The Disappearance of Astrid Bricard by Natasha Lester is a multiple time line story of three generations of exceptionally strong women in the world of fashion with a mystery. A heart wrenching story of the Bricard women trying overcome the barriers in the fashion world dominated and managed by men.

Lester’s incredible research, and superb blending of fact and fiction, made all three of the Bricard women truly unforgettable. Mizza Bricard, the only main character based on an actual person, was famous for being Christian Dior's muse. Mizza, birth name Germaine Louise Neustadt, with many other names as time and circumstances warranted, was never acknowledged in her time for her design contributions to fashion. Mizza’s daughter Astrid and granddaughter Blythe, the other two main characters, were blended into the story so artfully by Lester one could not tell that they were fictional.

Beautifully told, Lester pulled me into this must read story from page one, as she took on issues that are unfortunately still happening to this day. The ending is an emotional roller coaster and yes I cried. Highly recommend The Disappearance of Astrid Bricard, truly one not to be missed.

Many thanks to Forever (Grand Central Publishing) via NetGalley for the opportunity read and review an advance copy of this wonderful book. I was under no obligation whatsoever to write a favorable review and all opinions are my own. ( )

The Disappearance of Astrid Bricard by Natasha Lester
Historical fiction. Multiple time line within the same family.
Blythe Bricard is the daughter of a famous fashion icon and the granddaughter of the famous Mizza Bricard. The story follows Blythe as she tries to find the true story of what happened to her mother, as well both Astrid and Mizza as each become part of the fashion industry. None of their lives are uncomplicated or private.

Women trying to make a difference in a world dominated and managed by men for women's fashion decided on by men. Glass ceiling, obligations of war and surviving, and undiagnosed medical issues devastate the three generations as each simply wants a successful career. And each wants the love and best life for their children.
It’s devastating. It’s poignant. It’s uplifting. It’s truth. It’s history.

I received a copy of this from NetGalley. I purchased copies to read again. ( )

Rating: 3.75* of five

The Publisher Says: Three generations. One chance to prove themselves. Can the women of the Bricard fashion dynasty finally rewrite their history?

French countryside, Present Blythe Bricard is the daughter of famous fashion muses but that doesn't mean she wants to be one. She turned her back on that world, and her dreams, years ago. Fate, however, has a different plan, and Blythe will discover there is more to her iconic mother and grandmother than she ever knew.

New York, 1970: Designer Astrid Bricard arrives in bohemian Chelsea determined to change the fashion world forever. And she does―cast as muse to her lover, Hawk Jones. And when they're both invited to compete in the fashion event of the century―the Battle of Versailles―Astrid sacrifices everything to showcase her talent. But then, just as her career is about to take off, she mysteriously vanishes, leaving behind only a white silk dress.

Paris, 1917 Parentless sixteen-year-old Mizza Bricard has made a to be remembered on her own terms. Her promise sustains her through turbulent decades and volatile couture houses until, finally, her name is remembered and a legend is born―one that proves impossible for Astrid and Blythe to distance themselves from.

I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA NETGALLEY. THANK YOU.

My Review: The Battle of Versailles, 1973, has long been a subject of great interest for me. Many things shifted as a result of this event, not least the French conception of US fashion designers as lesser lights, or derivative copycats riding the wave of French chicté and eternal design leadership.

At stake was far more than bragging rights...the international luxury-goods market was even then worth billions. As the event progressed, it was clear that the New York contingent was well and truly a creative design force on its own, handing the French designers their first effective challenge for world leadership...and the profits therefrom.

What former L’Oreal executive, and current New York Times bestseller, Natasha Lester did that was truly inspired was to remodel several real peoples’ lives to better present a generational saga of the fashion universe of the twentieth century. The heavily made-up Bricards, from World War One Paris to twenty-first century world citizenship as they arise and create beauty as well as havoc, represent an amalgam of factual individuals and business dynasties.

