Jade Beer
Hello, The Palace Dressmaker (or The Memory Dress as it is known in the USA) may be my most glamorous novel yet. Its opening scene takes place at Christie’s auction house in New York in 1997 during the sale of Princess Diana’s dresses. Eighty dresses were listed to sell that evening but only 79 did. One of them is missing and it is what happened to this missing dress that is the central mystery of my novel and the love story that unfolds over thirty years across its pages. I hope you will enjoy the tour through some of the most famous dresses in Diana’s wardrobe. I certainly enjoyed retracing where some of these incredible gowns were worn in order to write this story. As for me, after decades working in glossy magazines in London, I now live in the beautiful English town of Cheltenham with my two daughters and my husband. It’s where we used to spend romantic weekends plotting our future together, long before the girls came along, and is now where I write my books.Women have always fascinated me. I think it comes from seeing first-hand how truly brilliant we can be and how wonderfully flawed. I've been lucky enough to work with some incredibly talented women throughout my career as a journalist and editor - ones who juggle the most all-encompassing careers with family and friendships and everything else that life throws at them. It’s why women of all ages and the friendships they form always feature largely in my books.The need to present one version of yourself to the world, while keeping the grittier, less polished reality under wraps, is a thread that runs strongly through my novels too. In my former job as the editor of Conde Nast Brides, I shared my working life with editors of some of the glossiest magazines in the world - Vogue, Tatler, Glamour - and I had the enormous privilege of travelling the world and sitting front row at beautiful fashion shows and working with the world's leading florists, cake makers and stylists. But I also took a daily peek into the lives of young women who were experiencing one of the most intense times of their lives - planning their wedding days. This, above everything else, was the fascinating bit. Hearing their thoughts, fears, worries and ambitions for the future. This really powerful cocktail of glamour and reality is there, I hope, on the pages of all my books. Take a peek inside my life on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/jadebeerbri... or at https://jadebeer.com/
The Last Dress from Paris
Jade Beer
The secret is hidden within a collection of Dior dresses...
London, 2017. There's no one Lucille adores more than her grandmother. So when her beloved Granny Sylvie asks for Lucille's assistance with a small matter, she's happy to help. The next thing she knows, Lucille is on a train to Paris, tasked with retrieving a priceless Dior dress. But not everything is as it seems, and what Lucille finds in a small Parisian apartment will have her scouring the city for answers to a question that could change her entire life.
Paris, 1952. Postwar France is full of glamour and privilege, and Alice Ainsley is in the middle of it all. As the wife to the British ambassador to France, Alice's job is to see and be seen--even if that wasn't quite what she signed up for. Her husband showers her with jewels, banquets, and couture Dior dresses, but his affection has become distressingly elusive. As the strain on her marriage grows, Alice's only comfort is her bond with her trusted lady's maid, Marianne. But when a new face appears in her drawing room, Alice finds herself yearning to follow her heart...no matter the consequences.
The City of Light comes alive in this lush, evocative tale that explores the ties that bind us together, the truths we hold that make us who we are, and the true meaning of what makes someone family.
The Memory Dress
Jade Beer
A missing husband and a dress once owned by Princess Diana set two very different women on paths of discovery that will change both their lives forever in this dazzling new novel from the author of The Last Dress from Paris.
England, 2018: Jayne is quiet. She keeps to herself and has no grand expectations for her days. But after a chance encounter with her elderly neighbor, Meredith, Jayne is forced to reevaluate her determination to keep the world at a distance. Meredith's dust-covered home is chaotic and neglected. And slowly, Jayne starts to grasp that Meredith herself is quite lost. She can't seem to remember anything: what she last ate, when she last went out or saw her daughter, or even Jayne's name, despite what are becoming frequent visits.
But most alarmingly, Meredith can't remember where her husband is.
Unable to sit by and watch Meredith hurting, Jayne promises she'll find William. But how can she when the biggest clue Jayne has is a mystery itself: a stunning couture gown with a note declaring it a personal gift to Meredith...from Princess Diana.
England, 1988: Meredith is always calm. You have to be when working for one of the most iconic women in the world. Just as the stitches she uses to create Princess Diana’s wardrobe are steady and stable, so is Meredith. Until she finds herself feeling off-kilter and untethered by an unexpected connection with someone in the workshop. As Meredith finds herself swept up in life and love for the first time, everything she’s ever dreamed about seems in reach…if only she can be brave enough to take it.
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