“Our world will not die as a result of the bomb, as the papers say, it will die of laughter, of banality, of making a joke of everything, and a lousy joke at that.”

“I can cover the flaws
in his talent,
but I can do nothing
for the flaws
in his perception.”

“You needn't trouble yourself. He's only a librarian.”

“Manuscripts don‘t burn.”

“but if the blood
inside you is on the inside
of someone else
you never want to
see it on the outside of
them.”

“The Designer” is not quite about Christian Dior, nor post-occupation Paris. Rather, it is about aspiring journalist Copper Reilly, and how uniquely important haute couture was to France as it struggled to pull itself back together.

Overall, I loved this story. It‘s well written, funny in all the right places, and if you have any interest in couture or Dior, I‘d strongly recommend it.

‘It‘s perfectly possible to love Paris while detesting the French‘