The Dressmaker’s War by Mary Chamberlain – 314 pages
Book Blurb:
In London, 1939, Ada Vaughan is a young woman with an unusual dressmaking skill, and dreams of a better life for herself. That life seems to arrive when Stanislaus, an Austrian aristocrat, sweeps Ada off her feet and brings her to Paris. When war breaks out, Stanislaus vanishes, and Ada is taken prisoner by the Germans, she must do everything she can to survive: by becoming dressmaker to the Nazi wives. Abandoned and alone as war rages, the choices Ada makes will come to back to haunt her years later, as the truth of her experience is twisted and distorted after the war. From glamorous London hotels and Parisian cafes to the desperation of wartime Germany, here is a mesmerizing, richly textured historical novel, a story of heartbreak, survival and ambition, of the nature of truth, and the untold story of what happens to women during war.
My Review: 3.5 stars
The Dressmaker’s War (formerly called The Dressmaker of Dachau) was a unique look at the war from a woman’s perspective.
I’ve read a plethora of books about WW2 and/or the Holocaust yet this one read differently. The main character is not Jewish or Polish; she’s a British catholic who’s in the wrong place at the wrong time due to her extreme naïveté. Her youth helps explain her gullibility yet once wronged should’ve taught this girl a lesson. Many times I wanted to slam the book shut to represent a strong slap to her face!
What kept her alive was her belief in her dreams. I respected that about her but took for granted that her poor judgment and trust of others should’ve warned me that she’s an unreliable narrator. Her dreams blinded her to the truths around her, even those of the war. Thankfully, she was a woman that had a marketable skill that kept her alive during the war.
Quotes I liked:
Could’ve made a fortune now if she charged extra for listening. Set up in business as an agony aunt, a problem shared is a problem halved.”
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