Patricia Volk’s memoir has a tenderness and charm that make it truly absorbing; mixing two women’s very different viewpoints into a delicious cocktail of wisdom and nostalgia that really hits the spot.

It is hard to image that any reader, especially a female reader, will be able to finish The Art of Being a Woman without a match being struck to the dry tinder of their own memories of childhood, setting things ablaze. This is a brilliant thing, well considered, well wrought, and wonderfully well written.

Exquisitely written… A compelling snapshot of the groundbreaking designer – and an even more fascinating insight into Audrey, a paragon of mid-20th-century New York style.

Ignoring Schiaparelli is to ignore fashion and art. Soon everyone will be reminded who Schiap is.

Nothing short of delicious... Sharp-eyed as it is wickedly funny... Witty, tender and vividly nostalgic.

Thought-provoking and delightful. I love the way Volk transforms the apparently frivolous and, often, outmoded details of femininity into valuable lessons for life. Completely beguiling.

A moving and entertaining double memoir

Delightful… Juxtaposes the lives of two figures who most shaped [Volk’s] views of what a woman could and should be. Both women were opinionated, secretive, imposing, hot-tempered, charismatic and crazy about clothes… Ms. Volk is thoroughly likeable, warm and generous, with a well-tuned ear and a vivid sense of humour.’

Pure joy... A diptych portrayal of Patricia Volk's gorgeous and infuriating mother and the great fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli, this is an irresistible tour de force that puts on display Volk's intelligence, wit and sparkling prose.