If the Dior children regarded their parents as distant figures of authority – as is suggested by Christian’s biographer, Marie-France Pochna, who noted that they were raised in an era ‘when open demonstrations of affection were considered likely to weaken the character and strictness was the norm’ – it might also be possible that the way to their mother’s heart was through her cherished garden. This is the story of a ghost who walked into my life on a sunlit Sunday morning in early summer, and would not let go of me, however much I might wish, at times, to be free of her. Catherine looks well-dressed, but there is little evidence of the elaborate padding and traditional corsetry that were essential elements of Dior couture, which he dubbed “ephemeral architecture, dedicated to the beauty of the female body. Arrested, tortured, and put on one of the last trains carrying political prisoners East, she survived several Nazi labor camps including the infamous women’s camp at Ravensbruck. It was close to the market at Les Halles, and convenient for their fresh-flower business; although they continued to spend every summer at Les Naÿssès, which Catherine had inherited after her father’s death.

To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. This is the story of a ghost who walked into my life on a sunlit morning and would not let go of me. Through her use of these sources, Picardie is able to provide her readers with a good idea of the things that Catherine experienced. THE TIMES TOP 10 BESTSELLERAN IRISH INDEPENDENT BOOK OF THE YEAR'A gripping story in which Justine Picardie brilliantly contrasts the cruel Old World of wartime France with the hopeful New World epitomised by Christian Dior's New Look.Miss Dior is a story of freedom and fascism, beauty and betrayal, roses and repression, and how the polished surface of fashion conceals hidden depths. Lucien Dior would become a politician, and remained in parliament until his death in 1932, while a rivalry developed between his wife Charlotte and Madeleine, apparently arising from their competitive aspirations to be the most fashionably dressed chatelaines of the wealthiest households. Justine Picardie’s journey takes her to wartime Paris, where Christian honed his couture skills while Catherine dedicated herself to the French Resistance and the battle against the Nazis, until she was captured by the Gestapo and deported to the German concentration camp of Ravensbruck.

She was captured by the Nazis, tortured, and deported to the Ravensbruck concentration camp in Germany. Their lives diverged even more sharply when she was cap­tured by the Gestapo and impris­oned in Ravens­bruck and then a series of labor camps and final­ly forced to endure one of the infa­mous death march­es of 1945. Madeleine’s passion – which she passed on to Christian and Catherine – had found expression in the expansive garden she established at Granville, a miracle of hope and desire, built on a rocky outcrop overlooking the churning sea, several hundred feet below. And that’s just what they do in Miss Dior, the glit­tery new book by British jour­nal­ist Jus­tine Picardie that tells the sto­ry of Cather­ine and Chris­t­ian, two sib­lings whose lives couldn’t be more dif­fer­ent, yet whose hearts stay con­nect­ed through chaos, con­flict, and couture.

A love of gardening inherited from their mother drew them together and the roses grown in the family’s small farmhouse, Les Naÿssès, would later provide Miss Dior’s foundation ingredient. The siblings’ stories are profoundly in Occupied France, as Christian honed his couture skills, Catherine dedicated herself to the Resistance, ultimately being captured by the Gestapo and sent to Ravensbruck, the only Nazi camp solely for women. Although a clear pic­ture of Cather­ine remains shad­owy through­out the book, we do get a sharp sense of her courage and her strong spir­it, plus her deep belief in the work of the Resis­tance, and we find ample evi­dence in the text that she was noth­ing short of a woman of steel. His most precious designs may have seemed alive to him—whether as beloved daughters or trusted friends—but they also possessed him, embodying an idealized version of femininity that could never exist in a real woman. It’s about how necessity can drive people to either terrible deeds or acts of great courage, and how beauty can grow from the worst kinds of horror.

For they emerged out of moments of time that feel too close to be separated, connected by their makers’ urge to create beauty. Christian’s earliest memories were rooted at Les Rhumbs, which remained the family’s primary residence, although they also spent some time in Paris. Christian Dior was so moved by his courageous younger sister that he formulated his unforgettable perfume, Miss Dior, to honor her bravery and patriotism during World War II. They seized her bicycle and handbag, forced her into a car, blindfolded her and drove her to 180 Rue de la Pompe.Dior’s “New Look” created a striking, romantic vision of femininity, luxury, and grace, making him—and his last name—famous overnight. She is a woman of courage, a devoted sister, a constant gardener and a resistance heroine who lived life on her own terms.