Search - The Dressmaker

I was excited to get this book, and started reading as soon as it arrived. I was disappointed, though, because for some reason I found it really hard to get involved with the story and the characters. I don't know if it was the writing style or what. It just ended up being so hard for me to get into that I stopped reading and didn't even get a quarter of the way in. Sorry--I really wanted to love it!

Started off a little slow and at first I didn't know if I wanted to try to finish it or not. But I'm glad I did. Very good story. Loved all the characters that were presented and how loss strengthened the main character & in the end, she was given back more than what was lost. May look into other books written by this author.

Review first published on my blog: http://memoriesfrombooks.blogspot.com/2012/02/dressmaker.html

The Dressmaker is the story of Ellen Gowan set in Victorian England. Her happy childhood ends abruptly, and life brings struggles and successes, joy and sadness. She and her mother are forced to leave their home.

They are helped by relatives, finding love and acceptance, but also abuse and struggle. They travel to London to create a life for themselves. Further life events ensue, including a love affair, a job, a home, a child, and friendship. The story follows an expected course to an expected conclusion.

This book reminded me of A Woman of Substance by Barbara Taylor Bradford. The premise is the same - a woman in trying circumstances who overcomes adversity to reach success and happiness. The situations are different, of course. The Dressmaker covers a much shorter time frame, telling the story of perhaps a decade as opposed to generations. There are fewer characters, and the characters are not developed beyond the one dimension that captures their role in the story.

In other words, The Dressmaker was a pale version of other books of this genre. Not a memorable book. However, an easy, entertaining story in which to lose yourself for a while.

Loved this book. Easy to read, difficult to put down! Good writing style - not too prosey!