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Title: The Dressmaker
Author: Kate Alcott
Genre: Historical Fiction, Historical Romance
Length: 365 pages
Published: 2012
Publisher: Doubleday
Brief Synopsis: (Taken from Goodreads) Just in time for the centennial anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic comes a vivid, romantic, and relentlessly compelling historical novel about a spirited young woman who survives the disaster only to find herself embroiled in the media frenzy left in the wake of the tragedy.
Tess, an aspiring seamstress, thinks she's had an incredibly lucky break when she is hired by famous designer Lady Lucile Duff Gordon to be a personal maid on the Titanic's doomed voyage. Once on board, Tess catches the eye of two men, one a roughly-hewn but kind sailor and the other an enigmatic Chicago millionaire. But on the fourth night, disaster strikes.
Amidst the chaos and desperate urging of two very different suitors, Tess is one of the last people allowed on a lifeboat. Tess’s sailor also manages to survive unharmed, witness to Lady Duff Gordon’s questionable actions during the tragedy. Others—including the gallant Midwestern tycoon—are not so lucky.
On dry land, rumors about the survivors begin to circulate, and Lady Duff Gordon quickly becomes the subject of media scorn and later, the hearings on the Titanic. Set against a historical tragedy but told from a completely fresh angle, The Dressmaker is an atmospheric delight filled with all the period's glitz and glamour, all the raw feelings of a national tragedy and all the contradictory emotions of young love.
My Review:
Tess, an aspiring seamstress, thinks she's had an incredibly lucky break when she is hired by famous designer Lady Lucile Duff Gordon to be a personal maid on the Titanic's doomed voyage. Once on board, Tess catches the eye of two men, one a roughly-hewn but kind sailor and the other an enigmatic Chicago millionaire. But on the fourth night, disaster strikes.
Amidst the chaos and desperate urging of two very different suitors, Tess is one of the last people allowed on a lifeboat. Tess’s sailor also manages to survive unharmed, witness to Lady Duff Gordon’s questionable actions during the tragedy. Others—including the gallant Midwestern tycoon—are not so lucky.
On dry land, rumors about the survivors begin to circulate, and Lady Duff Gordon quickly becomes the subject of media scorn and later, the hearings on the Titanic. Set against a historical tragedy but told from a completely fresh angle, The Dressmaker is an atmospheric delight filled with all the period's glitz and glamour, all the raw feelings of a national tragedy and all the contradictory emotions of young love.
My Review:
I give this book a 5 out of 5.
I really enjoyed this novel. The author took elements of a real event (the sinking of the Titanic) and real people (Lady Duff Gordon and her husband, Cosmo) and wove them into this tale about an aspiring seamstress and fashion designer. The core theme seems to be about choices. There are plenty of choices, both easy and difficult to make throughout the novel: the choice to leave England for America, the choice between two very different men, the choice to stay on with Lady Duff Gordon despite her demeanor, the choice to be the bigger person, and the choice of who to believe about the events that transpired in Lifeboat One. These are just a few of the choices that Tess Collins has to make. Other characters also have choices: the Duff Gordons, Jim Bonney, Pinky Wade, among others.
One of my favorite characters was Pinky Wade. She was plucky, insecure, and intelligent. I found her to be a good counter to Tess, as well as to Jim Bonney. Tess followed at a close second. I mean, come on, she's the heroine of the novel, therefore she has to be pretty high up there on the favorite character list, right? Not necessarily of course, but I really did like Tess' character. She was naive, indecisive, and kind. Finally, with the letter she received from her mother, she made several life-changing decisions at the end of the novel. She also managed to do something that most people would have completely balked at: she was the better person and showed up to support Lady Duff Gordon at her fashion show, in spite of everything.
Since finishing The Dressmaker last night, I have read a few other reviews out there. Some people were horrified by the historical inaccuracies. Honestly, as it's a fiction novel, you should expect that some things are not going to be perfectly accurate. Was the portrayal of Cosmo and Lucile Duff Gordon completely accurate? No. But the point of a fiction novel, even a historical fiction novel is to make it your own. I don't feel that this took away from the the history of the time or the story in the least.
So, in conclusion, I loved everything about this novel. The romance of the time period, the Titanic and its history, the characters, and the very difficult and realistic decisions that nearly everyone featured in the novel had to make. I definitely recommend that you pick this book up and give it a shot.
You can purchase The Dressmaker through Amazon in either hard copy or Kindle format.
Have you read The Dressmaker? If so, leave a comment and let me know your thoughts!
Please note: I was not compensated in any way for this review. It is strictly my opinion.
Please note: I was not compensated in any way for this review. It is strictly my opinion.
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