Booklist
Gortner brings history to life in a fascinating study of one woman’s unstoppable ambition.
Historical Novels Review
Gortner brings to life a woman who was as alluring and captivating as her signature scent.
Christina Baker Kline
In this deliciously satisfying novel, C.W. Gortner tells the epic, rags-to-riches story of how this brilliant, mercurial, self-created woman became a legend.
Ania Szado
From her heart-wrenching early years through her decades of struggle and glory, Gabrielle Chanel was fascinating—as is C.W. Gortner’s Mademoiselle Chanel. Coco lives again in this rich tale of brilliance, determination, and fierce self-creation.
Cathy Marie Buchanan
A richly imagined, deftly researched novel, in which the ever fascinating Coco Chanel comes to life in all her woe and splendor, her story unfolding as elegantly as a Chanel gown.
Erika Robuck
In a novel as brilliant and complicated as Coco Chanel herself, C. W. Gortner’s prose is so electric and luminous it could be a film, and not just any film, but one of the grandest biopics of our time. Divine!
Shelf Awareness
Absorbing, heartbreaking and salaciouslike Chanel’s life story . . . a vivid, heartbreaking portrait of Coco Chanel’s meteoric rise to fame and her complicated personal life.
New York Journal of Books
Enticing . . . well-researched and well-crafted historical novel that leaves the reader satisfied on many levels.
Glamour
Sucked me in by the pearls and never let go . . . equal parts grit and glamour . . . if you can’t afford to visit Paris in peak springtime season, reading this book with a glass of wine is a decent substitute.
MAY 2015 - AudioFile
Few fashion icons shine as brightly as Coco Chanel, and this audiobook explores the origins of that sparkle. Rebecca Gibel narrates with a reverent tone, making each detail a kind of celebration of Chanel’s legendary life and art. The audiobook begins modestly: Young Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel’s mother dies, leaving her children alone and desperate. Gibel makes all voices believable without being cloying, capturing the drama of every situation with her clear pronunciation and pretty snippets of French. Sometimes that drama may seem overwrought, but this is, after all, a story about a remarkable personal history, so those moments can be forgiven. This audiobook makes a great listen for that summertime beach read or long road trip. L.B.F. © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine