Title: The Dressmaker's DowryAuthor: Meredith Jaeger
Published by: William Morrow on Feb. 7, 2017
Genres: Historical Fiction
Pages: 384
Format: eBook, ARC
Source: William Morrow, Edelweiss
Book Rating: 8/10
For readers of Lucinda Riley, Sarah Jio, or Susan Meissner, this gripping historical debut novel tells the story of two women: one, an immigrant seamstress who disappears from San Francisco’s gritty streets in 1876, and the other, a young woman in present day who must delve into the secrets of her husband’s wealthy family only to discover that she and the missing dressmaker might be connected in unexpected ways
An exquisite ring, passed down through generations, connects two women who learn that love is a choice, and forgiveness is the key to freedom…
San Francisco: 1876
Immigrant dressmakers Hannelore Schaeffer and Margaret O’Brien struggle to provide food for their siblings, while mending delicate clothing for the city’s most affluent ladies. When wealthy Lucas Havensworth enters the shop, Hanna’s future is altered forever. With Margaret’s encouragement and the power of a borrowed green dress, Hanna dares to see herself as worthy of him. Then Margaret disappears, and Hanna turns to Lucas. Braving the gritty streets of the Barbary Coast and daring to enter the mansions of Nob Hill, Hanna stumbles upon Margaret’s fate, forcing her to make a devastating decision…one that will echo through the generations.
San Francisco: Present Day
In her elegant Marina apartment overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge, Sarah Havensworth struggles to complete the novel she quit her job for. Afraid to tell her husband of her writer’s block, Sarah is also hiding a darker secret—one that has haunted her for 14 years. Then a news headline from 1876 sparks inspiration: Missing Dressmakers Believed to be Murdered. Compelled to discover what happened to Hannelore and Margaret, Sarah returns to her roots as a journalist. Will her beautiful heirloom engagement ring uncover a connection to Hanna Schaeffer?
Review:
Intriguing, thought-provoking and heartwarming!
This story is told from two different perspectives. One is that of Sarah, a young woman who stumbles upon an unsolved mystery from the 1870s while working on her thesis. And the other is Hanna, a young woman struggling to survive and raise her siblings in a time when women had no rights and few options.
It is, ultimately, a story about loneliness, loss, injustice, determination, strength, tragedy, guilt, and love.
The writing is smooth. The characters are strong, multi-layered, and fascinating. And the multiple plots quickly unravel into a engrossing mystery that not only manages to intertwine all the subplots, but also ends with a little surprise.
Overall this is a wonderful debut novel and I look forward to reading more from Jaeger in the future.
This book is due to be published on February 7, 2017.
Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.
Amazon UK, Amazon US, Amazon Canada, Indigo, Kobo, Book Depository, B&N
Thank you to Edelweiss, especially William Morrow, for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.
About Meredith Jaeger
Meredith is a USA Today Bestselling Author. She is a native of the San Francisco Bay Area, where she was raised by a Swiss father and an American mother. She is a graduate of the University of California, Santa Cruz.
Her own engagement ring, which is an heirloom from 1903, inspired her to write her debut novel The Dressmaker’s Dowry. She wrote it on weekends while working for a San Francisco startup.
Meredith finds the immigrant experience a rich part of the fabric of American history. Her second novel, Boardwalk Summer, will be published in June 2018. Meredith lives outside San Francisco with her husband, their rambunctious toddler and spoiled English bulldog, where she now writes full time.
Photo credit: Erika Pino Photography