From Publishers Weekly
Laker's 18th historical romance (after The Sugar Pavilion) is a spirited tale of love, war and high fashion. In 1909, 18-year-old Juliette Cladel returns to Paris from years in a convent school and is quickly pressed into service by her sister, who runs a leading dressmaking salon. Juliette falls in love with Karasvin, a young Russian count living the bohemian life in Montmartre as a sculptor and protege of Rodin. Her dreams of combining a career in haute couture with marriage to Karasvin are shattered, however, when he is summoned home to Czarist Russia for a long-arranged marriage to an aristocratic fiancee. Devastated and pregnant, Juliette retreats to a Tuscan villa to deliver the child and marries a Venetian silk merchant who vows to be a devoted father to her son. In a narrative that spans 11 years, she matures through the shattering effects of WWI, pursues her career with the legendary designer Fortuny and commits herself to her marriage despite her enduring love for Karasvin. Laker provides her usual cornucopia of period details, which animate the setting and, here, inform readers about the haute couture trade. While she colorfully recreates the events, milieu and mood of pre-and postwar Europe, however, she relies too often on dialogue to supply missing plot details. Still, readers of historical romance will again find her a sophisticated practitioner of the genre.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From School Library Journal
YA?From the stylish world of Paris in 1907 to Venice during the Great War, readers follow the loves and adventures of Juliette Cladel. While living in Paris, Juliette meets the suave Russian count Nikolai Karasvin and is immediately captivated by his charm and good looks. However, her world starts to change when Nikolai returns to Russia due to the rising unrest there. Juliette marries Italian designer Marco Romanelli and returns with him to Venice to start her life anew, always hoping that one day she will be reunited with Nikolai. Laker beautifully weaves into this love story the tragedy of World War I and its effect on both Juliette and the city of Venice. Through her descriptive language, readers are able to experience the ravages of war and its aftermath of hope. A well-written, easy-to-read historical novel that will keep even the most reluctant YAs interested in the events, from the start of Juliette and Nikolai's romance to the surprising ending.?Roberta Lisker, W.T. Woodson High School, Fairfax, VA
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
