The Milliner's Secret

The Girl Who Dreamed of Paris written by the super talented Natalie Meg Evans for me was one of the best books I have ever read. From the first page, I was totally involved in the life of the main character Cora Mason, as she runs away to Paris and faces a new life where soon her life will soon be overrun with danger while she tries to become the woman she knows she can be.When we first meet Cora she is living with her abusive father while working in a factory for a pittance. She goes to the Derby with best friend Donal, hoping to win a couple of pounds but soon a chance meeting will take her on a whirlwind romance to the city of love Paris.Coraline, as she becomes known, will soon be living the dream as she learns to be milliner the job she could only have dreamed off back at home in London but in Paris she can reinvent herself and this is one thing she did with style but her dream job will have her mixing with the elite of Paris, not realising Paris will soon be overrun with Nazis.The Girl Who Dreamed of Paris is indeed a love story, but this love story has an iron edge and that iron edge is provided by Coraline as she stands up for what she believes in, soon realising this path she has chosen could lead to her losing not only everything she loves but her life is in danger on a daily business.The Girl Who Dreamed of Paris is truly a wonderful read and one I am extremely happy to recommend. Natalie Meg Evans is an author who certainly knows how to grab the readers attention with wonderful storytelling. This is a wonderful work of historical fiction, where historical facts have been woven through.I would also like to recommend the audible version as the narrator Julie Teal brings a lot to the storyline as she gives each character their own voice and she brought a lot of life to each character. The Milliner's Secret Happy to recommend this wonderful read.

I couldn't put this down, a rare occurrence for me. Even my husband commented it must be good. Such complex characters and well constructed story line during a very difficult period. Every tiny intricate detail of this story had been thought through. Absolutely superb.

Loved this book which includes many of the characters from The Dress Thief. However, where The Dress Thief took me quite some time to get into this book had me hooked from the get go. I loved Coralie's story and how she survived war torn Paris.

Fantastic novel of intrigue and betrayal during WWII. Set in Paris Cora longs for love and excitement in her life, she meets and falls in love with Dietrich and together or apart the pageant of collaborators and victims intermingle.

Just coming to the end and do not want it to end, Coralie is brilliant, like Alix in the Dress Thief such independent young women. I wish there was another one to following on from the war. Fabulous descriptions of the hats and of Paris during wartime ..my what a terrible time it was.

When I began reading this I didn’t realise it was a second book and then certain names starting popping up. It is a story full of love and romance, sorrow, anger and intrigue. I had no idea where the story was taking me but I had to keep reading!

Although I enjoyed reading this book I found much of it predictable .i have recently several books that have been based in France in the wars. It has been a useful way of learning more about how France was affected by German occupation. Others that I have read recently seemed to be better researched. Some of the details in this story seemed to have been replicated in other books.

Unexpectedly, I enjoyed this book. Set in Paris during WW2 - it had a bit of everything. Intrigue, suspense, fashion and believable characters caught up in all that occurred during that time. Who would have believed hats could be so interesting? I actually think this book could be made into a great film.