{"id":1905,"date":"2023-10-11T16:05:23","date_gmt":"2023-10-11T05:35:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hundredacreofbooks.com\/?p=1905"},"modified":"2024-01-29T14:03:34","modified_gmt":"2024-01-29T03:33:34","slug":"the-disappearance-of-astrid-bricard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hundredacreofbooks.com\/index.php\/2023\/10\/11\/the-disappearance-of-astrid-bricard\/","title":{"rendered":"The Disappearance of Astrid Bricard"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Author: Natasha Lester<\/p>\n\n

Publisher: Hachette Australia\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

Genre: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Modern & Contemporary Fiction, Mystery\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

Year of release: 2023<\/p>\n\n

Release Date: 27\/09\/23<\/p>\n\n

Rating\u00a0\ud83c\udf1f\ud83c\udf1f\ud83c\udf1f<\/p>\n\n

Synopsis<\/p>\n\n

In November 1973, a fashion legend vanished, leaving behind only a white silk dress and the question: what really happened to Astrid Bricard?<\/p>\n\n

Paris, 1917:\u00a0Parentless sixteen-year-old Mizza Bricard makes a vow: to be remembered on her terms. This promise drives her and her designs through the most exclusive couture houses in France until, finally, a legend is created – one that will endure for generations to come, but not the one she wanted.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

New York, 1970:\u00a0Designer Astrid Bricard arrives in bohemian Chelsea ready to change the fashion world. And she does – but cast in the role of muse to her lover, Hawk Jones. Just as Astrid’s star is finally poised to ascend, she mysteriously disappears, leaving her family in tatters and perpetuating the infamous Bricard family myth.<\/p>\n\n

French\u00a0Countryside, Present Day:\u00a0Blythe Bricard is the daughter of fashion’s most infamous 70s power couple, but she turned her back on that world, and her passion for it, years ago. Fate, however, has other plans, and in a chateau over a whirlwind couple of weeks, Blythe will discover there is more to her iconic mother and grandmother – and herself – than she ever knew.<\/p>\n\n

These three generations now have one chance to prove themselves.\u00a0Can the women of the Bricard fashion dynasty finally rewrite their history?<\/p>\n\n

Review<\/p>\n\n

Paris, 1917 16-year-old Mizza Bricard is struggling to come to terms with the loss of her beloved father as well as trying her best to cope with a mother who was always resentful of the father\/daughter relationship and her daughters beauty; rather than being bitter a moment longer Mizza\u2019s\u00a0\u00a0mother sends her daughter away.\u00a0\u00a0Mizza is sent away to a convent school unable to conform to their ideals Mizza returns home only to discover that her mother has re-married.\u00a0\u00a0Mizza knows she can no longer call this house a home nor will she return to the convent, so she runs away finding solace with a friend of her father\u2019s.\u00a0\u00a0Mizza soon discovers a passion for design the young woman makes a promise to herself to be remembered on her own terms rather than because of the man standing in front of her Christian Dior. A legend is created one that will endure for generations to come but not the one she wanted.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

New York, 1970 aspiring Fashion designer Astrid Bricard arrives in bohemian Chelsea ready to shake up the fashion world and make a name for herself however it\u2019s not quite the name or change Astrid was expecting she is cast in the role of muse to her lover, Hawk Jones she discovers that no matter how much she achieves a male will always get the credit. When Astrid starts to receive some recognition for her achievements she mysteriously disappears ripping her family apart; rumours take flight but rather than die which is just one of the many theories surrounding Astrid Brocard\u2019s disappearance\u00a0\u00a0the stories become imprinted in history keeping the scandalous Bricard myth well and truly intact for the next generation.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

French countryside, present-day Blythe Bricard has no interest in living under a spotlight or in the shadows of others and the mistakes they made so what if she\u2019s the daughter of 70\u2019s most scandalous power couple in the fashion world Astrid Bricard and Hawk Jones. Blythe has walked away from the fashion world and whatever passion she once had for it years ago.\u00a0\u00a0Fate has other plans for Blythe whether she likes it or not Blythe will discover there\u2019s so much more truth behind the myth surrounding her family, she just needs to find the courage to look past the anger, hurt, and fear to shatter the myths surrounding her family not for the press or the curious public but for herself.<\/p>\n\n

These three generations now have one chance to prove themselves.\u00a0Can the women of the Bricard fashion dynasty finally rewrite their history?<\/p>\n\n

Historical Fiction set in the 1970s that also promises a mystery from an auto-buy author for this reviewer and that was before seeing the cover, I couldn\u2019t say no.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

