The Three Lives of Alix St. Pierre - by Natasha Lester

Thanks to Forever (Grand Central Publishing) & NetGalley for a digital advance reader copy. All comments and opinions are my own. I have now read four of Nastasha Lester’s novels. Any book she writes is one I want to read - they are that good. Combining real people and events with her imagined characters brings history to life and makes me feel as if I’m right there in the thick of the action. This novel is about Alix St. Pierre, an exceptional young woman – orphaned at 13 – who, after graduating from college, is recruited by the US as a spy at the beginning of WWII. Told in three timelines: before, during and after WWII, this page-turning story “takes readers from the dangerous, intrigue-filled rooms in Switzerland where the elite of both sides mingled and schemed during the war, to the glamorous halls of the House of Dior in the golden age of French fashion and journalism.” Going back and forth in time, the novel is suffused with the wartime atmosphere of threat and menace. When the war is over, Alix returns to Paris determined to right the wrongs of the past - a past that holds tremendous personal grief and guilt. I love how Lester often includes fashion in her novels – this time incorporating the launch of the House of Dior. In well-researched detail, she provides vivid descriptions of dresses, fabric, models, and Christian Dior himself – with the less familiar perspectives of fashion publicity and journalism. Lester authentically describes the House of Dior in its early days and combines it with the backstory of Alix’s role in the secret intelligence organization during the war. Another theme woven throughout the novel is the feminist viewpoint – women’s determination for independence and equality – especially to be respected in the workplace, marriage, and fashion (pants as an acceptable everyday clothing option for women didn’t truly catch on until the mid-20th century). It is shocking to realize that “as late as the 1950s, even later, American women seeking to work for fulfillment, rather than out of necessity, often had to ask their husbands’ permission to do so. And many men refused it.” (From the author’s notes). If you’re looking for a well-researched and engrossing World War II novel with vivid characters and a memorable story, you’ll want to read The Three Lives of Alix St. Pierre.

Natasha Lester draws you in and writes a remarkable and engaging book about what it was like for women spies during WWII and the fashion industry, highlighting Dior, post WWII. In 1943, Alix St. Pierre was recruited by the U.S. government to become a spy because of her successful PR career in NYC and the fact she could speak 3 languages. During the war, Alix is given a mission to get close to a German who was thought that they might be willing to help the Allies. But is the person really a double agent? Will her mission lead her astray? After the war, 1946, Alix is employed by Dior to help market his brand. When her past life of being a spy comes to haunt her in Paris and compromises her job with Dior, how will she handle it in order to save her job? Will she be able to or will it end her career? This book highlights the risks women took during WWII especially with Alix having to set up her own courier line in order to gather the information she needed to do her job. It took making friends with a variety of key people who have connections in order to get the information she needed. I love how Natasha Lester includes in her Author’s note her inspiration and which characters are linked to actual people in history! An incredible story that is a must read for Historical Fiction lovers and leaves you thinking about long after it’s done. Be sure to add to your TBR! A great book club pick as well!