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The Dress in the Window: A Novel
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The Dress in the Window: A Novel
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The Dress in the Window: A Novel
Ebook357 pages6 hours

The Dress in the Window: A Novel

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

3.5/5

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About this ebook

A perfect debut novel is like a perfect dress—it’s a “must have” and when you “try it on” it fits perfectly. In this richly patterned story of sisterhood, ambition, and reinvention Sofia Grant has created a story just right for fans of Vintage and The Dress Shop of Dreams.

World War II has ended and American women are shedding their old clothes for the gorgeous new styles. Voluminous layers of taffeta and tulle, wasp waists, and beautiful color—all so welcome after years of sensible styles and strict rationing.  

Jeanne Brink and her sister Peggy both had to weather every tragedy the war had to offer—Peggy now a widowed mother, Jeanne without the fiancé she’d counted on, both living with Peggy’s mother-in-law in a grim mill town.  But despite their grey pasts they long for a bright future—Jeanne by creating stunning dresses for her clients with the help of her sister Peggy’s brilliant sketches.

Together, they combine forces to create amazing fashions and a more prosperous life than they’d ever dreamed of before the war. But sisterly love can sometimes turn into sibling jealousy. Always playing second fiddle to her sister, Peggy yearns to make her own mark. But as they soon discover, the future is never without its surprises, ones that have the potential to make—or break—their dreams.
LanguageEnglish
PublisherHarperCollins
Release dateJul 25, 2017
ISBN9780062499738
Author

Sofia Grant

Sofia Grant has the heart of a homemaker, the curiosity of a cat, and the keen eye of a scout. She works from an urban aerie in Oakland, California.

Read more from Sofia Grant

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Reviews for The Dress in the Window

