The Last Collection by Jeanne Mackin

Please welcome Jeanne Mackin author of The Last Collection

One randomly chosen winner via rafflecopter will win a $50 Amazon/BN.com gift card.

The Last Collection

by Jeanne Mackin

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GENRE: Historical Romance

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INTERVIEW:

Any weird things you do when you’re alone?

I talk to myself when I’m writing.  I need to hear the words out loud, especially if it’s dialogue. Does that count as weird, or does everyone do that? Although I could make up something really outrageous, like I walk on the ceiling or dance with Benjamin Franklin or time travel to Avignon in the 14th century.  I mean…if I’m alone, how would anyone know? This is actually quite a fun question.

When I was working on The Last Collection, I sometimes went to my closet and tried on different clothing combinations, things I would not normally wear or wear together, because I was writing about artists and fashion designers. I never played dress up with I was a little girl. But I played it when I was working on this novel.

What is your favorite quote and why?

“It was in the desert that I best loved my thirst.”  Jean Genet, the French writer, and I first read it and learned it in French. My French tutor almost died laughing at my accent when I quoted it to her last year (yes, I still have a tutor), so now I use the English version. We need contrast to enjoy any part of our lives, joy and grief, energy and fatigue, hope and disillusion. The desert,  that hot, dry endless and empty place, makes us appreciate and love those places and moments in our life that are not the desert, that are instead filled with happiness, fulfillment,  green places. Water.

Who is your favorite author and why?

This is tough.  I have favorite authors and books for different moods and purposes, but I guess I should mention the authors who made me fall in love with historical fiction:  Anya Seton, Daphne du Maurier, Mary Lee Settle.  Those are the authors who, when I go into a book store, prompt me to scan the shelves, hoping to find something they’ve written that I haven’t read yet.  Of course I have read all of their work. Repeatedly. Why? They create worlds I inhabit when I’m reading one of their novels.  I lose my sense of self, of time and place, and just go there, with them. It is travel and excitement and catharsis, all in one.

What, in your opinion, are the most important elements of good writing?

For a novel to work, it must, for me, have interesting and credible characters, multi-dimensional people who are complex and not completely predictable. I have to wonder what they might do next.  Coco Chanel and Elsa Schiaparelli both met those qualifications, big time. History still doesn’t know what to make of them. And the setting has to be as interesting as the characters – complicated,  engaging, perhaps even a little challenging. And of course, the writing must be impeccable. Awkward sentences, clichés, even grammatical mistakes…they’ll make me put a book down and perhaps not pick it up again.  So partially consider this answer a love letter to copy editors!

Where did you get the idea for this book?

I wanted to write another novel set in this place, this time, Paris between the wars and going into World War II.  This setting particularly fascinates me. An earlier novel of mine, The Beautiful American, has the same setting, and the research for the beautiful American, who was Lee Miller, never ended in my imagination or desire.  I needed to continue it. Lee Miller was this extraordinarily beautiful American who was a Vogue model in the 1930’s and then moved to Paris and moved in the artistic and haute couture circles. (During the war she gave up modeling and became a war journalist.)  Her work in the fashion industry made me realize I knew nothing about couture, certainly nothing about style.  For most of my life I was a sneakers and blue jeans kind of girl. So I started asking myself questions:  what does fashion mean? What does style say about us?  So I began researching, and writing, about Coco Chanel and Elsa Schiaparelli, the two queens of Paris fashion, arch rivals who differed about everything.  Fashion is politics!

Thanks for inviting me to your page.  Have a great day!

BLURB:

An American woman becomes entangled in the intense rivalry between iconic fashion designers Coco Chanel and Elsa Schiaparelli in this captivating novel from the acclaimed author of The Beautiful American.

Paris, 1938. Coco Chanel and Elsa Schiaparelli are fighting for recognition as the most successful and influential fashion designer in France, and their rivalry is already legendary. They oppose each other at every turn, in both their politics and their designs: Chanel’s are classic, elegant, and practical; Schiaparelli’s bold, experimental, and surreal.

When Lily Sutter, a recently widowed young American teacher, visits her brother, Charlie, in Paris, he insists on buying her a couture dress—a Chanel. Lily, however, prefers a Schiaparelli. Charlie’s beautiful and socially prominent girlfriend soon begins wearing Schiaparelli’s designs as well, and much of Paris follows in her footsteps.

Schiaparelli offers budding artist Lily a job at her store, and Lily finds herself increasingly involved with Schiaparelli and Chanel’s personal war. Their fierce competition reaches new and dangerous heights as the Nazis and the looming threat of World War II bear down on Paris.

