The Dressmaker

Claude Reynaud is an old-fashioned tailor, designing his famous gowns by hand in a cluttered studio well outside Paris. But one spring afternoon a woman arrives in search of a wedding dress and shatters all his composure: Valentine de Verlay is charming, beautiful, sophisticated, and, of course, engaged. Though he has long since given up on romance in favor of his work, Claude is instantly smitten.

Elizabeth Birkelund Oberbeck has written for Cosmopolitan, Glamour, and Working Woman, among other publications. She lives in Connecticut.