The Dressmaker of Paris by Georgia Kaufmann

Rosa is an icon in the fashion industry. She has built an empire and now she is relating her story, going back, back to being a sixteen year old raped by a Sergeant in Hitler's army which was bad enough but what was totally unimaginable and horrifying was that her father actually traded her virginity in, in a game of cards which he lost. Finding herself pregnant and alone, Rosa's story takes on from there. It was a tumultuous beginning and the story had its share of ups and downs. Rosa was very focussed and this led especially in her younger years to decisions which were looking back clinical and selfish, but she had her reasons and she successfully turned her life around. The story was riveting, a rags to riches story, of a determined woman out to make good. The times were hard Hitler's Austria and then Switzerland, then Paris. A page turner, unputdownable! Sent by Hodder & Stoughton for an unbiased review, courtesy of Netgalley.