Rating: 
Summary: FUN READ!
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. The character comes alive immediately and left me with the impression that she was someone I actually knew. It was also entertaining to travel to England for a few hours.
It's natural that readers would try to compare this story to Bridget Jones, but that's unfair and short-sighted. True, the book follows a romantic formula and the action occurs in England, but Louise, the main character is quite different than Bridget - and she's worth meeting!
Give the book a try - This first novel by Kathleen Tessaro demonstrates considerable talent. I hope she continues to write because I believe her work will even get better. - Ann Jones
Rating: 
Summary: Terrific idea, poor execution
Review: I wanted to love this book because it uses the real book "Elegance" as part of the plot but it's just no use. The heroine is such a silly little girl that I want to smack her upside her head. None of the characters are likeable and plot falls into place a little too easily.
Rating: 
Summary: Disagreeable characters
Review: I was initially intrigued with the concept of using the outline of an elegance primer as the method for writing a work of fiction. Ultimately, I was disappointed by Louise, who never really developed beyond superficial considerations and was entirely unlikable...to the point that I was surprised that any of the characters was able to tolerate her. I thought I'd fall in love with this hapless woman and cheer for her but instead found myself amazed that she was even able to find love, let alone friendship.
Rating: 
Summary: This book captured my heart
Review: I was looking in Harrod's book department and came across this gem. I saw that it won a best book award from the London Times last year and thought it might keep me occupied on the long flight home.
It was so much better than I expected. It takes you on a journey similar to others in the British Chick Lit genre, but the low notes in the story, the jaw-dropping pain she sometimes endures makes her eventual rise all the sweeter.
I loaned the book to my best friend upon my return and she loved it as much as I did. I'm thinking of starting a book club...this would definitely be the first selection.
Rating: 
Summary: Glad that I didn't pay for it.
Review: I was really glad that after reading "Elegance" by Kathleen Tessaro that I didn't pay for it. I really had high hopes for this book. It looked like that it was going to be good book, but the truth is that it was not a good book. Louise Canova is a American living in London married to an English actor. At thirty-two she acts like at lease fifteen years older. Until she finds a book called "Elegance" by Madame Dariaux in a second hand shop. This small book leads Louise to make some major changes in her life.
This is really not that good. The author left major wholes the story that just didn't sense to me. I kept hoping that Ms. Tessaro would fill in the holes, but she didn't.
The reason that I gave "Elegance" two stars is because of the work of Madame Dariaux,who's book will be selling on Amazon.com in August.
Rating:
Summary: A Big Drop, clumsily
Review: If you are like me, a reader who after passing page 50 must continue until the end because every read book is a goal, then let me save you the first 50 pages. This book, very appealing to women due to it's instructive allure, is not really about elegance. Instead, it's about English life, English people, and looking and acting like Margaret Thatcher, something I hope no woman is striving for.
Kathleen Tessaro begins her novel with lots of instructions and hope, I even envisioned myself buying an expensive purse. But it all turned flat, sour, and boring, the life of a 32 year old who, "surprise," lands a beautiful younger man, after attending a, check this, weekend getaway with rich, rude, English people. By page 213 I was reading so fast to finish the book that I did 75 minutes non-stop on the stationary bike. Hey, at least I got some lost calories out of it.
Rating:
Summary: Pretty good for chick-lit, I imagine
Review: If you're looking for a fun, quick, girlie book, then you probably don't need to look further than ELEGANCE. I mean, it has everything you're supposed to get with chick-lit, like the dumpy gal living in London who has relationship problems but feels better after shopping, and it's written in a fun way, with excepts from the real ELEGANCE by Madame Dariaux. But . . . I don't know. I really liked the idea of Louise finding happiness by simply becoming more elegant, and was really hoping she wouldn't realize that true happiness is found beneath the surface or any of that same old same old. I wanted to read more about her wearing chic dresses, augmented with charming accessories and less about her teenage abortion. I wanted her to BE Madame Dariaux by the end of the book. I wanted a big finale where she outshines her mother-in-law at The Ritz or something like that, but all that seems to have happened, elegance-wise, is that she wound up with a smaller, more expensive wardrobe. Don't get me wrong, though. I really enjoyed this book, but wish it was a tad more brainless.
Rating:
Summary: Better than Beauty...Elegance
Review: Kathleen Tessaro manages to sum up in a novel what every woman wants, or should learn to want; elegance. It's better than being born with beauty, wealth, or fame. It's the Jaquie O, the Grace Kelly, the Audrey Hepburn that all of us girls wish we had- and this novel is the wonderful story of one woman's journey to find that inner poise. She stumbles her way through the trends of pucci skirts, and see through robes, until she finds, not only how to pick out the perfect pair of shoes to go with THAT dress, but how to love, and how to let someone love her in return. Sprinkled with wise words of wisdom at the beginning of every chapter, this is a book that will become more of a reference for life, than just a good novel.
Rating:
Summary: I loved this book soooo much.....
Review: Kathleen Tessaro writes a book that rings true. Don't let the cover dissuade you (it looks silly). This is a wonderfully meaningful book from cover to cover. I chuckled at parts and cried at others. I learned alot from this book, some fashion advice but more importantly a clarity about myself my family and my friends. Only a great book can do that!
Rating:
Summary: more than just chick lit
Review: Louisa is a transplant from Pittsburgh to London, and married to a man who shall remain nameless when this book opens. She and her husband attend a photography exhbit hosted by her mother-in-law, a former model who still looks stunning. While at the exhibit -- which she didn't even want to attend -- Louisa relaizes that she is just plain frumpy and depressed compared to all the stunning older women around her.She finds a book titled "Elegance" in a used book store the next day and uses it as her own personal bible. As she developes style and elegance, she starts to take control in other areas of her life. She also gives the reader a look into her past -- her depressed mother who would spend lots of money dressing her up as a child, her good friend who gets snippy the day Louisa dresses up a little and gives her a little competition, etc. This is well-written, and divided into chapter alphabetically i.e. "G - Girlfriends" "H - Hats", etc.) Very entertaining!
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