A USA Today and Globe and Mail bestseller!
A novel of survival, love, loss, triumphâand the sisters who changed fashion forever
Antoinette and Gabrielle âCocoâ Chanel know theyâre destined for something better. Abandoned by their family at a young age, theyâve grown up under the guidance of nuns preparing them for simple lives as the wives of tradesmen or shopkeepers. At night, their secret stash of romantic novels and magazine cutouts beneath the floorboards are all they have to keep their dreams of the future alive.
The walls of the convent canât shield them forever, and when theyâre finally of age, the Chanel sisters set out together with a fierce determination to prove themselves worthy to a society that has never accepted them. Their journey propels them out of poverty and to the stylish cafÊs of Moulins, the dazzling performance halls of Vichyâand to a small hat shop on the rue Cambon in Paris, where a boutique business takes hold and expands to the glamorous French resort towns.
But the sistersâ lives are again thrown into turmoil when World War I breaks out, forcing them to make irrevocable choices, and theyâll have to gather the courage to fashion their own places in the world, even if apart from each other.
âThe Chanel Sisters explores with care the timeless need for belonging, purpose, and love, and the heartâs relentless pursuit of these despite daunting odds. Beautifully told to the last page.â âSusan Meissner, bestselling author of The Last Year of the War