The Wedding Dress Sewing Circle

I have wanted to read The Wedding Dress Sewing Circle for awhile now. The What's in a Name Challenge gave me the impetus to get a copy. The book meets the challenge requirements for the shape category and it was fantastic. The story concerns three women who lift the spirits of home-front brides in wartime Britain. Cloth rationing had left the brides with zero opportunity for getting a wedding dress so this group of friends begin asking for old gowns that they could mend for new brides. This story is based on a true event.

The publisher's summary:

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?

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.

I loved this novel! It is a heartwarming WWII story about how the women left behind coped with shortages and rationing. The focus of the story is the challenging shortages of clothes during the war. The story had an alternating point of view. There are chapters told from Grace, Cresdida and Violet’s perspective. Each woman grew exponentially during the war with Cressida’s encouragement that they find their own path. At that time in the world women did what they were told by their fathers. Their happiness wasn't considered in choosing a husband.

Grace, Violet and Cressida each had romantic interests. While it may have been predictable who they ultimately ended up with, I wondered about the thought process each character would have to go through in order to ascertain what they really wanted in life. As a seamstress myself, I love that as they grew in sewing skills they grew in confidence to make changes in their lives. Actually making those changes was difficult. Their predicament was whether to choose a different path than the men in their life dictated. It was exciting to read how Grace, Violet and Cressida grew in confidence to demand the life of their choosing.

5 out of 5 stars.