Avril Montdidier is a heroine in every sense of the word. As a young girl she basked in the love of her mother, Yvette, and her friend, Guy, in the beautiful French countryside around Tours, until the Second World War and its aftermath turned her world upside down.
Avril’s bravery and strength of character led her to look for a new life in Australia, backed by her experience working for Christian Dior in Paris and the practical knowledge and skills she had both inherited and learned from her mother.
In A Remarkable Woman Jules Van Mill has created a memorable, loveable, compassionate character with Avril Montdidier; she brings Australia to life from inner city Melbourne to the western slopes of the Darling Downs and fills them with real people, most good, some bad, as should be expected.
Anyone who remembers the books of Judith Krantz will call to mind the strong, beautiful women, the fashions and the boutiques in her stories. I got a similar appreciation of those subjects from A Remarkable Woman. There are also quite a few male characters in the cast and they are all three-dimensional and recognisable and, in a couple of cases, rather dishy.
This very well rounded story has all the elements of happiness and sadness, comedy and drama, city life and country life of an excellent work of contemporary fiction. I was very sorry to come to the end. I could have gone on reading for a lot longer!
Published by Macmillan.
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