Elegance

by KathleenTessaro (Author)

• Used

  Hardcover
  2003

  $4.48

  An enchanting novel brimming with poignancy, humour, enchantment and insight, this is a stunning debut. Imagine an Audrey Hepburn film in the present day...It was a slim, grey volume entitled Elegance. It was buried between a fat, obviously untouched volume on the history of the French monarchy and a dog-eared paperback edition of D.H. Lawrence's Women in Love. Deep in the hushed dimness of a second-hand bookshop, Louise Canova discovers a faded hardback. It is an A-Z of how to be elegant, written many years before by a Frenchwoman, Genevieve Antoine Dariaux. As she starts reading, the book's pages whisper something elusive: a way to face up to her unhappy marriage and recapture her self-esteem. 'You can always tell the character of a woman by the care and attention she lavishes on the details of her dress.' From Accessories to Zippers, there is nothing that Madame Dariaux cannot rule upon. Her writing stirs up memories of mothers and daughters, friendships and lovers, and seems to Louise to contain a magic: a wisdom that remains timeless. But changing her wardrobe is not enough. Can Louise pluck up the courage to take the real life lessons captured in the yellowing pages, and act upon them? And, finally, to leave behind Madame Dariaux and start to trust her own wisdom? An enchanting, bittersweet novel that will touch every woman who has ever longed for a fairy godmother.

• Used

  Paperback
  2011

  $3.25

  The Sunday Times bestseller and one of the most talked-about novels of 2003, now in paperback.

  Elegance. Audrey Hepburn had it. Grace Kelly had it. Louise Canova does not.

  Until one day, browsing in a second-hand bookshop, Louise stumbles over a faded hardback. Elegance is an A-Z of style, written by French fashion expert, Madame Antoine Dariaux: a veritable what-not-to-wear in print.

  When Louise starts to follow Madame's advice, her life is transformed. From Accessories to Zippers, there is nothing Madame cannot advise upon, including types of husband (the blind, the ideal, the dictator) and shopping with girlfriends (don't).

  Within the book's pages Louise finds clues to her own past. And as she begins to unravel them, she discovers a courage she never thought possible. For true elegance cannot be attained until she is comfortable in her own skin: only then might love flourish.