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The Lingerie Designer
Helen Devine is one of the UK’s most sought-after lingerie designers. Her glorious creations have spiced up the love lives of lots of grateful women and sealed the deal on many a budding romance.
So why is her own love life such a disaster? Helen’s therapist friend, Poppy Power, a great believer in Universal Synchronicity, urges Helen to trust in Fate.
As a level-headed businesswoman, Helen isn’t convinced. But a series of chance encounters and strange coincidences during a business trip to Hong Kong and a once-in-a-lifetime holiday in Vietnam causes Helen to reassess her priorities. Could Fate really be lending her a helping hand? Perhaps Poppy might be onto something after all.
Their adventure will take you on a journey from the city lights of Hong Kong, to the majestic junks of Halong Bay and the smoky jazz clubs of Hanoi, Vietnam. Ultimately though, they will each have to decide, whether to follow the universal synchronicity that touched their lives, for a brief, but magical time. Or whether the road to happiness, may just be, where they started out from.
The Lingerie Designer gives readers an inside look at the clothing trade, as most people will never have seen it before. It addresses topical issues such as ethical trading, second chances, reinventing ourselves in the face of adversity and age difference relationships.
The story tells of these real-life situations in a humorous and entertaining way. The final scenes see an uplifting twist, leaving the reader with the opinion – the universe really can be our oyster, if we want it to be.
So why is her own love life such a disaster? Helen’s therapist friend, Poppy Power, a great believer in Universal Synchronicity, urges Helen to trust in Fate.
As a level-headed businesswoman, Helen isn’t convinced. But a series of chance encounters and strange coincidences during a business trip to Hong Kong and a once-in-a-lifetime holiday in Vietnam causes Helen to reassess her priorities. Could Fate really be lending her a helping hand? Perhaps Poppy might be onto something after all.
Their adventure will take you on a journey from the city lights of Hong Kong, to the majestic junks of Halong Bay and the smoky jazz clubs of Hanoi, Vietnam. Ultimately though, they will each have to decide, whether to follow the universal synchronicity that touched their lives, for a brief, but magical time. Or whether the road to happiness, may just be, where they started out from.
The Lingerie Designer gives readers an inside look at the clothing trade, as most people will never have seen it before. It addresses topical issues such as ethical trading, second chances, reinventing ourselves in the face of adversity and age difference relationships.
The story tells of these real-life situations in a humorous and entertaining way. The final scenes see an uplifting twist, leaving the reader with the opinion – the universe really can be our oyster, if we want it to be.
405 pages, Paperback
First published May 26, 2011
About the author
Siobhan McKenna
2 books25 followersAlthough now a full-time author and stress management lecturer, previously I worked for over twenty years in the international clothing trade, supplying well- known retail chains. I travelled extensively for work throughout, South East Asia, which sparked a wanderlust and interest in World Cultures. I began travelling in my own time, opting mainly for an off-road experience in remote places while raising money for charity.
The down turn in Irish manufacturing and clothing trade led to the demise of our company in 2006. For the first time in my life, I was out of work when the rest of Ireland was still riding high on the Celtic Tiger. Divorced, unemployed and facing forty years of age was a scary place. Rather than jump back into the only trade I’d ever known I decided to step into the unknown. I began to write (my childhood dream) study and be a full-time carer. I also did a lot of soul searching.
After a chance meeting with Deepak Chopra MD, I decided to train as an Ayurvedic consultant and meditation teacher and began working in the holistic wellness field. I bring my experience of the corporate world to my teaching, using tools that are practical and easily integrated into every day busy lives. My clients range from private individuals, to SMEs, to large organisations and bodies.
I live in, County Dublin with my family including my fifteen year old recue dog, Bobby who kept me company during the long hours of writing, The Lingerie Designer. I am a cousin of renowned Irish actress Siobhán McKenna. Siobhán was an amazing woman and actress and I’m proud to be related to her, albeit distant. I hope through writing I will in some way, continue the family tradition of entertaining a wide audience.
Siobhan's Facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Siobhan...
The down turn in Irish manufacturing and clothing trade led to the demise of our company in 2006. For the first time in my life, I was out of work when the rest of Ireland was still riding high on the Celtic Tiger. Divorced, unemployed and facing forty years of age was a scary place. Rather than jump back into the only trade I’d ever known I decided to step into the unknown. I began to write (my childhood dream) study and be a full-time carer. I also did a lot of soul searching.