Driven, high-powered people seldom make good parents. The Bricards, to a woman, were not good parents as they sought to achieve things other people really could not even see. They were, like the real folks their lives were based on, frequently abused emotionally and taken advantage of financially and creatively, as the hunger for glory is the outward-facing surface of money-hunger. What raises this above the run-of-the-mill story of sexist betrayal is that the men perpetrating the thefts are not the men the Bricard women love, but the ones who run the businesses that the women stand as public faces for, and the mass of media types in search of a hook to hang the story they want to tell...not the story of the Bricards, but "The Story of The Bricards"—if you get my drift.

Author Lester is a very well thought of storyteller, and she has a genuinely interesting story to tell here. Her focus on the Bricards and their creative ambitions and abilities led her not to tell a story, even in part, that was of great consequence indeed: the Black models whose performances on the catwalks of this hugely consequential show broke, at last, the color barrier in fashion. True, it was not part of the Bricard story as written, but I felt it could and should have been.

That misfire, and Author Lester’s serviceable, but never more than that, prose, led me to give the book what seems an ungenerous under-four-star rating. I read the book with pleasure, but was always aware that a very big part of the real story it is based upon was just...missing. In today’s world, not telling the whole story involving Black creatives is more troublesome than at any time in the past. It isn’t as though this reality is some specialist knowledge, the kind of knowledge that only a scholar would reasonably be expected to have...after all, *I* know it.

So, while this is a reading pleasure that will involve and entertain readers of what I don’t know what else to call except the cringe-y label "women’s fiction", it comes with some big asterisks for the standard 2024 reader. ( )

The Disappearance of Astrid Bricard by Natasha Lester is Historical Mystery fiction set in the 20th century fashion world. What happened to a young woman rising to a life of fame and fortune? A story of fashion, the designers, with all the struggles, glamour, family, love, and tragedy in life. While I thought the book was a little slow at the very beginning it quickly became very interesting. I highly recommend this book for the fascinating characters and the mysteries in their lives. I received a complimentary copy of this book. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. I appreciate the opportunity and thank the author and publisher for allowing me to read, enjoy and review this book. 5 Stars ( )

I was glued!

Hate Couture and three generations of women who are designers. Mizza Bricard, Astrid Bricard and Blythe Bricard. Then there’s those Names rolling off the tongue—Dior, Givenchy, Oscar de la Renta … and Hawk Jones.
Mizza is in Paris in 1917, working as a designer. Her story is tragic, occasionally joyful, and hard. Dismissed by the magazines and journalists of the day as Dior’s muse, she fights not only the political times of the day, the Nazis, but the gender issues.
Then we come to the swinging 69’s and all that entails. Astrid, Mizza’s abandoned daughter, is fighting for the right to be heard in the New York fashion scene. Unfortunately she’s dogged by her mother’s history. She meets Hawk, a talented designer inspired by fabrics, rather than being able to draw designs. Theirs is a tragic love story. Astrid like her mother is dismissed as Hawk’s muse. She’s not! Time and time again the media deliberately tells the story it wants the public to hear, rather than what is. No-one hears the truth about Astrid’s phenomenal talent. Her designs are unacknowledged, in reality stolen. Astrid disappears, a spectacular visual commentary, at the fashion showdown between France and America in Versailles in 1973. All that is left is a silver dress with blood on it. The dynamics between Astrid and Hawk is likened to Hamlet and Ophelia. “Ophelia drowning offstage while Hamlet rules.”
Fast forward to 2012 and Blythe, Hawk and Astrid’s daughter. She too is on the fashion treadmill fighting her mother’s reputation as nothing more than Hawk’s muse. She try’s to go her own way, but anything she does has huge media scrutiny. When she decides to design clothes under her grandmother’s label, Mizza, she faces challenges on more than one front.
Based loosely on some characters in haute couture, I was immersed, flicking pages as the story, its mystery, its highs and lows, unfolded.
Three strong women, three passed by women in terms of the fashion industry.
A truly fabulous read!

A Forever (Grand Central Pub.) ARC via NetGalley.
Many thanks to the author and publisher.
Please note: Quotes taken from an advanced reading copy maybe subject to change ( )