Rating: 3.5416666875 out of 5 stars
3.5/5

24 ratings5 reviews

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  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    History books record the fact that World War II allowed women to enter the workplace, replacing all of the young men who went off to fight in Europe and the Pacific but far less frequently do they address how women survived the hard aftermath of war, especially those women whose husbands, fiances, or sons didn't come home or only came home in flag-draped coffins. With so many men home from the war, women's professional options were limited and what was available was appallingly low paid, even for those women who desperately needed jobs to support themselves and their families. So many of these all female households struggled to stay one step ahead of their bills. Sofia Grant's novel, The Dress in the Window, is the story of one such family, determined to survive and eventually to thrive.Sisters Jeanne and Peggy live with Peggy's mother-in-law and Peggy's young daughter in a poor mill town just outside of Philadelphia. Their life is not one that any of them once imagined. Jeanne's fiance and Peggy's husband both died in the war and with their own parents dead, they had no choice but to move in with the widowed Thelma. The three women scrimp to make ends meet as they collectively raise little Tommie, born after her father's death in Europe. The sisters work together, Peggy drawing dress designs and Jeanne sewing the dresses, to sell to better off women in their small community, helping to supplement their meager income. Both of them have a talent for fashion but although they are working together and love each other dearly, they still harbor long standing resentments about each other, resentments that sometimes cause them to lie and keep secrets, both large and small. Thelma also has secrets and as she chooses to divulge them (or not), her relationships with each of the sisters changes. All three women, working together or for themselves, are survivors, having endured so much loss, and each of them wants a chance to chase her own dreams in the world of fashion and the world of fabric but how they each go about reaching for their dreams might tear them apart forever.The third person narration's focus rotates mainly amongst Thelma, Peggy, and Jeanne but young Tommie has a small bit towards the end as well. This allows the reader to see not only the choices each character makes but to understand those choices and the impact they have on each of the other characters. By moving between characters, the reader can see the conflicts coming long before the characters do and can find sympathy for all positions. Jeanne and Peggy are very realistic as sisters, bound together by a deep love for each other but also prone to jealousy and rivalry. They are quite different from one another and their way of going about achieving their professional dreams highlights that. Calling attention to not only the changing roles of women in the late 40s and early 50s, the novel also chronicles the much appreciated changes in fashion from wartime austerity to abundance and show, a reimagining that showcases not just fashion but an attitude shift of an entire nation. Grant taps into the new spirit pervading the country after the war, branding practical America as innovative and new through the struggles and rise of the sisters. The pacing of the novel is pretty consistent. As each secret is revealed, something else happens to take its place and to keep the reader turning pages. This is a domestic and family drama as much as it is a picture of society's changing place for women. The ending is a bit abrupt and the epilogue allows for a glossing over of some of the unresolved plot threads but in general this is a quick and pleasing read. Historical fiction lovers and those with an interest in fashion and the industry as a whole will enjoy the well researched details and the sisters who found a way into this male dominated world.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I enjoyed this story of two sisters in the post-WWII era. Jeanne and Peggy are each struggling - with poverty, the deaths of the men they loved, and to make a living. Each has a talent: Jeanne can sew and Peggy can design. Together they've got a good combination to start a business to revolutionize women's fashion, if only they could learn to get along. Altogether fun, this novel does take a dark turn or two (I found the last third a little implausible), but still a good read full of fun clothes and bright dreams.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    The books are totally deserving. I loved them, and I think they are must read. If you have some great stories like this one, you can publish it on Novel Star, just submit your story to hardy@novelstar.top or joye@novelstar.top
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I won an Early Reviewer copy of The Dress in the Window by Sofia Grant from the LT May 2017 batch. I have not received the book as of yet. So I borrowed it from my local library because it sounded like a a good historical novel. I am doing a review while it is fresh in my mind because I still hope to receive this book. That said, the book was a really good read. It started a bit slow and I had a bit of trouble with understanding how everyone related to each other, but those issues quickly went away. The plot unwound bit by bit until it really pulled you in, with each main character having their own secrets and lies. And that was the foundation for the story that became more and more compelling with twists and turns you would not expect. Told in the three main voices of two sisters, Peggy and Jeanne, Peggy with a young daughter, Tommie, and who lost her husband in World War II, and Jeanne, who similarly lost her fiancé, and Peggy's mother-in-law, Thelma. They live together and money is very tight.Set outside of Philadelphia, Jeanne is a talented seamstress and Peggy a talented artist who designs fashions, and Thelma who has had vast experience in the mill once run by her now deceased husband, they each struggle with their past and how that past influences their future endeavors. The sisters have a complicated but loving relationship, as does Peggy with her own daughter. And Thelma can be very manipulative in her own way. I enjoyed Grant's writing and her character development. Nothing formulaic here. The characters she writes about are interesting people, with flaws, desires and guilt to overcome. As an added bonus, each chapter is begun with some unique facts about various materials and how those may be like some people we know. My favorite was Broadcloth -- It will not ravel, fray, or pill. It is not so different from certain women, who only become stronger the more hardship they are forced to endure.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I had trouble with this one.This is a post-war story and shows how female households -- those where the men of the family didn't survive WWII -- struggled to support themselves and each other. Peggy and Jeanne are two such women. They are sisters and live with Peggy's mother-in-law and Peggy's daughter, who was born after her father died. The characters are well developed and the story is well told.However, I found the editing appalling! Most of the time Peggy and Jeanne were a year apart in age, but sometimes they were two years apart. And once, they were far enough apart in school that they moved in totally different crowds. Peggy's daughter lived eight years in her grandmother's house, then moved with her aunt and started Grade 1; and that's only one example of the child's age being inaccurate. Peggy, as the widow of Tommy, is receiving a survivors' pension -- most of the time. Once or twice, it is Peggy's mother-in-law who is the recipient. And while Peggy misses her sister to distraction, she never answers Jeanne's letters -- or maybe she never got them? I think a good editor could have made this book at least a four-star read. And I wish little details didn't bug me so much, but they do, especially when they are compounded.

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