Book of the Week: A Vintage Affair

Hope you are all having a wonderful holiday!  My book this crazy week is A Vintage Affair by Isabel Wolff.

Phoebe Swift is a woman dealing with a career change (from vintage clothing expert at Sotheby’s to proprietor of her own vintage shop), recently divorced parents, a broken engagement, and guilt and sadness over her best friend’s death. To me this wasn't your usual formulaic chick lit book, because the novel is really about Phoebe moving on from an event in her life that has left her devastated and unable to want any real happiness for herself. And, yes, there is romance but its not the main focus of the story.

When Phoebe is contacted by an old woman looking to clean out her closets she meets Thérèse Bell and an interesting parallel storyline begins to develop. Thérèse is a woman nearing the end of her life who has also not fully dealt with the pain and guilt over losing a friend. Travelling back to World War II France with Thérèse helps Phoebe deal with her own demons and I think the older woman’s story adds a nice element to the tapestry of the novel.

"When you buy a piece of vintage clothing
you're not just buying fabric and thread --

you're buying a piece of someone's past."

- A Vintage Affair

I also loved how the vintage pieces were almost like characters of their own in the story. Like a series of “cupcake dresses” – bright American prom dresses from the 50s that Phoebe hangs on her shop walls like art – and the new women they are meant for.

I thoroughly enjoyed A Vintage Affair and taking the journey with Phoebe from death back to life.

4 out of 5

Alla Prossima