Rating: 
Summary: A story of transformation
Review: Louise embarks on her journey of transformation by reading a battered old copy of Elegance by a french author. Tessaro met with the original author in Paris and gained permission to reprint some of the original text in her novel. It makes for a clever segue to engage the reader from one chapter to the next. Parts of this book were very funny but on the whole not hilarious like "Bridget Jones Diary" although it will make you think about BJD. I look forward to her future work.
Rating: 
Summary: A step above chic-lit
Review: Louise's life is going nowhere - her job, her marriage, her life - they are all grey. She comes upon a book that instructs on how to be elegant, and through working on how she looks, she completely changes her life; and along the way she discovers how her past has effected her present. There are some interesting observations on what passes for fulfilment in this modern world - how looking the part can sometimes get you the part; and could be seen as a meditation on finding out what you really want out of life and going for it. This book has its faults - the narrator/protagonist is not very likeable, and how can someone on a part-time job afford to buy multiple items from La Perla?? But if it is taken as a light, slightly posy name-dropping label obsessed step above chic lit, it could be extremely entertaining. Or maybe I am just fashion/style obsessed and shallow. (But the send up of the modern day Sloane Rangers is very funny).
Rating:
Summary: A DELICIOUS "CHICK-LIT"
Review: Not being a regular patron of the chick-lit genre or even a regular reader of Vogue or Cosmo, I was hesitant to pick up what clearly reeks on the cover of a girlie novel. And to an extent, I guess I was right in that the theme is not altogether unique -- a woman of means, Louise, finds herself at cross roads in life following a debunk marriage, thus sliding into a state of self-discovery and self-pampering. Distraught at what becomes a small but life-changing incident, she rebuilds herself and her life (and btw, her health, her wardrobe, her career) inspired and guided by the chic advise of Madame Dariaux. Except that she makes mistakes, gets things going topsy turvy, and has to improvise and update the advice she is so carefully living by. However, despite the somewhat annoyingly effeminate quirks of preening and primping, the very Vogue flair of writing, the tried and tested (ok, "hackneyed") theme of good old fashioned love gone awry, the somewhat predictable setting of - ahem - London, and even a gay best friend for our protagonist Louie, which apparently is an essential accessory for the modern woman...this novel is actually quite a page turner. The style of writing, as I mentioned, is very Magazine. A clear break from too much dense literature on the subject of dour romances. In its accurate potrayal of a woman's psyche, especially at an age when it is somewhat late to be making self-discoveries, the novel smacks of the class of Nick Hornby's "How to be good". The characters are very well developed without getting too prosaic, you will end up liking almost everyone (even the errant husband who was at the root of all grief). A quick-paced romp through the vagaries of high-soc life in London. With, as you probably imagined, a happy ending.
Rating: 
Summary: Just Another Brit Chick Read
Review: Okay, I was going to swear off Brit Chick Lit. But the premise for this book appealed to me, and the fact that the author is a transplanted Yank gave me hope. The main character, a transplanted Pittsburgher, is married but frumpy, and then she transforms herself and her life after running across a vintage style manual called "Elegance." The chapter heads, which go from A to Z, detail everything from "accessories" to "jewelry." It's a cute premise, and some of Tessaro's writing is pithy. However, this book suffers from the same plot, same lack of surprises and same plodding pace as other across the pond women's books like "Bad Heir Day," "Pride, Prejudice and Jasmine Field," and countless others. It raises the same question: why can't any one of these authors think of another plot? In a nutshell, this book, and all its clones, has a slightly downtrodden, perhaps overweight or badly dressed heroine. She starts to dress better/loses weight/gains self-confidence. She dumps a horrible crush/boyfriend/husband. She somehow gets out of her dead-end job/parent's house/work rut and achieves fabulous success working for a glossy women's magazine/the Royal Opera House/a hip PR firm. She always gets some new, handsome boyfriend at the end, and she always ends up fabulously happy. I'm all for fluff, but I'm sick of reading the same story over and over again. I'm done with Brit Chick Lit
Rating:
Summary: Interesting...but
Review: Parts of this book are delightful, such as the excerpts from Madame Dariaux's book. The story itself skips along breezily and held my interest. However, the main character in the book, Louise, is appalling self-centered and began to grate on my nerves. Only once in the book does she think about or help others and even then it was in a self-serving manner. And, as other reviewers have noted, Louise does not act her age. She also supposedly has an eating disorder which is resolved in an incrediably unbelievable way. Good beach read, but don't expect much. The best "character" in the book is Madame Dariaux.
