Jennifer Ryan - The Wedding Dress Sewing Circle

After renowned fashion designer Cressida Westcott loses both her home and her design house in the London Blitz, she has nowhere to go but the family manor house she fled decades ago. Praying that her niece and nephew will be more hospitable than her brother had been, she arrives with nothing but the clothes she stands in, at a loss as to how to rebuild her business from a quaint country village. 

Her niece, Violet Westcott, is thrilled that her famous aunt is coming to stay-the village has been interminably dull with all the men off fighting. But just as Cressida arrives, so does Violet's conscription letter. It couldn't have come at a worse time; how will she ever find a suitably aristocratic husband if she has to spend her days wearing a frumpy uniform and doing war work? Meanwhile, the local vicar's daughter, Grace Carlisle, is trying in vain to repair her mother's gown, her only chance of a white wedding. 

When Cressida Westcott appears at the local Sewing Circle meeting, Grace asks for her help-but Cressida has much more to teach the ladies than just simple sewing skills. Before long, Cressida's spirit and ambition galvanizes the village group into action, and they find themselves mending wedding dresses not only for local brides, but for brides across the country. And as the women dedicate themselves to helping others celebrate love, they might even manage to find it for themselves.

Comment: I've decided to read this book because of its premise. Also, I had read another book by the author years ago and it was captivating enough that I wanted to try something else by the author.

Grace, Cressida and Violet should not have much in common, but the war has taken a toll on everyone and when Grace becomes engaged, a huge problem is to find cloth and material to do a wedding dress, and she decides to use her mother's, although it needs some fixing. Along with the ladies' sewing group, she decides she would lent her dress afterwards, to any other woman who needs it, and thus they start their task. One thing leads to the next and they soon find themselves at a position to help shape the fashion culture for years to come, but are their personal lives as easy to fix and plan for? Are they all certain their choices are giving them what they need to be happy and to survive the war problems?

In this story, once again the author offers a small community in England during the WWII period. Three women are at the center of a story which is based on true facts, in which economizing and rationing everything is mandatory, even for wedding needs. The idea of reusing and letting others use one's wedding dress might seem unlikely nowadays, at least for most people, but it was a necessity when material was so scarce.

I liked all the elements related to the clothing and sewing the ladies do in this book and having found similar ideas in other books with the same theme helped me to understand some scenes and decisions. Of course what made this story more interesting was how this group helped the protagonists seeing things from a different perspective and trying to find happiness instead of just letting things go as they were.

Grace is about to marry a man who is a little older but she never imagined someone shy and not really a beauty like her would marry, so she is eager to start her new life, even if it means to keep doing what she has always done in terms of parish work. She had forgotten about her youth dreams of Hugh, the son of the most influencing man in the region, and how he disappeared from her life, but now she is about to spend time with his aunt at his house and seeing him again will certainly force her to rethink everything.

Cressida is a well known designer in London but she comes back when her house is destroyed, and she is eager to help the ladies of the sewing group. She also likes Grace for her skills and posture and isn't surprised when she realizes Grace isn't really confident in her future marriage being a happy one. It also happens that the man she imagined she would marry one day, but who died, was friends with Grace's father, a man she becomes closer to now and with whom she finds a lot in common. But she will return to London, surely...

Hugh's sister Violet receives a conscription letter and has to join the women's teams, which she thinks is beneath her aristocratic status, but she decides to be brave even if it means less chances of finding an aristocratic husband too. She discovers, however, that she is a natural for some tasks and not even the slightly irritating American she needs to drive around puts a stop to her self discovering. 

The lives of these three ladies overlaps as they work together to help with the wedding dress fixing, as well as other projects, and the best part was to see them learn things about themselves, and all finding love. In terms of romance elements, this story worked out quite well, but I must say, just as it had happened with the other book, the writing style is a little predictable and the characters' choices very easy to guess. The writing is actually a little too simple, more depth would have elevated the plot.

In spite of the elements I think should be done better, I still had a good experience reading and wanted to know what would happen next.

I will likely read more by the author.

Grade: 7/10