A Vintage Affair

I've finished my second book for the week, A Vintage Affair by Isabel Wolff. I very much liked this one! I've seen it several times at BN and finally decided to read it. Phoebe Swift abruptly leaves her job to open her own vintage clothing shop in London, which has been her dream and passion. She encounters an elderly frenchwoman, Therese Bell, who has an impressive clothing collection. Among the clothes, Phoebe finds a blue child's coat that Mrs. Bell will not speak of. As the book goes on, Phoebe and Mrs. Bell become close friends and Phoebe then learns the story of the blue coat. I loved that the book was about vintage clothes, it's a different story line. Also, intertwined in the book is a story about WWII and the Holocaust. This is probably one of my favorite topics to read, despite how sad it can be. Some of it did remind me of Sarah's Key by Tatiana De Rosnay, which was awesome and anyone who loves stories of  the Holocaust will definitely love that book. A Vintage Affair wasn't quite as intense about the Nazi's and concentration camps as was Sarah's Key, but it has a great story. One of my favorite things about this book is at the end, a letter from the author is included. She discussed what ideas she had for the book and how she decided to write this particular story. I wish all authors did this!  It's so interesting to see how they come to their topics and develop their characters. AND she included a list of vintage shops in big cities in the US. I will be looking into more of Isabel Wolff's other novels! 

Of course after reading this, I want to go shopping for vintage clothes! Time Wrap in Baton Rouge has a really good selection of vintage clothing. Check it out if you haven't. Also, I found a clothing exchange shop, Meta Exchange, that buys, sells and trades clothing. It's technically not vintage but they have lots of cute stuff on their facebook! I don't own any vintage clothing yet but I love vintage covers of Cosmo and Vogue. I would love to have a library and have these framed on the walls! 

What are some good fiction novels about the Holocaust you've read? I've read Night by Ellie Wiesel in high school but I never read Dawn. Let me know your suggestions!