Introduction

An unforgettable and “fascinating tale” of an orphan turned WWII spy turned fashion icon in Paris (Kate Quinn, New York Times bestselling author of The Diamond Eye).

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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Excerpt

It was decreed that Alix should get ready for the ball at Maison Chris- tian Dior and use the services of the makeup artists and hairdressers who ordinarily worked on the finer canvases of mannequins. ... view entire excerpt...

Discussion Questions

Alix is asked (or told) to go to Switzerland while the world is at war and she’s only in her early twenties. How might you have reacted to this request at a similar age? Do you think her life might have turned out differently if she’d found a way to decline, or do you think adventure and its consequences would have found her anyway?

Mary says to Alix – power is the opposite to love. Do you agree or disagree? How does this idea play out over the course of the book in Alix’s life and the lives of others?

Both Anthony and Alix battle with the morality of war – whether any action that harms another person can ever be seen as “right”, if there even is a “right” side or a “better” side to be fighting on during a war, or if war makes everyone equally guilty. What do you think?

Dior’s New Look was controversial at the time and seen by many as an affront to a world still suffering the after-effects of war. Alix argues that the dresses represent something very different – hope at a time when, for many women, there wasn’t much hope to be found. What’s your view? Do you like the New Look style or not?

There’s a large cast of female characters in the book: Chiara, Alix, Esmée, Fortunée, Suzanne, Carmel, Mary, Becky, Madame Bricard and many more. Who did you most relate to? Who didn’t you like? Could you understand why each women behaved the way she did? Who would you like to see a happy ending for?

Were you surprised by some of the points about women and financial independence that Alix makes, such as women not being allowed to have credit cards and make credit applications in their own names, and single women not being allowed to open back accounts at that time? How would you survive without your own credit card and bank account today? What else needs to change for women?

Did Alix do the wrong thing in not telling Anthony about Lillie? Should she have known it was relevant? And did Anthony treat Alix poorly by embarking on a relationship with her without considering the effect on her reputation? Would you have forgiven him, or her?

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