****4 stars
I found this to be an interesting novel about two women, Ann and Miriam, who form a friendship in the 1940’s when they work together as embroiderers for designer, Normal Hartnell, where they are chosen to embroider Princess Elizabeth’s wedding gown. Because this is such a special project, they’re asked to keep their work secret.
As Ann and Miriam work together, they discover things about one another that they haven’t been able to share with others. Ann lives with her sister-in-law, now a widow because Ann’s brother was killed in the war. Miriam, who is Jewish, lost her whole family in the war and was imprisoned but survived. The two of them strike up a close relationship and end up living together when Ann’s sister-in-law moves to Canada. But an unfortunate turn of events, causes Ann to move to her sister-in-law’s home after she and Miriam complete the wedding gown.
Years later, during which the two women haven’t been in touch, Ann passes away. She leaves her granddaughter, Heather, a package with her name on it. The package contains a sample embroidery. This causes Heather to question her grandmother’s history because Ann or Nan, as Heather calls her, never talked much about her past. Heather decides to go to England to find out why she was left the embroidery and how it was connected to her grandmother.
I enjoyed the way each woman’s story was told in alternate chapters and the coincidences that Heather discovers as she pursues her grandmother’s past. The main focus of the book was the friendship between Ann and Miriam and what each brought to the other. The information about the wedding gown, embroidery, and the royal palace were also interesting. While the book wasn’t based on real women, Hartnell was the designer commissioned for the gown who had seamstresses and embroiderers working for him.
If you enjoy historical fiction and novels about the royal family told from a different aspect, you’ll like this novel.
Ruff Drafts 