The Dressmaker by Kate Alcott

Paperback: 306 pages                                                                                             
Genre: Historical Romantic Fiction
Publisher: Doubleday 2012
Source: Tywyn Public Library
First Sentence: Tess pulled at the corners of the sheets she had taken straight from the line and tried to tuck them tight under the mattress, stepping back to check her work.
Favourite Quote:“Life is an act—most of it, anyway. Get out there today and pretend you’re in charge, for goodness’ sake. Do you hear me? Lift up your head and pretend.” A flicker of a smile passed over her face. “It’s the secret to everything.”
Review Quote: "An unashamed girlie-book....we learn a good deal about what it was like when the ship went down. But we also follow Tess as she learns about the high-fashion business in New York."
--Washington Post
Main Characters: Tess Collins, Lady Duff Gordon
Setting: Washington, D.C., 1912 (United States)
Cherbourg, 1912 (France)
Atlantic Ocean, 1912
New York City, New York, 1912 (United States)
My Opinion: Fact combined with fiction using the sinking of the Titanic as background makes for fascinating reading.  Discover what happens to some of the survivors as there life continues, the author weaves her protagonists stories around the rumours that circulated about this historic event. Too many wealthy people had survived while those from steerage had died! An enjoyable easy read.

Précis Courtesy of Goodreads:

Just in time for the centennial anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic comes a vivid, romantic, and relentlessly compelling historical novel about a spirited young woman who survives the disaster only to find herself embroiled in the media frenzy left in the wake of the tragedy.

Tess, an aspiring seamstress, thinks she's had an incredibly lucky break when she is hired by famous designer Lady Lucile Duff Gordon to be a personal maid on the Titanic's doomed voyage. Once on board, Tess catches the eye of two men, one a roughly-hewn but kind sailor and the other an enigmatic Chicago millionaire. But on the fourth night, disaster strikes.

Amidst the chaos and desperate urging of two very different suitors, Tess is one of the last people allowed on a lifeboat. Tess’s sailor also manages to survive unharmed, witness to Lady Duff Gordon’s questionable actions during the tragedy. Others—including the gallant Midwestern tycoon—are not so lucky.

On dry land, rumors about the survivors begin to circulate, and Lady Duff Gordon quickly becomes the subject of media scorn and later, the hearings on the Titanic. Set against a historical tragedy but told from a completely fresh angle, The Dressmaker is an atmospheric delight filled with all the period's glitz and glamour, all the raw feelings of a national tragedy and all the contradictory emotions of young love.


Author Profile

Kate Alcott is the pseudonym for the journalist Patricia O’Brien, who was born in the USA. She has written several books, both fiction and nonfiction. As Kate Alcott, she is the author of The Dressmaker (a New York Times bestseller), The Daring Ladies of Lowell, and A Touch of Stardust. She lives in Washington, D.C.


Photographs, Trailer and Biographical Information courtesy of the following sites.

Goodreads Author Profile    Amazon Author Page   Kate Alcott - Official Website.

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