world. In 1943, with WWII raging and men headed overseas to fight, she lands a publicity job to recruit women into the workforce. Her skills--persuasion, daring, quick-witted under pressure--catch the attention of the U.S. government and she finds herself with an even bigger assignment: sent to Switzerland as a spy. Soon Alix is on the precipice of something big, very big. But how far can she trust her German informant...?
After an Allied victory that didn't come nearly soon enough, Alix moves to Paris, ready to immerse herself in a new position as director of publicity for the yet-to-be-launched House of Dior. In the glamorous halls of the French fashion house, she can nearly forget everything she lost and the dangerous secret she carries. But when a figure from the war reappears and threatens to destroy her future, Alix realizes that only she can right the wrongs of the past ...and finally find justice.
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Community Reviews
"...While owing someone everything is romantic and lovely in a film, in reality it's a thin and transparent square of ground that takes just a flick of a finger to shatter and then you're left clawing at air, waiting to be saved again. I couldn't live like that. So I had no choice but to do whatever I could to forge and fashion my own life."
There was so much to like about this book...
The rich character development of Alix St. Pierre, the lush Paris fashion history, the two heady love interests, the bravery and heroism of multiple female characters in the face of WWII and the Nazis. Lester's examination of women's quality of life before, during and after the war was thought provoking. The writing coaxed my imagination in the Golden Age of Hollywood direction and I was here for it. I really liked conjuring up Old Hollywood imagery of a film adaptation of this story cast with the likes of Lauren Bacall as Alix and Cary Grant as Anthony. There was even a very faint barely-there bink-and-you-miss-it dusting of spice for about a millisecond.
All of these things were initially giving me a nine or ten rating vibe. But at times, I found myself not really feeling invested in what was going on, or getting distracted. Maybe I just wanted the historical aspect? Maybe I just wanted the fashion aspect? Maybe I just wanted the romance aspect? I guess it was too many different things going on simultaneously for me to decide what I was in the mood to read.
I really wanted to like this book more. But in the end, it was good. Just not quite what I hoped for.
The only way to describe reading this book is to say I was completely swept away. It features an independent and fierce heroine during a time when women were recruited to join the war efforts of WWII and then told to go back to the kitchen once the war was over. Alix St. Pierre was orphaned young, raised in boarding school through charity, trust into the secret world of the American OSS, and then took over the fashion scene in France working with Christian Dior. Alix is everything I would’ve hoped for myself had I been born back then and everything I hope for my own daughter even now. Book #4 in 2024
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