After a chance meeting with Deepak Chopra MD, I decided to train as an Ayurvedic consultant and meditation teacher and began working in the holistic wellness field. I bring my experience of the corporate world to my teaching, using tools that are practical and easily integrated into every day busy lives. My clients range from private individuals, to SMEs, to large organisations and bodies.
I live in, County Dublin with my family including my fifteen year old recue dog, Bobby who kept me company during the long hours of writing, The Lingerie Designer. I am a cousin of renowned Irish actress Siobhán McKenna. Siobhán was an amazing woman and actress and I’m proud to be related to her, albeit distant. I hope through writing I will in some way, continue the family tradition of entertaining a wide audience.
Siobhan's Facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Siobhan...
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
October 16, 2021
Loved this book way more than I thought it would.. definitely a page turner for me; the story was brilliant and the locations were incredibly descriptive. Makes me want to go exploring to Vietnam even more now.. absolutely loved it!
December 30, 2011
This book was written by someone who won a reality show contest titled, "Write a Bestseller." I wasn't expecting very much from this book. To be honest I was expecting a bad bonkbuster and what I got instead was a very well written book. The story is different and I liked that. It never got old or boring and you were always left wondering what was going to happen next.
One thing I learned from this book was not to have preconceived judgments. But I am most pleased when I find a book has surpassed my expectations and surprised me.
One thing I learned from this book was not to have preconceived judgments. But I am most pleased when I find a book has surpassed my expectations and surprised me.
April 15, 2017
This was a first novel written for a competition, and good luck to the author. She tries to mix glamour, travel and business with romance and some life lessons. A woman who is experienced in a London lingerie business tries to train in a younger version of herself while fending off the male boss's advances and keeping up with her scatty New Age woman friend in Dublin. We join them as they head off to a trade fair in Hong Kong.
I like the doubtless true representation of a Chinese firm, which makes all the mass produced garments sold as luxury items in Britain, and the haggling over details and costs. While we later hear that some Asian suppliers show buyers a model factory and not the genuine ones, unsafe, with poor labour conditions and rivers polluted with dye waste. But I would have liked our protagonist to go there and see this for herself, not accept the word of a different factory owner, which leaves the authenticity in doubt.
Readers expecting a parade of lingerie through the book will be disappointed. Lingerie in the abstract, not as worn, is the focus. Our heroine Helen, if she tells us what she is wearing, is usually wearing large undies made for comfort while travelling in Vietnam. We get far more descriptions of scenic views than attractive undies. While the heroine doesn't seem to know anyone glamorous or even anyone who wears her products. The friend Poppy and her daughter Lily lead more ordinary lives and this can make the tale more endearing. We also meet a boyfriend of Helen's who seems like a slimeball she should have dropped years ago, yet she keeps letting him drag her back into a friends with benefits situation. I found it hard to understand Helen's attitude to a place to live, as she works in London but goes to Dublin every weekend, while putting money down on a new build flat in Dubai, where she never goes. Wouldn't a house or apartment in London seem like a better investment and a better use of her time and plane fare?
The fact that it's a first published novel shows, and can make it hard to follow if you aren't keeping the characters separated in your mind. There's a lot of head hopping right from the start, meaning taking a different character's point of view and thoughts pretty much in alternating sentences; and as two women have similarly bland names Helen and Kate it's harder to follow until we get to know them. If one had been Kristina and the other Helen it would have been easier. Even minor characters get thoughts represented instead of letting us judge them by their actions. Some male characters are introduced early and they only interact with the protagonist later in the book.
I also noticed quite a few errors of spelling in common phrases, and the mistake of calling someone jealous when in fact they are envious. Jealous is guarding something you have, like a dog jealously guarding a bone; a girl might be envious of her boss's lifestyle, wishing she did have it. I don't know whether errors are due to the author or editor or proofreader, but it doesn't give a great impression of the publisher. I am sure the author has improved with experience and I would read more of her works.
I like the doubtless true representation of a Chinese firm, which makes all the mass produced garments sold as luxury items in Britain, and the haggling over details and costs. While we later hear that some Asian suppliers show buyers a model factory and not the genuine ones, unsafe, with poor labour conditions and rivers polluted with dye waste. But I would have liked our protagonist to go there and see this for herself, not accept the word of a different factory owner, which leaves the authenticity in doubt.
