A Dress of Violet Taffeta
Book Feature - A Dress of Violet Taffeta by Tessa Arlen
HBL Note: I am so happy to be featuring another book by Tessa Arlen. You may remember two of her previous books features on this blog: In Royal Service to the Queen and Poppy Redfern and the Midnight Murders. Her latest novel, A DRESS OF VIOLET TAFFETA, is about British fashion designer Lucy, Lady Duff Gordon during the late 19th and early 20th century, an era known as La Belle Époque. If you’ve been a longtime reader of HBL, then you know this book already hits some of the top things I look for in books:
Historical fiction
About a real woman in history
Will learn something new about fashion history
Oh, and did I mention she survived the Titanic disaster? So yeah, this book is about more than her fascinating career, she also lived a notable life. Scroll down to read more about A DRESS OF VIOLET TAFFETA by Tessa Arlen.
Book Feature - A Dress of Violet Taffeta by Tessa Arlen
Book Feature - A Dress of Violet Taffeta by Tessa Arlen
From the publisher:
Lucy Duff Gordon knows she is talented. She sees color, light, and texture in ways few people can begin to imagine. But is the male dominated world of haute couture, who would use her art for their own gain, ready for her?
When she is deserted by her wealthy husband, Lucy is left penniless with an aging mother and her five-year-old daughter to support. Desperate to survive, Lucy turns to her one true talent to make a living. As a little girl, the dresses she made for her dolls were the envy of her group of playmates. Now, she uses her creative designs and her remarkable eye for color to take her place in the fashion world—failure is not an option.
Then, on a frigid night in 1912, Lucy’s life changes once more, when she becomes one of 706 people to survive the sinking of the Titanic. She could never have imagined the effects the disaster would have on her fashion label Lucile, her marriage to her second husband, and her legacy. But no matter what life throws at her, Lucy will live on as a trailblazing and innovative fashion icon, never letting go of what she worked so hard to earn. This is her story.