The Disappearance of Astrid Bricard\u00a0<\/em>has plenty of characters I think this might be author Natasha Lester\u2019s biggest cast of characters to date. Whilst I applaud the time and effort it must have taken to weave these characters throughout the story this reviewer wasn\u2019t entirely interested in all perspectives or elements used to tell this story.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

Astrid and Hawk on their own could make for wonderful protagonists individually having an interesting backstory but introduce the romantic relationship element between the pair and all their interactions and the scenarios they found themselves in begin to feel repetitive a little flat and forced for the most part; at least until Astrid is introduced into their story in this reviewer\u2019s opinion.\u00a0\u00a0Making it a much slower read than this reader had originally hoped for.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

The lack of respect shown to women in the fashion industry throughout the story is heavily documented throughout this book and whilst I will always applaud anyone shining a spotlight and calling out this and other issues in a respectful way as Natasha has done, I will say both Astrid and Blythe\u2019s perspectives seemed to force this point a little too often I am not sure why this is.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

Mizza Bricard is the character I connected with the most when reading\u00a0The Disappearance of Astrid Bricard.<\/em>\u00a0it was during Mizza\u2019s perspective I was truly able to immerse myself in this book fully, I don\u2019t want to spoil it too much for current or future readers but if there was any character who needed a few more chapters it was Mizza Bricard; she\u00a0\u00a0had such a fascinating backstory compared to that of her daughter and granddaughter in my opinion hence my 3-star-rating.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

\u201c.. she starts to emerge from something she hadn’t realised she’d been buried in. It’s funny how, only when a little light comes in do you understand you’ve become so used to darkness that you’ve forgotten stars exist.\u2019 The Disappearance of Astrid Bricard- Natasha Lester\u201d\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

\u00a0The reader\u2019s first introduction Blythe Bricard is in Paris, December 2012 a single mother raising her two young children.\u00a0\u00a0I admired her strength and could clearly see her struggle to keep up the support and positive attitude of ex-husband in front of the kids even when it\u2019s clear he doesn\u2019t appear to be involved in their lives all that often.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

Upon the revelation that Blythe doesn\u2019t have much in the way of family support, I found myself keen to cheer her on but soon found myself losing enthusiasm for her plight when much like Astrid and Hawk her storyline seemed to become repetitive and dare, I say it predictable. Jake makes for such a static character his brother not so much.\u00a0\u00a0Preferring the mystery surrounding her mother I would\u2019ve preferred that plotline be explored a little more as I have questions that I needed answered more so than the second chance romance subplot.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

When it comes to minor characters there are quite a few here to choose from thanks to Natasha Lester\u2019s skilled writing it was easy to visualise what they might look like in reality. Taking a closer look at the personalities of the minor characters, I was rather taken with Velvet, I am rather hoping Lester will let Velvet have her own story told one day, perhaps Mizza could even have her own novel.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

\u201c\u2026 the world is only half of what it could be when power is defined as someone losing something and when women are merely the beautiful and the damned.\u2019 The Disappearance of Astrid Bricard- Natasha Lester\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

\u00a0Dual perspective is a triumph for\u00a0The Disappearance of Astrid Bricard I\u00a0<\/em>found it allowed the story to build anticipation another advantage of this technique is a great way to reveal a missing piece of the plot to the audience.<\/p>\n\n

\u00a0Natasha has done an excellent job in revealing certain details and the personalities of characters this way it didn\u2019t feel like the reader has to go on too much of a fact-finding mission whilst also not being obvious. I\u2019m not certain I\u2019ve visited the 70\u2019s before in a novel so that was a definite highlight.<\/p>\n\n

\u00a0You got the sense that the author had a lot of fun bringing that period alive on the page.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

Fans of Natasha\u2019s previous novels are in for a real treat\u00a0because Remy from\u00a0The Riviera House<\/em>\u00a0and Alix from\u00a0The Three Lives of Alix St. Pierre<\/em> <\/a>make an appearance, if there\u2019s one thing this reader loves it\u2019s a nod to previous books and to the readers who read them it makes a book even more special.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

There was plenty of detail in these pages don\u2019t get me wrong I enjoy a descriptive novel, that being said\u00a0\u00a0the story felt as if it was struggling in the middle chapters to move forward, I believe this is one of the reasons other plotlines were not fully explored or resolved when it came time for the conclusion making it a much slower read than first anticipated.\u00a0\u00a0The story however does pick up a great deal of speed from Mizza Bricard\u2019s perspective.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

Subplot included in\u00a0The Disappearance of Astrid Bricard:\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n\n