Hi, Jade! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?

Five quick facts about me.

1. I have worked as a journalist my whole career and still write and edit for newspapers in the UK. It’s the best character research there is.

2. I have two daughters, one ten and one sixteen – imagine the fun!

3. I live in a Georgian townhouse that is over 200 years old and quite possibly haunted.

4. For nearly ten years I was the editor of Conde Nast Brides in London and spent too much time eating wedding cake.

5. You will never find me in bed after 6am. My internal body clock never recovered from having small children. Once my eyes are open, I’m up and cracking on with the day.

When did you first discover your love for writing and stories?

My first novel wasn’t published until 2017 so the passion for writing fiction came much later in life for me. I was working my way up the career ladder in journalism and only had time for more creative writing when I moved out of London. Despite living in the countryside, I was still working in the capital and that’s when I suddenly had three hours on a train each day to put to good use.

Quick lightning round! Tell us:

• The first book you ever remember reading: It would have been a Beatrix Potter. I was obsessed with them as a child and loved the intricate illustrations of the animals’ homes.
• The one that made you want to become an author: Miracle on Regent Street by Ali Harris. She was a colleague on the magazine I was working on at the time. I loved this first book of hers and it made me wonder, could I do that too?
• The one that you can’t stop thinking about: Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. Twenty years after reading it, it still comes up in conversation.

Your latest novel, The Memory Dress, is out now! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?

Royalty + romance + family + fashion + friendship

What can readers expect?

The Memory Dress tells the story of Meredith Chalis, a gifted Palace dressmaker who made gowns for Diana, the Princess of Wales. When we meet her at the beginning of the story, her home is chaotic and neglected, her husband and daughter are both missing, and she has no idea why there is an incredible evening gown thrown over the back of a chair in her bedroom. It transpires that the dress was once owned by Diana and gifted to Meredith. With the help of a neighbour, Meredith retraces her steps to various locations across London and the UK where Diana’s dresses were worn – and in doing so is finally able to piece together what has happened to her loved ones. All ten dresses featured in the book were made by the late Catherine Walker and sold at the famous Christie’s auction in New York in 1997.

Where did the inspiration for The Memory Dress come from?

A key jumping off point for me was a copy of the original Christie’s catalogue that accompanied that auction. I ordered it online and when it arrived I was initially puzzled about why 80 dresses were listed for sale but news reports from the time confirmed only 79 had sold. That got me thinking. Could there be a reason a dress was pulled from the auction? Where might it be now? And could it have had a very important influence on someone else’s life? It was the starting point of my story.

Were there any moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?

It’s clear from the beginning that Meredith is not well and is living with dementia. For me, that made her a very interesting character to explore as my own grandmother had lived with dementia too. I was aware of the many ways in which is can effect someone beyond the more obvious crumbling of memory. Having that very real element to the story is balanced with the glamorous jouney that we see Meredith go on as she relives her time working on Diana’s dresses. We follow her to Kensington Palace, the Royal Albert Hall, Spencer House and Althorp, Diana’s family estate – all locations I personally visited during my research.

Can you tell us about some of the challenges you faced whilst writing The Memory Dress?

Writing is dual timeline is never easy and that requires a very careful balancing of the chapters and their pacing so the reveals are timed perfectly and the breadcrumb of clues delicately placed. Having Diana’s wardrobe central to the story is also tricky since there is so much contradictionary information about her in circulation. Something as simple as dating when a particular dress was first worn by her, especially when you consider not all were worn in public, sometimes took more time than you can imagine!

What’s next for you?

There are two possible novel outlines I am considering at the moment. One is partially set in London in the 80s and the other is more contemporary. But anything I write will be cross-generational, have a fashion theme, celebrate strong female relationships and mix high glamour with reality. I like it when the ordinary and extraordinary collide in a story.

Lastly, what books have you enjoyed this year and are there any that you can’t wait to get your hands on in 2025?

My current read is The Birdcage by Eve Chase. I think I have read every one of her novels. They are typically set on the Cornish coast in England, in grand old family homes where shocking secrets are deeply buried. Her writing is so lyrical and descriptive, I get completely lost in her storytelling. This year I have also loved: You Are Here by David Nichols; A Pocketful of Happiness by Richard E Grant and next up is The Kellerby Code by Jonny Sweet because it has the kind of glamorous premise I love.

Will you be picking up The Memory Dress? Tell us in the comments below!

