The Fashion Orphans by Randy Susan Meyers & M.J. Rose ~ a Review

by Susan Roberts

Two estranged sisters find that forgiveness never goes out of style when they inherit their mother’s vintage jackets, purses… and pearls of wisdom.

Amazon affiliate links are used on this site. A free book was provided for an honest review.

February 2022; Blue Box Press; 978-1952457715
audio, ebook, print (274 pages); women's fiction

I love books about sisters and The Fashion Orphans provides a fantastic book about sisters along with a lot of information about Coco Chanel -  both her clothes and comments that she made about fashion during her life as a designer.

 

 Gabrielle and Lulu are estranged half-sisters.  Even though they had the same mother, their upbringing was very different from each other.  Gabrielle was the oldest.  She is in the midst of a very public and ugly divorce that has cost her the job as a Broadway costume designer.  She is beautiful and always well dressed but is stressed about finding a job and paying her debts.

Lulu is a widow with two grown sons who is trying to cope with her grief while she works at her husband's family bakery.  Her husband didn't leave the family well provided for and Lulu is working hard to reduce her debt.  Lulu doesn't have much of a fashion sense and would sooner be comfortable than dressed to impress.

When the sisters are called to the lawyer's office after their mother's death, they are both hoping for large monetary inheritance so that they can pay off their debt and go back to ignoring each other.  They are shocked to find out that there is no money but they are left with their mother's apartment and everything in it.  When they went to the apartment, they were shocked when they opened the closet.  It's overflowing with couture clothes, mostly from Coco Chanel.  Lulu wants to sell everything so she can get the money but Gabby feels that they should do more.  They are both amazed to find quotes from Chanel hidden in purses written by their mother - perhaps a helping hand from the other side.  After they meet some of their mother's friends, they all work together to make a final decision on what to do with all of the wonderful clothes, purses, and jewelry in their mother's closet.  Will the sisters bond with each other again or become estranged again due to resentments from their childhoods??  Will they find a good solution for all of the designer clothes??

This is a wonderful book about sisters and friendships and how strong women are, no matter what the circumstances.  I didn't know much about Coco Chanel and spent time googling pictures of her dresses and reading about her life as a designer and well-known fashion icon. 

Buy The Fashion Orphans at Amazon

Susan Roberts lives in North Carolina with her husband of over 50 years.  She grew up in Michigan but now calls North Carolina home. She enjoys reading, traveling, and spending time with her family. She reads almost anything (and the piles of books in her house prove that) but her favorite genres are Southern fiction, women's fiction, and historical fiction. Susan is a top 1% Goodreads Reviewer. You can connect with Susan on Facebook.

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