Book Review: A Vintage Affair by Isabel Wolff
August 25th, 2009 by Leah
Phoebe Swift is finally realising her dream and is opening up Village Vintage, her very own shop selling vintage clothing and accessories. It’s all going well, so why is Phoebe still a bit down? It turns out she’s carrying a terrible guilt after her friend, Emma, tragically died.
Opening Village Vintage introduces Phoebe to Mrs. Bell (Therese), an elderly French lady who also feels terribly guilty and has a story to tell… In their own way, they both manage to help each other overcome their guilt.
Is it enough to enable Phoebe to love again?
Books about clothes make me feel nervous because generally I’m not at all in with fashion. I’m not concerned what clothing is currently in so I was worried all of the talk of clothing might put me off the book. I’m happy to report I loved the book and – surprisingly – I loved hearing about all of the vintage clothes Phoebe bought.
A Vintage Affair is a wonderfully written novel. I really didn’t want the book to end. Hearing Phoebe’s and Mrs. Bell’s story was sad but also very enjoyable. Their stories were eerily similar in the reasons why both felt so guilty. Isabel always managers to create such interesting back stories for her characters and both Phoebe’s and Therese’s were well crafted. Therese’s in particular must have taken a lot of research because it was very well explained.
I thought Phoebe was a brilliant character and I could feel her guilt about Emma and felt so sad for her. I also completely understood why she blamed Guy even though the truth does come out in the end regarding that night.
Therese was a very interesting character and I found she and Phoebe got along really well together. Their relationship was so easy going even though they hardly knew each other. We learn of Therese’s story really early on – it wasn’t dragged out at all. It was such an interesting and sad story, too. I felt so sorry for Therese that even after all of these years she still couldn’t forgive herself.
Of the minor characters I really liked Dan. I felt he got along better with Phoebe than Miles did. I was surprised to learn he was colour-blind, it was an interesting addition to his eccentric character. As I said, I don’t think Miles and Phoebe really got on all that well and I just couldn’t warm to Miles. He completely spoilt his daughter, Roxy, and I found her just as irritating. Roxy came across incredibly selfish and her behaviour was horrible.
I really liked Annie, Phoebe’s part-time helper in the shop. I liked her enthusiasm for the vintage clothes Phoebe sold. I found Phoebe’s mum hilarious with her constant wanting of facials and facelifts and all kind of treatments! I loved the story of the cupcake dresses and how each of the girls managed to acquire them. Katie was probably my favourite of the 4 – so different to the spoilt Roxy, she earned the right to buy her dress rather than being able to get her daddy to get it for her!
A Vintage Affair is probably one of my favourite books of the year. It was throughly enjoyable and is just as good as the other Isabel Wolff books I’ve read. Her writing just gets better & better!
Rating: 5/5
Posted in 2009 Releases, Book Reviews, Rating: 5/5 | 2 Comments »
I loved this one, such a wonderful storyline and great read overall!
One of my favourite reads this year too. A really lovely book.