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“Sophisticated couture wars and looming world wars take center stage in Mackin’s latest, with a plot that buzzes with love triangles and political intrigue. A gorgeous meditation on art, fashion, and heartbreak. Stunning.”

–Fiona Davis, national bestselling author of The Masterpiece

“Exquisitely melding world politics and high fashion, THE LAST COLLECTION is a smart, witty, heartfelt, and riveting look at the infamous rivalry between Coco Chanel and Elsa Schiaparelli set against a gripping period in history. Mackin’s powerful novel brings these characters to life and transports the reader, juxtaposing both the gaiety and tension of Paris on the brink of war. As elegant and captivating as the designs depicted in the novel, THE LAST COLLECTION is the perfect read for both historical fiction lovers and fashion aficionados. Simply stunning.”

–Chanel Cleeton, USA Today bestselling author of Next Year in Havana

“A wonderful story of two intensely creative women, their vibrant joie de vivre, and backbiting competition played out against the increasingly ominous threat of the Nazi invasion of Paris. Seamless research makes every character leap to life and kept me totally engaged from beginning to end.

–Shelley Noble, New York Times bestselling author of Lighthouse Beach

“A vibrant portrait of two designers cut from very different cloth, Jeanne Mackin’s THE LAST COLLECTION pits bold Coco Chanel and colorful Elsa Schiaparelli against each other in a fiery feud even as the ominous clouds of World War II darken the horizon. A captivating read!”

–Stephanie Marie Thornton, author of American Princess

“As Hitler and the Nazis gather strength and the world braces for war, Elsa Schiaparelli and Coco Chanel, whose politics differ as much as their couture, wage a war of their own. Lily Sutter, the woman who finds herself in the middle of their feud, has a battle of her own as she struggles to make a new start amidst extreme grief and loss. From New York to Paris, Jeanne Mackin takes the reader on an enthralling journey, complete with such vivid descriptions of the clothing, you can practically see them on the page. Beautifully rendered and meticulously researched, THE LAST COLLECTION is a must read.”

–Renée Rosen, author of Park Avenue Summer

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EXCERPT:

Of the three primary colors, blue is most suggestive of paradox: it is the color of longing and sadness, and yet it is also the color of joy and fulfillment.  On a ship, at night, blue water merges into blue sky, so blue is the color of places with no borders, no edges.

If you throw salt into a fire, the flames will burn blue. Salt rubbed into a wound renews the pain, intensifies it.  Seeing others kiss and embrace was salt in my wound, a blue flame burning the length of me.

Blue best represents the contradictions of the heart, the need to be loved and cherished at the same time that we wish for freedom.

Blue, the color of the Worth gown that the little girl Elsa Schiaparelli found in her Roman piazza attic, the color of the covers of the penny romances Coco Chanel found in the orphanage attic.

Blue is what made Elsa Schiaparelli’s daring color, shocking pink, so special: it is pink infused with blue, turning a demure blush into an electric surge. Schiaparelli turned girlish pink into the color of seduction by adding that touch of blue.

And always, there is the blue of the Paris sky on a June day.

Listen. I’m going to tell you a story about fashion, and politics. And, of course, about love. The three primaries, like the primary colors.

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Jeanne Mackin ‘s latest novel, The Last Collection, A Novel of Elsa Schiaparelli and Coco Chanel takes the reader to Paris, just before world war II, and the intense, dangerous rivalry between the two queens of fashion. Her previous novels include A Lady of Good Family, the award winning The Beautiful American, The Sweet By and By, Dreams of Empire, The Queen’s War, and The Frenchwoman.

Her historical fictions explore the lives of strong women who change their worlds…because we know the world always needs a lot of change! She has worked all the traditional ‘writers’ jobs’ from waitressing to hotel maid, anything that would leave her a few hours each morning for writing. Most recently, she taught creative writing at the graduate level.  She has traveled widely, in Europe and the Middle East and can think of no happier moment than sitting in a Paris café, drinking coffee or a Pernod, and simply watching, while scribbling in a notebook.

JeanneMackin.com

Facebook.com/JeanneMackinauthor

Twitter.com/JeanneMackin1

Penguin Random House –https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/531859/the-last-collection-by-jeanne-mackin/

Amazon – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07H71Q5FQ/ref=dp-kindle-redirect

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GIVEAWAY INFORMATION and RAFFLECOPTER CODE

One randomly chosen winner via rafflecopter will win a $50 Amazon/BN.com gift card.

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/28e4345f3413