A Vintage Affair

A Novel

By: Isabel Wolff

Narrated by: Violet Mathieson

Length: 12 hrs and 12 mins

Publisher's summary

Every dress has a history. And so does every woman. In Isabel Wolff’s captivating A Vintage Affair, a treasured child’s coat becomes a thread of hope connecting two very different women. Her friends are stunned when Phoebe Swift abruptly leaves a plum job at the prestigious Sotheby’s auction house to open her own vintage clothing shop in London—but to Phoebe, it’s the fulfillment of a dream. In the sunlight-flooded interior of Village Vintage, surrounded by Yves Saint Laurent silk scarves, Vivienne Westwood bustle skirts, cupcake dresses, and satin gowns, Phoebe hopes to make her store the hot new place to shop, even as she deals with two ardent suitors, her increasingly difficult mother, and a secret from her past that casts a shadow over her new venture.For Phoebe, each vintage garment carries its own precious history. Digging for finds in attics and wardrobes, Phoebe is rewarded whenever she finds something truly unique, for she knows that when you buy a piece of vintage clothing, you’re not just buying fabric and thread—you’re buying a piece of someone’s past. But one particular article of clothing will soon unexpectedly change her life. Thérèse Bell, an elderly Frenchwoman, has an impressive clothing collection. But among the array of smart suits and couture gowns, Phoebe finds a child’s sky-blue coat—an item with which Bell is stubbornly reluctant to part. As the two women become friends, Phoebe will learn the tale of that little blue coat. And she will discover an astonishing connection between herself and Thérèse Bell—one that will help her heal the pain of her own past and allow her to love again.

©2010 Isabel Wolff (P)2010 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“What makes this book stand out is Wolff’s passion for vintage fashion; velvety, silken prose describes the clothes and their history, with several pieces telling rich stories that develop into compelling sub-plots.” (Easy Living)

“Romance in a vintage clothes shop - we were sold from line one. Luckily, this book lives up to its hype, and is filled with all the sensory goodness that leads to inevitable comparisons to Joanne Harris - this is an author to bookmark.” (Irish Tatler)

“What a lovely book!” (Daily Mail)

Great story, very descriptive

I had to return the book to the library before I had a chance to read it, so I was thrilled to find the audiobook on Audible. I love vintage fashion, and Isabel Wolff did a great job with the descriptive details. All in all, I'm very satisfied with my purchase!

An Excellent Choice!

I just finished this audio book and found it to be just the right amount of many emotions. This book was very well written and the story line was very well thought out. Even now that I am finished, I'm not asking myself if I can recall a segment from the beginning that later tied into the story. I think Violet Mathieson was perfect for the narrative role - she was excellent! I was a little sad when the story ended. Well done Isabel & Violet.

Light and Easy for Dreary Fall Days

What did you love best about A Vintage Affair?

I loved the intertwined romance and historical stories. I also loved that the romance thread of the novel was not ridiculous in the way that a lot of "chick lit" can be. Sophie was still quite respectable.

What did you like best about this story?

I really liked the details woven in about vintage clothing. There are quite a few lessons in there if you're listening! I felt that the author really did her homework when she included all those tidbits about clothing through the ages.

What about Violet Mathieson’s performance did you like?

Her voice was quite lovely with good intonation and inflection. She did a convincing male voice as well.

Predictable but entertaining

A Vintage Affair is good "fluff". Phoebe Swift leaves her job at a high class auction house to open her own vintage clothing store. She's personable, has great taste in clothing and the business does well. In the process of opening the store, she meets a cast of characters who provide her with a little love, a little drama and a little mystery. I liked the mystery part the best--the romance and drama were somewhat predictable. Overall a good story.

The part that made me giggle was the narration. It's read, quite well, by a British reader who seems to think that people in California have a mix of a Brooklyn and Bostonian accents. It's only a very small part of the book, but every time she tried it, I erupted into giggles. (Don't let my immaturity stop you, though--it's a good, if light, story.)

Very enjoyable

I loved the way the story has evolved with many different caracteres and events. All told very vividly with interesting caracteres, dialog and background. The vintage theme was great. It created an interest in me for vintage clothing.

Book Review: A Vintage Affair

Any additional comments?

Beautifully written, good pacing and a lovely story line. I think this book ended just as it should have. All the main story lines were tied up, but there was still a promise of Phoebe having a future. I didn't feel like I NEEDED a sequel.

Mildly interesting

I enjoyed this story mainly for the details about vintage clothing. I did not find the heroine particularly admirable, although some of the other characters were interesting.

The narrator had some difficulty with male voices. Her American accents were terrible. She seemed to think that speakers from California produce wandering /r/ sounds at the ends of words - "Californier"; "idear"; "sor" for "saw" - or add them in the middle, as in "farther" for "father" and "tort" for "taught" - or eliminate final /r/ as in "sista" and "brotha." The reader seemed to be trying so hard, speaking very slowly for accents (as she did with male voices), but there was no accuracy or consistency, so those parts of the narration were quite annoying.

A Sweet, Leisurely Stroll, but Ultimately Dull

This book had a great deal of promise. But it had too many stories going on at once and none of them got the attention they deserved, so in the end the book was disappointing. The author attempted to roll up all the loose ends but at the end, it felt like everything the woman had gone through in the past year, all of the tension and stress hinted about but always repressed, might as well have not happened. Everything that happened to her seemed predictable and the end result of each event was expected. This was another book where it is immediately and painfully obvious to the reader that a plot line must end in disaster and you want to reach in, slap the heroine and say "Pay Attention! Do us all a favor and dump him now, not 169 pages from now."

The author did a very good job of describing a community and the way people in it live and interact together. The way she used the store and the newspaper to tell the story of an entire community was inventive. It was obvious she did her research on vintage clothing. The subplot about the dying French woman and her secret was creative, but ultimately not as heartbreaking to read about as I think the author hoped it would be. And it reminded me that soon everyone who suffered directly at the hands of the Nazi's will be gone. And the true evil has almost become a cliche. Maybe the reality of the tragedy will become real again, when it is no longer used as a plot device in contemporary novels.

The narrator did a great job on the British and French female voices. Her Canadian and American accents were bad. It sounded like she was pronouncing words she spoke perfectly in British English, almost phonetically when she tried to translate them into American and Canadian. She might as well have been going from English to Sanskrit. And she did a poor job on the male characters. But that might be because all of the male characters were totally uninteresting men.

Excellent Novel!!!

Loved the story and the way lives intertwined. Didn’t care for the men’s voices as they seemed a bit affected. That was the only thing I would have liked to be different. This is a wonderful story.

Just OK

In my opinion, this book lacks passion. Everything is OK, the story, the narrator, but just that and it was even boring at times.