Rating:
Summary: Easy and fun read
Review: pick it up if you want something to read on the beach or in the country. Not a brilliant piece of literature, but light entertainment for a weekend. Correction to the editorial review: Genevieve Dariaux is very real and alive and still impecably elegant - at nearly 90 years of age.
Rating:
Summary: Fun Brigit Jones Clone
Review: Thirty-two year old Yankee Louise is surrounded by chic London socialites, while she miserably stands vigil by her husband's side at a boring gallery opening where she is mistaken in her out-of-date and ill-fitting frock as pregnant. Such disgrace begins Louise's journey to fashion and confidence nirvana with a used book by a French fashion expert as her knowing guide. As Louise whips through the encyclopedic style manual,---we are treated to excerpts in all 26 chapter headings---she sheds not only her excess weight, but her scared-to-come-out-of-the-closet husband. The revelation that 'elegance' merely means looking appropriate for the occasion, for one's companion and for oneself, comes slowly---Louise actually arrives at date with a man at the Ritz in a tarty outfit and panicking must swap clothes with a more classically refined friend --- Tessaro has fun making the most of describing Louise's faux pas along the way to discovering a style of her own. The ending, of course, borders on the predictable---with the dawning of personal taste and an involvement in one's own life, comes the reward, in this case a rather dishy musician who is 8 years younger than Louise. Lucky Louise.
"Elegance" offers yet another glance at the Cinderella story that has been done over and over again, time out of mind. If you've just read Brigit Jones and are a bit tired of deciphering the British slang and celebrity references, I would pass on this one until at least it comes out in paperback or you are in the mood for more of the same. The novel is meant to be fun, there are no grand revelations or great secrets here, just common sense----although some readers are obviously taking it quite seriously as I have read that copies of the quoted Dariaux book are currently big business on E*bay. I will recommend it for those who, like myself, like a fun read about fashion and becomng a swan instead of an ugly duckling---what could be more appealing? I will also recommend it as a springboard to those who enjoy exploring a more classic quieter way of life even though this is just touched upon in the novel. You laughed a bit and found Louise's antics amusing, now, check out "Joie De Vivre" by restauranteur Arbor--a charming look at French life---and Will Clower's "The Fat Fallacy" which explains the French manner of eating to stay slim. "Elegance", the novel will intrigue you by Tessaro's modern interpretaion of Madame Dariaux's "Elegance" where dressing well and looking well are equally as important as eating and savoring your life and push you through to your own thresold to find such a life of your own.
Rating:
Summary: Deeper than Chick-Lit
Review: This book was very interesting- what I assumed from the start would be a book about a bored houseife trying to lose weight and live up to her ex-model mother-in-law, ended up being a much deeper story that slowly revealed itself to the reader. The underlying reasons behind Louise's depression and search for self are revealed in flashbacks that are haunting and disturbing- all slowly molding the reader's image of Louise. I thought this book was a great read. Deep, but also a very quick and entertaining read.
Rating:
Summary: Charming book
Review: This is a cute story. I laughed, I cried, I cringed. Did I mention I laughed? A self-help book laced within the pages of a chick lit novel. I can hardly wait for the next one!
Rating:
Summary: Fun and quick read
Review: This was a buy for the 3-hour flight to and from CA. Read it in these 2 sittings. Well-written and funny with great little tid-bits thrown in for good measure. Enjoyed it immensely. Of course, this is not a "how-to", it's a novel...but there is something to be admired and even inspired about a woman who manages to get her act together under her own voliton.
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