Review: Mademoiselle Chanel

After her mother’s death, Gabrielle Chanel and her sisters were sent to live in a convent.  The nuns helped young Gabrielle perfect her sewing techniques and fully expected her to join their order when she became old enough.  Gabrielle (or Coco as she came to be called) had other ideas, though, and worked tirelessly to survive and succeed at a time when few women did it alone.

Coco was innovative and daring and, after years of hard work, became well known in the fashion world.  Her legacy lives on to this day.

C. W. Gortner recounts the life of fashion icon Coco Chanel in his latest historical fiction novel, Mademoiselle Chanel.  Historical fiction is not a genre I gravitate towards but my book club selected this book so I added it to my reading list and, once I started it, I couldn’t put it down.  Told in the first person, it felt like Chanel was telling me her story and what a fascinating story it was!  Gortner is a wonderful writer and it’s obvious he did his homework before writing this book.  He showed how tough it was for a woman to make it on her own in the early 20th century.  I do think he softened Chanel up just a bit but that didn’t bother me – I still admired her tenacity and spunk.  In case you can’t tell, I loved this book.

My book club had fun with Mademoiselle Chanel.  Many members wore a little black dress and pearls to the meeting.  Everyone loved the book as much as I did but we still had a great discussion about Chanel, fashion, and history.

Review copy provided by Harper Collins and Book Club Girl Book Club.   I am an Indiebound Affiliate.