A new book review that is not Danielle Steel, are you excited?
A Vintage Affair by Isabel Wolff
I just want to start off by saying I really like sharing the information blurb from Goodreads.com for the books that I share here but may I just say the one for this book is not very good and interestingly they have gotten the main characters name wrong. In the book her name is Phoebe Swift and on the Good Reads information blurb they refer to her as Phoebe Saunders. Strange. I suppose I will share it anyways...
Phoebe Sanders Swift runs her own vintage dress shop. But while she stitches and repairs couture suits and glorious dresses, there is something in Phoebe's own past that she cannot restore, and which is stopping her searching for love.
See. Not fantastic, but none the less leaves your wanting to read on, right?
I'm not going to lie it took me a really long time to read this book which is no reflection of the book itself but I either didn't have time, I didn't feel like reading or I would put my nook on the shelf in the kitchen and then forget about it. You see this is generally why I start a book and finish it the next day so I don't have this problem. Truth be told if I would have started this book at a different time I honestly could have read straight through.
The book had a lot of interesting characters and although it was based around the 2008 time period there was a really interesting link to the Holocaust which I have read a ton about and am very interested in. The book had a romantic aspect but in a very moderate way and was definitely focused more on the story itself which I actually really enjoyed as it was a nice change from some of the other novels I have read recently.
The main character Phoebe Swift faces a horrific tragedy in the beginning of the book and decides to completely transform her life hoping to move on and continue to live. She breaks off her engagement, leaves her job and decided to fulfill her dream of starting her very own vintage clothing store. I have to say I wish they had pictures of the clothing in the book as they described them to be so beautiful and desirable I would have loved to have actually seen what they looked like.
This new store and dream of her puts her in contact with some very interesting people that change Phoebe's life in ways that I don't think she ever could have imagined. She went into the store at the beginning of the book in desperate need or something wonderful in her life and the store quickly became a hit due to her skill, eye for wonderful vintage clothing and a interview with a small local paper that started a friendship she also hadn't expected.
Phoebe's new relationships especially that of Mrs. Bell puts her life into prospective and gives her something to focus on other than her own woes. This new found friendship gives Phoebe much needed prospective through stories of tragedy and sorrow she could have never imagined. Phoebe finds herself on a mission to give closure to a dying woman and in the end finds her own small amount of peace.
Phoebe's character is warm and caring regardless of all she has been through, she is looking for peace and friendship all while not being entirely sure how to find and maintain it. Throughout the read you want to be friends with Phoebe, give her someone to talk to because it takes her quite some time to consider her new found friendships worthy of revealing her personal stories.
I believe this book is entirely worth reading and although I could go on and on about it I don't want to ruin it for those of you who are going to read it, and I highly recommend you do. Isabel Wolff is British so the book is based in a small town in England but has many stories of Paris and Germany. It is definitely my intention to further explore more of her books and share them here with all of you!
If you are interested in reading this book or others by Isabel Wolff here are links to her books.
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