Readers expecting a parade of lingerie through the book will be disappointed. Lingerie in the abstract, not as worn, is the focus. Our heroine Helen, if she tells us what she is wearing, is usually wearing large undies made for comfort while travelling in Vietnam. We get far more descriptions of scenic views than attractive undies. While the heroine doesn't seem to know anyone glamorous or even anyone who wears her products. The friend Poppy and her daughter Lily lead more ordinary lives and this can make the tale more endearing. We also meet a boyfriend of Helen's who seems like a slimeball she should have dropped years ago, yet she keeps letting him drag her back into a friends with benefits situation. I found it hard to understand Helen's attitude to a place to live, as she works in London but goes to Dublin every weekend, while putting money down on a new build flat in Dubai, where she never goes. Wouldn't a house or apartment in London seem like a better investment and a better use of her time and plane fare?
The fact that it's a first published novel shows, and can make it hard to follow if you aren't keeping the characters separated in your mind. There's a lot of head hopping right from the start, meaning taking a different character's point of view and thoughts pretty much in alternating sentences; and as two women have similarly bland names Helen and Kate it's harder to follow until we get to know them. If one had been Kristina and the other Helen it would have been easier. Even minor characters get thoughts represented instead of letting us judge them by their actions. Some male characters are introduced early and they only interact with the protagonist later in the book.
I also noticed quite a few errors of spelling in common phrases, and the mistake of calling someone jealous when in fact they are envious. Jealous is guarding something you have, like a dog jealously guarding a bone; a girl might be envious of her boss's lifestyle, wishing she did have it. I don't know whether errors are due to the author or editor or proofreader, but it doesn't give a great impression of the publisher. I am sure the author has improved with experience and I would read more of her works.
September 4, 2012
Having read and enjoyed The Other Woman, I went back to read this one, and it is a very well written debut novel, and a deserving winner of the TV3 competition that launched this author's career.
It took me a while to warm to the protagonist Helen, but the secondary characters like Poppy and Mary were interesting and funny, and the different settings were well described. There weren't as many plot twists as I would have liked but overall a very enjoyable read.
It took me a while to warm to the protagonist Helen, but the secondary characters like Poppy and Mary were interesting and funny, and the different settings were well described. There weren't as many plot twists as I would have liked but overall a very enjoyable read.
July 9, 2012
Really good first Novel, looking forward to the second, saving it for my holidays, funny, modern and spicy.
Did Not Finish
March 20, 2026I usually give a book 100 pages before I decide whether to go on or not but I struggled to get to page 40. I couldn't gel with any of the characters. What was a 'try' at being funny came off as unfunny.
March 15, 2020
Very enjoyable, well written.
June 25, 2023
A really lovely book , well written plenty to keep reader interested with plenty of humour included. Recommend read.
November 22, 2023
More interwoven twisting plots than a murder mystery. Enjoyed it thoroughly.
February 7, 2013
Hmm,not really sure what i thought of this book,the edition I got was badly proofed for a start, there was loads of spelling mistakes and missing words, and I started to get annoyed by the overuse of american terms in what was supposed to be a book by an Irish author,set between London and Dublin for the most part - but thats just a personal thing!!
The story was well put together, the characters were likeable, they were well put together and realistic, every character had real personality, with negative aspects to their character,which i appreciated because I hate characters to be too sugary sweet!
Overall I enjoyed it, she's a new author and seems promising!
The story was well put together, the characters were likeable, they were well put together and realistic, every character had real personality, with negative aspects to their character,which i appreciated because I hate characters to be too sugary sweet!
Overall I enjoyed it, she's a new author and seems promising!
March 16, 2016
Refreshing and unique, this book is ultimately a GREAT first draft in need of deep revision, but...it seems to have sold well despite that, so I am apparently not one to judge. However, couldn't make it past the first third of the book; the very many secondary characters were each quite interesting, but all of their sub-plots were mired in slow pacing and none seemed destined to intersect. Doubt will revisit.
August 3, 2016
Nice easy light holiday or beach read. Insightful at times but completely predictable. Thought for a while that Marian Keyes might have a budding rival for the Queen of Irish Chick Lit title but she doesn't have to worry yet!
March 21, 2016
One star
It was painful trying to finish this book. The references to thirty being old, the over the top characters, and very slow story line. I hate leaving bad reviews because I know writing is an art, but I enjoyed nothing about this book.
It was painful trying to finish this book. The references to thirty being old, the over the top characters, and very slow story line. I hate leaving bad reviews because I know writing is an art, but I enjoyed nothing about this book.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews