Book info

• Title Elegance
• Author Kathleen Tessaro
• Year 2003
• Genre Romance

Louise Canova is at a crossroads in her life. Her marriage is faltering and the insecurities of adolescence have returned to haunt her. Browsing in a second-hand bookshop, she stumbles across a faded grey volume. Written by the formidable French fashion expert, Madame Genevieve Antoine Dariaux, Elegance is an encyclopedia of style. It promises to transform plain women into creatures of poise at all times. And from Accessories to Zippers, there is nothing that Madame Dariaux can’t advise upon – including inattentive husbands, false friends, and the powerful bond between mothers and daughters. When Louise vows to follow Madame’s advice, her life is transformed in ways she never imagined. Within the book’s pages lie clues to her own past. And as she begins to unravel them, she discovers a courage she never dreamt possible. However, everything, even elegance, has its price.

Thoughts

Louise finds a dusty old ’60s book on Elegance in the corner of a second hand shop. She takes the book to heart and it helps her through her divorce, her new found independence (including a new job and numerous social functions) and finding someone to share it all with.

Louise is a great character and I really felt that she was someone I could identify with. I felt like she could just as easily have been English, given some of the customs she was getting on board with, but that doesn’t really make any difference at all.

Unusually written in first person, present tense but once you get used to the style it flows very well. Overall, I loved it, I thought that the way the sections were headed up by the book was great and the way she transformed and learned things about herself, I took the book really to heart and read it in two days.

Rating: 4 / 5