Historical fiction presents a sure narrative highwire act in and of itself, and every writer confronts the problem of weaving fictional tales into actual historic occasions otherwise. No matter the strategy, although, the steadiness of verisimilitude and invention is paramount. With The Three Lives of Alix St. Pierre, Natasha Lester takes on that problem and extra, producing a outstanding novel that walks in a number of worlds throughout a pivotal second in time.
The title character, an American orphan who attended a Swiss boarding faculty on a scholarship, grows into a girl decided to show herself in any theater through which she’s requested to do battle. Over the course of Lester’s novel, which jumps from France to Switzerland to Italy and past through the Forties, we see Alix be a part of the workers of Harper’s Bazaar, secretly work for the U.S. Office of Strategic Services and, in postwar Paris, take up a place at a brand new vogue home run by Christian Dior. But at the same time as her high-fashion goals appear to be coming true, Alix realizes that the ghosts of warfare usually are not carried out along with her but.
Lester’s bold premise, inserting her protagonist on the middle of each covert work throughout World War II and the founding of one of probably the most recognizable vogue manufacturers on the earth, is each daring and compelling. It’s simple to think about that her novel may have shifted too far into espionage and subsequently dimmed the sunshine on the world of high fashion, or that the style may need outshined the world of spies and code names. But readers can put such worries to relaxation, because of Lester’s command of her narrative and deep grasp of her protagonist. Through tight, page-turning prose and a richly developed view of Forties Europe, Lester weaves a spellbinding portrait of a girl who is aware of learn how to survive—and learn how to win.
Alix is such a powerful central character that the remaining of the narrative shapes itself to her like a well-tailored robe, making The Three Lives of Alix St. Pierre a splendidly human and completely gripping work of historic fiction.
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