The Sunday Times bestseller and one of the most talked-about novels of 2003, now in paperback.

Elegance. Audrey Hepburn had it. Grace Kelly had it. Louise Canova does not.

Until one day, browsing in a second-hand bookshop, Louise stumbles over a faded hardback. Elegance is an A-Z of style, written by French fashion expert, Madame Antoine Dariaux: a veritable what-not-to-wear in print.

When Louise starts to follow Madame's advice, her life is transformed. From Accessories to Zippers, there is nothing Madame cannot advise upon, including types of husband (the blind, the ideal, the dictator) and shopping with girlfriends (don't).

Within the book's pages Louise finds clues to her own past. And as she begins to unravel them, she discovers a courage she never thought possible. For true elegance cannot be attained until she is comfortable in her own skin: only then might love flourish.