The cover is simply stunning and draws you into opening the pages and this book would definitely look great on any coffee table to peruse at your leisure.

She holds a BA in Journalism, Film and Media and a Post Graduate Diploma in Magazine Journalism from Cardiff University. O yes, now that I have skimmed some other reviews, I realized what it was that was bothering me-- there was so much focus on all of her affairs, and barely any on her actual contributions to the fashion world.

But the very real humanness of Chanel, the woman wanting to fit into a society that she was excluded from simply because of her circumstances of birth, the desire to create a better history, the ruthlessness of cutting out existing members of her family because they didn’t fit her narrative are all written about and considered.

I felt the book really could have been considerably shorter, with the cutting of extraneous information. This is a comprehensive book about the amazing Coco Chanel which covers not only her fashion career, but her affairs, her friends, her actions during the war and her legacy.

Justine Picardie spent years puzzling over the truth about Coco Chanel, peeling away the accretions of romance and lies. Feared and revered by her contemporaries, Chanel died in 1971, but her legacy lives on as an enduring global brand. I was really drawn into the book, picturing the setting of her life, the photos within the book really helped you to be drawn into her world.