Mademoiselle Chanel: A Novel

Well written, informative and a good pace to the story. I find C W Gortner

Famous artists frequently refuse to be defined, classified, or placed in society’s tidy box of approval. Coco Chanel, renowned designer of classic clothing, accessories and perfume, is an enigmatic delight as depicted in this novel by perceptive and sensitive historical novelist, C. W. Gortner.Gabrielle’s parents are deeply in love but her paternal grandmother rejects Gabrielle’s mother. Her mother in turn loves her daughter but says she is unable to live with her. So searching and yearning for love followed by rejection seems to be a pattern that Gabrielle will follow until she meets the true love of her love, Arthur Capel or “Boy,” a relationship that is treasured because with it comes respect and treatment as an equal, competent professional woman. The latter trait is not one encouraged in pre-WWII France but Gabrielle’s relationships yield financial and emotional freedom on her own terms.Thus begins an astonishing career in which Gabrielle begins her first shop where she is allowed to design everything but dresses. Her styles, like the change in her name, jettison her into fame as a designer who isn’t afraid to risk her business for what she believes. Cocoa often stated that women should dress elegantly, simply, sleekly, with some low-keyed jewelry or scarf accessories. These were memorialized in the Chanel black suit, the sexy but simple black dress, and the famous Chanel No. 5 perfume that has solidly sold from its creation to the present.Coco’s career conflicts and troubles are intimately described herein, some of which she handled with creative ideas and some which she lost and mourned. Competition was fierce and even some of her own colleagues and workers tried to bring about her demise, literally by law and figuratively through slander.Although Coco was judged and demeaned as a Nazi collaborator, Gortner depicts her connection to the Nazi’s with a higher purpose and mysterious misunderstanding in covert circumstances that force the reader to suspend judgment. The artist manages a comeback even after years of exile in Switzerland.While other writers have published their own books about Coco Chanel, C. W. Gortner has written a masterful portrait that is engaging and intriguing on every page celebrating Chanel’s intelligent, creative and beautiful clothing. This reader was truly sad at the ending of this novel, an ending that mourns the passing of a passionate, brilliant, talented and incomparable woman. Delightful historical fiction and so, so highly recommended!

I have to admit to a certain amount of ignorance about Coco Chanel -- other than the fact that i've coveted her iconic fragrances and make up since I was old enough to browse the aisles of Saks and Bloomingdale's. Knowing how Gortner's previous novels have grabbed me and sucked me in, i had every reasonable belief that Mademoiselle Chanel would do the same.I was not disappointed.In the classic rags-to-riches story of this fashion legend (who, in fact, is more legendary than Chanel?), I became part of the story of a young, dispossessed child who, from the start, learned to be disappointed in men. If Gortner made this all up, it would be unbelievable -- but he didn't. We watch this young, independent seamstress become a rising star, building her empire from scratch (with a little help from benefactors), having the vision to see a woman's world through a classical, sophisticated, yet interestingly low-key style. Gortner's description of Chanel's battles with the likes of the over-the-top Schiaparelli were, for me, a microcosm of Chanel's life.Again, pleading ignorance here, I had no idea that Chanel was implicated as a spy during WWII and frankly, coming to know a little of what formed her inner being from Gortner, i don't buy it. I suppose that is for the ages. That she left her beloved Paris for Switzerland after Vichy fell and the French who remained behind during the German occupation were stigmatized and prosecuted is a testament to her courage in reinventing herself -- as she did time and again during the course of her long life.This is a well-researched, deeply felt biographical novel. Although i'm not a fashion maven, Gortner's insights and his desire to create an accessible, reachable Coco -- a Coco who was not always accessible even to those she loved and who loved her -- is a testament to his talent as a writer. Beautifully written, very much in the moment, this is a first-class piece of historical fiction.

I adored this book. Coco Chanel was a complicated woman who it is not always easy for us to like, but Gortner captures her with an adeptness that gives us a complete picture of both the woman and the legend. His language is beautifully elegant in a way that perfectly suits his subject - sleek and sublime. Not many writers could find the right voice for Chanel, but he nailed it.Chanel had an inner strength that was laudable, but we do tend to prickle when we think about some of her behavior during WWII. Nonetheless, I can't say I found her unlikeable - probably because Gortner makes it so we can understand her actions, even when they make us cringe. To me, the very qualities people want to criticize her for having (or at least those they view as rendering her unlikeable) are the same qualities that made her capable of being the force she was. People are complicated, and the traits that lead to success and the ability to have a profound cultural influence on the world can prove to be liabilities in other situations.Gortner has tackled a difficult subject, one about whom many people have strong opinions. His careful attention to research is evident on every page of this book, which means readers can trust that he is giving them the full picture, even when that means not shying away from uncomfortable facts. A brilliantly written book that is a true delight to read.

"Fashion is not folly" says Gabrielle Chanel towards the end of this "fictionalized biography" of the woman who changed fashion. I remember her vaguely as a child, waif like even in her old age, still pontificating her style axions. Still being "Coco".Born to impoverishment, raising herself from orphanage to runway, Chanel was always ambitious. She was out to help herself first, and her familial sense of duty came next. While some chafed at the orphange she was placed in upon her mother's death, she found strength there, enriching their lives with her skills at sewing, learned at her mother's knees. Although poor in formal education, her love of reading for escape served her well throught her self-taught life.She wanted comfort, so she made comfortable fashions. She espoused simple, no frills sillouettes, and the "LBL", now an iconic mainstay of American fashion, was born in a world where women would only be caught dead wearing black. It makes me wonder what she might think of fashion in the 21st century.Ambitious in life, ambitious in love, she had the money and the panache to pull off one of the greatest rags-to-riches stories in history, one Gortner, a huge Chanel afficiando, has reflected amazingly in this well researched, lovely book, reminiscent of couture Chanel in its presence.This is THE book if you love Chanel, and will stay with me for a long time. I will be getting this for my collection soon. Read this book