The disappearance of Astrid Bricard

The Bricard women are legends in the fashion world, but for all the wrong reasons. Mizza is remembered as the scandalous muse of Christian Dior, and Astrid, the daughter Mizza didn't raise, has garnered a similar reputation. Blythe, the daughter Astrid didn't raise, is as gifted as either of them, but her success is muted by past perception. When Blythe is offered the chance to resurrect her mother's MIZZA fashion line, she must first move past the rumors and uncover the truth behind Astrid's mysterious disappearance from a pivotal 1973 competition. The story shifts back and forth among Astrid in the '70s, Blythe in the present day, and Mizza from 1917 through WWII and beyond. The women are chronically underestimated by society, with their immense talent credited to the men in their orbit. In circumstances well beyond their control, they make the best decisions they can, knowing how the rest of the world will perceive them but determined to remain true to themselves. Themes of family, power, resilience, and finding a way back to love will resonate with readers.

Three generations of sartorially inclined women struggle to make their marks on the world. Through alternating viewpoints, Lester weaves together the stories of Mizza, Astrid, and Blythe Bricard, who were all involved in the fashion industry. First up chronologically is Mizza, the only character based loosely on a real person; she's Christian Dior's assistant and muse and, likely ahistorically, a member of the Resistance in Nazi-occupied Paris. Next up is Mizza's daughter, Astrid Bricard, a talented designer the media sees only as the muse and lover of Hawk Jones, a designer wunderkind à la Halston minus the ego. Finally there's Blythe Bricard, Astrid and Hawk's daughter, who was abandoned by both her famous parents and has cast her sustainable-fashion dreams aside in order to raise her two children as a single mother. Astrid's disappearance (murder?) at the 1973 Versailles designer face-off between France and America is the central mystery of the novel. But it's the chapters exploring Astrid's tumultuous rise and fall, as well as her relationship with Hawk--which Lester writes with heartbreaking tenderness--that form the heart of the novel. Unfortunately, Mizza's plot is somehow the most superficial of the three, despite the Nazi fighting. That being said, Blythe's and Astrid's stories more than make up for that weakness, and Lester deftly delivers a scathing critique of the lies that are told to keep women in their place: "What if this is all there is? [Astrid wonders.] Her always scrabbling at the base of a mountain, knocked back by an avalanche of misogyny." An exploration of the lengths to which society will go to subdue a powerful woman. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.