Product Description

Monsieur Claude Reynaud is known throughout France for his talent for making fabulous clothes. The most elegant women in Paris regularly make the pilgrimage to the cobbled village of Senlis to be charmed by the tailor in the cluttered studio by the century-old apple tree. Claude can take a measurement at a glance, stores everything in his head, and fashions each dress by hand. And, despite his ex-wife's protests, he refuses to be lured by the promise of the Parisian fashion industry. He is too old change and certainly too old to fall in love: his only passion is his studio. Then one afternoon, in a cloud of spring blossom, Mademoiselle Valentine de Verlay arrives on Claude's doorstep. She commissions him to create her wedding dress. But before the first stitch has even been made, Claude realises that for the first time in his life he has fallen passionately in love and, very quickly, the seams of both their lives begin to unravel...'Utterly irresistible ..."The Dressmaker" is a delight' - Margot Livesey. 'Elizabeth Oberbeck's novel shimmers with invention. Her imagination is amazingly tactile, visual and sensuous, a rare pleasure ..." The Dressmaker" is a wonderful debut' - Beth Gutcheon. 'One creates a relationship as carefully as one creates a wedding dress. "The Dressmaker" doesn't drop a stitch' - Rita Mae Brown.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #249890 in Books
• Published on: 2007-02-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 320 pages

From the Back Cover
Monsieur Claude Reynaud is known throughout France for his talent for making fabulous clothes. The most elegant women in Paris regularly undertake the pilgrimage to the cobbled village of Senlis to be charmed by the tailor in his cluttered studio by the century-old apple tree. Claude can take a measurement at a glance, stores everything in his head, and fashions each dress by hand. And, despite his ex-wife’s protests, he refuses to be lured by the promise of the Parisian fashion industry. He is too old change and certainly too old to fall in love: his only passion is his studio.

Then one afternoon, in a cloud of spring blossom, Mademoiselle Valentine de Verlay arrives on Claude’s doorstep. She commissions him to create her wedding dress. But before the first stitch has even been made, Claude realises that for the first time in his life he has fallen passionately in love and, very quickly, the seams of both their lives begin to unravel...

‘Utterly irresistible ... The Dressmaker is a delight’ Margot Livesey
‘Shimmers with invention. Her imagination is amazingly tactile, visual and sensuous, a rare pleasure ... A wonderful debut’ Beth Gutcheon

About the Author
Elizabeth Birkelund Oberbeck has contributed to and worked for several book and magazine publications including Cosmopolitan, Glamour and Working Woman. She lives in Greenwich, Connecticut, with her husband and four sons. The Dressmaker is her first novel.

Customer Reviews

A story of imperfect love...
Claude Reynaud is a dressmaker, running a business in a small town outside Paris, which has been in the family for three generations. He spends his time absorbed in his work, talking to his parrot or entertaining his nephews with puppet shows.

Then, a young woman, Valentine de Verlay walks into his shop and asks Claude to design her wedding dress. For the first time in his 46 years, Claude falls in love...

The following story is how both Valentine and Claude's lives are affected by this love and its devastating consequences.

I loved this book. It's gentle, easy to read and makes for perfect beach reading. It's really refreshing to read a love story which isn't sickly sweet.

Fantastic escapist read, dying to be made it a gorgeous film
To any movie producers reading: Please, please buy the rights to this book and make it into a gorgeous movie with amazing costumes and sets. I suggest casting Eva Green as Valentine, and using Patricia Field for wardrobe.
This is a great novel, it reads very quickly and you really don't want it to be over as you get to the last few pages. It's absolutely crying out to be made into the next Devil Wears Prada (working title: "Siren Wears Couture"?), with great descriptions of fashion, and fantastic sceinc imagery. If you liked Devil Wears Prada and/or have an appreciation of fashion and design, you'll love this.
I'd lend you my copy but my friends keep stealing it from me to read and force on other people!

a delightful book
I really enjoyed this book and kept thinking about it after I had put it down. The reader is rapidly drawn into the lives of the characters which have been carefully crafted. I would strongly recommend this book especially if you have some time to spare as it is a difficult book to put down.