A wartime story of freedom and fascism, beauty and betrayal
Tuesday, 25 October, 18.30 London
The next event in The Beaumont's series of popular literary evenings, bringing together the best and brightest British non-fiction writers, will be on Tuesday 25 October with a reading of Miss Dior: A Wartime Story of Courage and Couture (Faber & Faber) by acclaimed author Justine Picardie.
'Exceptional . . . Miss Dior is so much more than a biography. It's about how necessity can drive people to either terrible deeds or acts of great courage, and how beauty can grow from the worst kinds of horror.' DAILY TELEGRAPH
Prior to each reading and discussion, guests are invited to enjoy a drinks reception with canapés in the Lotos Room. Each guest will also receive a copy of Miss Dior as part of their ticket, with an opportunity for signing after the talk.
Event
Ticket Price: £40, including a paperback copy of the book
Time: 18.30pm - drinks reception with canapés | 19.15pm - reading, discussion and Q&A
Location: The Lotos Room at The Beaumont
The Author
Justine Picardie is the author of six books, including her critically acclaimed memoir, If the Spirit Moves You: Life and Love After Death, and the international bestseller, Coco Chanel: The Legend and the Life.
She is a contributing editor to Harper's Bazaar, having previously been the magazine's editor-in-chief. She was formerly an investigative journalist for the Sunday Times, a columnist for the Telegraph, editor of the Observer Magazine and features director of Vogue.
The Book
Miss Dior explores the relationship between the visionary designer Christian Dior and his beloved younger sister Catherine, who inspired his most famous perfume and shaped his vision of femininity. Justine Picardie's journey takes her to wartime Paris, where Christian honed his couture skills while Catherine dedicated herself to the French Resistance and the battle against the Nazis, until she was captured by the Gestapo and deported to the German concentration camp of Ravensbrück.
Tracing the wartime paths of the Dior siblings leads Picardie deep into other hidden histories, and different forms of resistance and sisterhood. She discovers what it means to believe in beauty and hope, despite our knowledge of darkness and despair, and reveals the timeless solace of the natural world in the aftermath of devastation and destruction.