The Last Hope by Susan Elia MacNeal

THE LAST HOPE by Susan Elia MacNeal is the final entry (after The Hollywood Spy) in the mystery series featuring Maggie Hope. That WWII era character started out thwarting an assassination attempt as a secretary for Winston Churchill and eventually received spy training which led to travels in Europe and the United States. This time, Maggie is sent to Madrid where she has a meeting with Coco Chanel and the British Ambassador to Spain in an effort to hasten the end of the war. There’s talk of possibly assassinating a scientist, double agents, and threatening police. Maggie also has to deal with personal issues and bereavement while trying to stay focused on the mission’s objectives. All in all, an excellent ending to a very popular and suspenseful mystery series. Library Journal praises it, saying, “It's sad to see the story end, but this novel, filled with MacNeal's signature character-centric plot and minute attention to historical details, does so magnificently.”

Peril in Paris by Rhys Bowen

PERIL IN PARIS by Rhys Bowen is the latest in her Royal Spyness mystery series featuring Lady Georgiana Rannoch. Set in the mid-1930s and taking place primarily in the French capital, this new addition is not as strong as previous entries. Georgie, now pregnant, has come to Paris while husband Darcy is on assignment there. She spends time with her old friend Belinda, her mother, and fashion designer Coco Chanel. There is a murder at a fashion show and Georgie investigates, but it is as if her pregnancy has contributed to a personality change. She is much more hesitant than I recall from earlier adventures. The mystery, too, is not all that involving although there is an element of pre-WWII espionage. PERIL IN PARIS is fine as light entertainment, but readers will be much more apt to enjoy earlier titles in this series like God Rest Ye, Royal Gentlemen or Four Funerals and Maybe a Wedding. 

Worn Out by Alyssa Hardy

WORN OUT by Alyssa Hardy is a new non-fiction work about fast fashion, a high interest topic for our students. Hardy is a former senior news editor at InStyle and fashion news editor at Teen Vogue; she clearly has a message to convey: “loving fashion is not the problem, it’s the ways in which we consume it that can be.” Writing for New Press, a nonprofit, public interest publisher, Hardy concentrates on discussing the fashion industry’s relationship with climate change and poor labor conditions. In her Introduction, Hardy refers to changing fashion tastes during the pandemic and eloquently points out, “When we praised essential workers, no one talked about people behind the sewing machines.” She relates numerous examples of worker mistreatment, including by brands like Guess, Forever 21, and American Apparel. Her passion is evident, but she often writes in first person and frames the stories with her personal experience, including limited notes or references. Our student researchers are likely to find more background, statistics, and suggested action steps in slightly older works like Fashionopolis, and Unraveled. WORN OUT, described by Publishers Weekly as a “scorching exposé,” could serve as a supplementary text with profiles of poor business practices and recent activists. 

Unraveled by Maxine Bedat

UNRAVELED by Maxine Bedat is subtitled “The Life and Death of a Garment” and Bedat uses nine chapters and a pair of jeans to discuss the various aspects of the clothing marketplace from growing cotton in Texas, through manufacturing (of both a textile and clothing), marketing, and distribution. She also includes chapters which cover purchasing decisions, disposal of used and donated clothing (Americans “throw out more than eighty pounds of textiles per person per year”) as well as offering suggestions for future action. I was originally curious about UNRAVELED because there has been a great deal of student interest in this topic recently, with several students completing Junior Themes related to fast fashion and sustainability in the last few years. I have since learned that Bedat is Director of the New Standard Institute, a research and action think tank. Her work has been covered in numerous publications including The New Yorker, Vogue, Fast Company, The Nation and so on. I plan to definitely purchase and recommend UNRAVELED as it covers a 2.5 trillion-dollar industry which impacts all of us; consider the many people Bedat consults: “agronomists, climate scientists, historians, fashion executives, factory executives, and material scientists; labor experts, organizers and laborers; political scientists, toxicologists, psychologists, marketers and economists.” UNRAVELED contains extensive notes and a helpful index; related texts include: Fashionopolis by Dana Thomas and The Conscious Closet by Elizabeth Cline.

Dress Your Best Life by Dawnn Karen

DRESS YOUR BEST LIFE by Dawnn Karen explores the idea that “fashion is the voice we use to declare ourselves to the world.” Karen, a graduate of Columbia University, former model, and now a professor at the Fashion Institute of Technology, offers chapters on topics such as “Fashion Psychology 101” and “Mood Matters.” In the introduction, she frankly describes her background, recounts a traumatic event, and explains her on-going interest in exploring the “relationship between attire and attitude” through studying both psychology and fashion. There is a fascinating chapter on color and another on power accessories, plus multiple case studies. Karen builds on wider messages associated with “self-acceptance, body positivity, and inclusivity” and employs quizzes to help the reader define his or her own style. There’s an element of sustainability, too: she recommends a list of “woke” brands. I particularly liked the questions she suggests near the end: 

• Do I love it? (instead of Will they like it?)
• Do I need it? (instead of Do I want it?)

This title, which the author hopes encourages readers to “feel more and shop less,” seems like a good “fit” for my students who are currently researching the impact of fast fashion and the shift to more casual clothing. DRESS YOUR BEST LIFE received a starred review from Booklist.