The Wedding Dress Sewing Circle
£6.80£8.50 (-20%)
‘Atmospheric, wise and warm . . . comforting and unputdownable . . . an enchanting hug of a novel’ – Cathy Kelly on The Kitchen Front
To have. To hold. To sew. Jennifer Ryan’s The Wedding Dress Sewing Circle is ‘A Great British Sewing Bee’ set in the Second World War, and inspired by true events.
After fashion designer Cressida Westcott loses both everything she owns in the Blitz, she has nowhere to go but the family manor house she fled decades ago.
Cressida is at a loss as to how to rebuild her business from a small country village. The answer comes from an unlikely source: the local sewing circle. With clothes rationed, wartime brides are left with no choice but to ‘make do and mend’ and after helping local vicar’s daughter, Grace Carlisle, repair her mother’s dress, Cressida finds herself inundated with similar requests.
Before long, the sewing circle find themselves mending wedding dresses for brides across the country. And as the women dedicate themselves to helping others celebrate love, they might also find it for themselves . . .
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Additional information
| Publisher | Main Market edition (8 Jun. 2023), Pan |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Paperback | 432 pages |
| ISBN-10 | 1529094356 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-1529094350 |
| Reading age | 18 years and up |
| Dimensions | 13 x 3.6 x 19.7 cm |
by Caitlin Matthews
I very much enjoyed this story of women during WW2 in an English village undergoing the ups and downs of life, and especially the rigours of deprivation of clothing materials in wartime. The characters are very appealing and have good development. However well the the clothing and fashion of the time was researched, it is a pity that the author did not also do some essential church research: one of the characters, a vicar, aspires to be a deacon – which is a minor order of the clergy. I imagine the author meant a dean, which is a much posher rank. Apart from that I really love Jennifer Ryan’s book.
by sevenpin
The Chilbury Ladies’ Choir author Jennifer Ryan latest WW2 novel is a well researched blend of fact and fiction in an era of clothes rationing where military needs are the priority. It documents the cost of war, with its bombings, hard times and sacrifices in a country where the make do and mend spirit is a necessity that can lead to creative responses. After losing the love of her life in WW1, 40 year old Cressida Westcott poured her entire energies in ensuring that her clothing design business became well known and successful in London, featuring in Vogue, with clients in the highest social circles. After her home and business is bombed, Cressida is left with nothing and forced to return to the Kent village of Aldhurst, and the manor home of her estranged family, nephew Hugh and niece, Violet.
She finds herself introduced to the sewing circle doing its best to use any material they can lay their hands on and revamping old clothes. Here Cressida meets the drab, meek, selfless Vicar’s daughter, Grace Carlisle, planning her wedding, and wanting to wear her disintegrating mother’s wedding dress. Both women work on the beautiful dress, managing to rescue it, it turns out to be the beginning of what turns out to be the Wedding Dress Exchange, a wildly successful scheme to loan women getting married during the war the possibility of attaining their dream of a white wedding dress. The narrative follows the challenges facing Cressida, Violet, initially desperate to marry a wealthy aristocrat and mortified when she is conscripted into the military, and Grace, finding the courage and resilience to forge new lives that are true to who they are.
Ryan celebrates the women and their strong sense of community spirit and solidarity that formed the vital response of trying to counter the inescapable bleak darkness of the death and destruction of the war. The sewing circle generates much needed care, friendship, belonging and support, collecting donated wedding dresses and breathing new life into them, providing a woman with a touch of romance, light and joy on their big day, that would otherwise be out of reach. This is replicated in the efforts designers made, epitomised by Cressida, and her new design assistant, Grace, creating morale boosting wartime chic, bringing colour and style to military uniforms and ordinary everyday clothing. This is a heartwarming immersive historical read, full of hope, capturing the turbulent and changing times with reference to social norms and expectations regarding women and class, as illustrated by the three main protagonists. This is for fans of the author and those who love their historical fiction. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.
by Toffeebabe
Another hit from Jennifer Ryan. I personally never knew about the wedding dress exchange that took place during the war. What an insight this provided, whilst woven with stories of love across the classes. Really enjoyable read, as always.
by Kim
This was a lovely book about a group of women meeting up during the war years to sew and help out their community. A gorgeous wedding dress has been passed down- but once it’s unpacked it’s clear that it needs some tender loving restoration. The sewing circle comes up with the idea that anyone can borrow the dress for their wedding and the idea just expands so that during strict rationing the countries young brides can have their own fairy tale white wedding.
It was lovely to see friendships growing and their simple idea bringing all classes together to make such magical memories for each other.
by Louiseog
This is the story of the Second World War
This is the story of a small village and its attempts to help in as many different ways as possible
This is the story of different women and how they adapt their lives to extraordinary circumstances
And this is the story of trying to keep things normal in the face of terrible conditions.
I loved the characters and how they support each other and make do and mend.
by Kirsty
The Wedding Dress Sewing Circle by Jennifer Ryan
I received an advance review copy for free thanks to NetGalley and Pan Macmillan and I am leaving this review voluntarily
Three plucky women lift the spirits of home-front brides in wartime Britain, where clothes rationing leaves little opportunity for pomp or celebration—even at weddings—in this heartwarming novel based on true events, from the bestselling author of The Chilbury Ladies’ Choir.
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 while staying in 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?
Having read this book I am struggling to see why the book has such a high rating. I really struggled with this book and did consider not finishing the book. To begin with it felt like it was going to be a nice cosy read but I just could not connect with the writing. I do not usually read historical fiction so I am going to choose to believe that this is the reason I did not enjoy this book.
Rating 3/5