The Queen of Paris: A Novel of Coco Chanel

This is a story about Coco Chanel, the most elegant woman in Paris. Though her life was not always as glamorous as it may appear, she always looked and acted in the most proper and dignified manner. It is an almost classic story of love, loss, and revenge.The Queen of Paris is the story of Chanel’s life during WW2 with some tidbits of information from her past. She has gone through many hardships in her life and this is the story of it all.

Chanel has had to fight for many things in her time: her business, her son, social status and her life just to name a few. Her business partner, Pierre Werthimer, is Jewish so he flees France, going to America. With him, he takes the formula for Chanel No.5, Coco’s most famous perfume. Pierre has not consulted Chanel on this nor does he pay her her cut, so she has no choice but to consider this theft and take her case to court. It is difficult to live and stay afloat under the Nazi regime; it seems everything is going downhill for her when her son turns up in a prison camp and she must go to desperate measures to save him, as she would do anything for her son.

The storyline was very intriguing, but there were so many characters to remember, I kept mixing them up. This was an entertaining book that would be liked by anyone looking for a different perspective on WW2.