• Booklist Reviews : Booklist Reviews 2022 June #1
  Arlen's second biographical novel (after In Royal Service to the Queen, 2021) focuses on British fashion designer Lucy, Lady Duff Gordon, who, after the end of her first marriage in 1893, follows her passion for color and light to build a vastly successful couture empire. At a time when women of her status didn't work or divorce, the financial strain of supporting her mother and daughter leaves her no choice but to try to impress the right people with her dressmaking skill. Lucy breaks new ground in the male-dominated world of women's fashion, slowly finds love again, and survives the Titanic, all while expanding her company internationally. The story is told from the perspectives of Lucy and her assistant Celia, a workhouse orphan who goes from scullery maid to managing the business. Arlen deftly uses evocative descriptions of fabric, people, and settings to bring each scene to life. Familiar names are woven into the narrative to further establish Lucy's place in history. This is recommended for fans of Marie Benedict and Jennifer Chiaverini and for readers looking to rediscover strong, inspiring women of the past. Copyright 2022 Booklist Reviews.

Tessa Arlen is the USA Today bestselling author of the Woman of World War II Mysteries and the novel In Royal Service to the Queen. Born in Singapore, the daughter of a British diplomat, she has lived in Egypt, Germany, the Persian Gulf, China, and India. She now lives with her husband in historic Santa Fe, where she gardens in summer and writes in winter.