The Three Lives of Alix St. Pierre (by Natasha Lester)
In 2023, I had the pleasure of attending an author event featuring Natasha Lester in conversation with Marie Benedict. I was already familiar with Benedict’s work but new to Lester’s. Since her novel The Three Lives of Alix St. Pierre is historical fiction, I assumed it would be right up my alley. The event was engaging and full of fascinating insights (I wrote a full recap on my blog, which is linked below if you’re interested).
I finally dove into the audiobook, which I purchased through my Audible membership.
The Three Lives of Alix St. Pierre follows the journey of a resilient and ambitious young woman named Alix, who navigates love, loss, and reinvention across two pivotal eras. Born to immigrant parents but raised in wealth, Alix serves with the American secret services during World War II, undertaking dangerous missions in Europe. After the war, she moves to Paris in 1947 and begins a new chapter as the publicist for Christian Dior’s groundbreaking fashion house.
The novel explores themes of espionage, fashion, independence, and the long shadow of war, blending richly detailed history with elements of romance and suspense.
I really wanted to like The Three Lives of Alix St. Pierre, but unfortunately it fell flat for me. Despite my high hopes after the author event, I struggled to connect with both the story and the main character, Alix. I was thoroughly confused from the very first chapter and kept hoping the plot and her character would become clearer, but they never did.
The non-linear timeline made it even harder to follow, especially for a story set against the backdrop of WWII. Although Lester clearly marks the different time periods, I still found myself lost and wished the narrative had been told chronologically. The secondary characters felt underdeveloped, and Alix’s relationships—shaped by her espionage work—remained so disconnected that I only started to feel any real empathy near the end. There were occasional glimmers of a compelling story, but for the most part I was bored and eager to be done.
The one bright spot was the audiobook narrator, Barrie Kreinik, whose performance I truly enjoyed.
You might be wondering why I didn’t DNF the book since it clearly wasn’t working for me. I asked myself the same question and realized one of my biggest weaknesses is that I’m far less likely to abandon a book I’ve purchased. It’s much easier to set aside library borrows. Since I bought this one with my Audible credit and didn’t actively hate it, I decided to push through. Now that I also have The Disappearance of Astrid Bricard waiting in my Audible library, I’m hopeful I’ll enjoy that one more. Who knows — it might turn out to be a favorite!
You’re welcome to check out my blog post about the author event with Natasha Lester and Marie Benedict— worth a read if you're curious about the evening!
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