The Pink Suit
Nicole Mary Kelby, 2014
Little, Brown & Co.
288 pp.
ISBN-13: 9780316235655
Summary
A novel based on the true story behind Jacqueline Kennedy's iconic pink suit.
On November 22, 1963, the First Lady accompanied her husband to Dallas, Texas dressed in a pink Chanel-style suit that was his favorite. Much of her wardrobe, including the pink suit, came from the New York boutique Chez Ninon where a young seamstress, an Irish immigrant named Kate, worked behind the scenes to meticulously craft the memorable outfits.
While the two never met, Kate knew every tuck and pleat needed to create the illusion of the First Lady's perfection. And when the pink suit becomes infamous, Kate's already fragile world—divided between the excess and artistry of Chez Ninon and the traditional values of her insular neighborhood—threatens to rip apart.
The Pink Suit is a fascinating look at politics, fashion, and some of the most glamorous women in history, seen through the eyes of a young woman caught in the midst of an American breed of upstairs/downstairs class drama. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—ca. 1955-56
• Raised—Tampa, Florida, USA
• Education—N/A
• Currently—lives in St. Paul, Minnesota
N. M.Kelby (Nicole Mary Kelby) is an American short-story and novel writer. She was born in Toledo, Ohio, to a Polish-American father and French-born mother. When they divorced, her mother moved the family to Tampa, Florida. At 17 she begain interning at the St. Petersburg Times, saying years later in an interview...
I knew I wanted to be a writer, but the job market wasn’t great down there. I’d also been writing poetry, and you know what a fabulous, lucrative job that is. Somehow I heard about...the lively arts community in Minneapolis [Minn.]. I moved up here, got involved with The Loft, and that’s how my writing career started. I got jobs in PR, I worked as a food journalist, wrote for Skyway News, Where Magazine, I was a reporter and anchor for Fox 9 News, I was executive director of the cable access station in St. Paul.
Writing
She began her writing career as a playwright but later turned to novels and short stories. She is the author of The Pink Suit (2014), White Truffles in Winter (2011), Murder at the Bad Girl’s Bar and Grill (2008), Whale Season (2006), Theater of the Stars (2005), and In the Company of Angels (2001).
Her short stories have appeared in many publications including Zoetrope All-Story Extra, One Story, Minnesota Monthly, Verb, and Mississippi Review. One was recorded by actress Joanne Woodward for the NPR CD Travel Tales, and included in New Stories from the South: Best of 2006.
Kelby has been the recipient of a Bush Artist Fellowship in Literature, the Heekin Group Foundation’s James Fellowship for the Novel, both a Florida and Minnesota State Arts Board Fellowship in fiction, two Jerome Travel Study Grants, and a Jewish Arts Endowment Fellowship. She was named "Outstanding Southern Artist" by The Southern Arts Federation and her work has been translated into several languages. She has been a Pirate’s Alley Faulkner Award finalist for fiction three times and placed twice in the Nelson Algren Award for the Short Story.
Kelby took part in a month-long cultural exchange at Tyrone Guthrie Centre in County Monaghan, Ireland and will be the Artist-in-Residence at the Santa Fe Art Institute in May 2008. (From .)
Book Reviews
Kelby’s brilliant idea for a novel is inspired by history but is not a mirror image of it, and much like off-the-rack clothing, The Pink Suit won’t fit everyone’s taste. Part of the problem is that the author has trouble balancing the two aspects of the story. Although her prose is runway ready when she’s talking about couture, the book stumbles when it roams into Kate’s life in Upper Manhattan. Kelby captures the "Mad Men"-era struggles of women torn between marriage and work, but her description of Kate’s life simply isn’t as elegant as her deconstruction of the suit.
Carol Memmott - Washington Post
The Pink Suit, built around the Garment District back story of that now-famous outfit, is sure to catapult the writer's career straight from pret-a-porter to haute couture.... Kate gets an insider's glimpse into the rarefied world of high-society matrons and wealthy socialites so often cloaked in mystery to outsiders. So do we... The Minnesota author herself seems poised to reach rosy new career heights with the publication of this carefully tailored novel.
Minneapolis Star Tribune
While the novel is filled with politics, history and lots of insider views of designer fashion, Kate remains grounded... It's a look at an ordinary woman and how she played a small role in an extraordinary time.
Fort Worth Star Telegram
Terrific!
Entertainment Weekly
An engaging and moving work of historical fiction.
Harper’s Bazaar (UK)
Kelby cleverly combines historical fact with fiction in this engaging tale of a talented seamstress and her quest to find love and happiness. Kate is an Irish immigrant living in 1960s New York and working as a seamstress at Chez Ninon.... Kelby excels brilliantly at imbuing the reader with the ability to see the beauty of fabric and design... [and] feel the depths of emotion in Kate's difficult life choices.
Publishers Weekly
Discussion Questions
Use our LitLovers Book Club Resources; they can help with discussions for any book:
• How to Discuss a Book (helpful discussion tips)
• Generic Discussion Questions—Fiction and Nonfiction
• Read-Think-Talk (a guided reading chart)
(We'll add specific questions if and when they're made available by the publisher.)