The post Q&A: Jade Beer, Author of ‘The Memory Dress’ appeared first on The Nerd Daily.

Which Paris will you pick? From the refined elegance of Dior’s world to the formality of the British Ambassador’s residence and the Gothic backstreets of Montmartre, if you’re missing travel, these books will take you to the heart of Paris!

THE FASHIONABLE MYSTERY   
The Last Dress From Paris by Jade Beer 
Part fashion treasure hunt, part family mystery, this story delivers Paris twice. Once in the (almost) present day of 2017 and, in alternating chapters, in the 1950s. Thirty-two year old Lucille is sent to Paris by her grandmother and asked to retrieve a couture Dior dress that she wore there in 1953. But almost as soon as she arrives, Lucille realises her grandmother has been economical with the facts. There starts an increasingly romantic dash across the city, retracing where not one but eight Dior looks were worn. Through Lucille’s eyes we see a modern day Paris, one that feels a long way from the life of Alice Ainsley, the young wife of the British Ambassador to France and also a lover of Dior’s collections. Desperate to break free of the constraints of her loveless marriage, Alice embarks on a thrilling affair in the 1950s that will take her all over the city for secret rendez-vous. Eventually the two timelines collide with deeply felt consequences for everyone. The book launches seventy-five years after Christian Dior unveiled his first Spring/Summer collection at 30 Avenue Montaigne, the same address where Lucille begins to understand who she really is. 

THE ROMANCE 
Paris for One & Other Stories by Jojo Moyes

Nell is forced to travel to Paris alone when her boyfriend Pete misses the train they should be boarding together in London because he’s ‘stuck at work.’ This forces a voyage of discovery as Nell, reluctantly initially, embraces the challenge of surviving the world’s worst romantic weekend, determined she is ‘going to be Parisian.’ From the simple task of getting a taxi alone from the Gare du Nord to negotiating a double-booked hotel room and eating alone in chic French cafes, things take an upward turn with the arrival of local Frenchman Fabien. This is an escapist tale of foreign romance played out in the galleries, gardens and avenues of Paris with a tick list of all the major attractions. 

THE WHODUNNIT
The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley

A darker, more Gothic version of Paris, set for the majority of the action inside an old and at times claustrophobic apartment block in the disorientating back streets of Montmartre. Jess arrives at her brother Ben’s address to find him missing and when he stays that way, everyone else becomes a potential suspect in his disappearance. 

Foley shows us a wealthier Paris, where the apartment’s residents hold glamorous parties, cover their walls in expensive art, and fill their cellar with vintage wine, while staff ensure the building and grounds are well tended. But hers is a seedier Paris too. Nightclubs that are a front for something far murkier and corrupt authorities who can’t be trusted. Foley’s Paris doesn’t feel safe, you wouldn’t want to wander its streets alone but as she says herself you may well love watching her characters get their just desserts.

THE COMEDY
The Dud Avocado by Elaine Dundy

Let’s confidently predict that from the first turn of the first page, you will laugh out loud at Sally Jay Gorce’s romp around all the most glamorous cocktail parties in Paris. Readers have been since this novel first published in 1958. Sally Jay, a 21 year old American graduate and aspiring actress falls in and out of love and in and out of bed with various suitors, her ‘vague nymphomania’ getting her into increasing trouble in the city of lovers. She wears evening dresses through the morning streets of Paris, dyes her hair bright pink, there’s plenty of Pernod and Champagne-fuelled gossip and all the mistakes you might expect from someone so young and ambitious. Dundy’s tantalizing approach to Sally Jay’s characterisation is brilliantly persuasive: ‘When I got stuck, I would say to myself What would I not do? and then I would have Sally Jay do it.’ 

THE MEMOIR 
Dior by Dior: The Autobiography of Christian Dior 

What could possibly be more Parisienne than a tell-all insider guide to life within the most famous fashion house in Paris, written by its founder and couturier. From the ground-breaking days of that first New Look collection, through all the exquisite details of the couture dress making process, the gruelling hours and lifestyle of the mannequins who showed them (and were wonderfully allowed to borrow dresses from previous collections) to the privileged clients who wore them and the powerful all-knowing women who helped mastermind the fashion empire, Dior satisfies every question you may have – all set to the backdrop of the city he loved. If you have never considered a trip to Paris, you’ll be booking it by the time you turn the final page. 

The post 5 Books That Will Take You To The Heart of Paris appeared first on The Nerd Daily.