The Wedding Dress Maker by Leah Fleming
Genre: Historical fiction
Read: 7th September 2019
Purchase: Amazon
(release date: 5th September 2019)
★★★★ 4 stars
THE WEDDING DRESS MAKER is the first book by Leah Fleming that I have encountered and while I didn't hate it, I definitely don't think it was the best written in this genre.
A story of love and loss during wartime alongside family and day to day struggles of the time, THE WEDDING DRESS MAKER is about the determination of a young woman fighting for what is right and the child that was taken from her shortly after birth. It also deals with post natal psychosis which is not something that was readily understood at the time, and it is handled expertly and sensitively.
Netta Nichol grew up a farmer's daughter in Galloway in the west of Scotland. An only child, her father Angus longed for a son to take over the family farm, but after her mother died young he then married Peg who was unable to bear him a child, much less a son. Netta found her stepmother harsh in comparison to her beautiful loving mother who spoke of dreams and rainbows whereas Peg dealt in black and white practicalities. The transition wasn't an easy one as Peg thought Netta's head was in the clouds far too much having been mollycoddled by her mother and Netta fighting Peg along the way.
One night at a dance, Netta met the dashing Corporal Raeburn Hunter and their tender courtship blossomed into loving proposal. Accepting without hesitation, Netta was filled with dreams of their future. Eloping to Gretna Green, they married in the former tradition over the anvil but it would not be legal until they did so via the registry - which they could not do so for fourteen days. But Rae's leave was only for 10, so they made plans to meet at the registry office and then honeymooned for the remainder of their precious time together before Rae had to return to barracks. But their future as man and wife hung in the balance when Rae missed their rendezvous at the registry office to legitimise their marriage. Furious with him, Netta returned home to discover a telegram notifying her of his unit's deployment thwarting their surreptitious plans. Netta could do nothing but carry on in the hope that the war would soon be over and Rae would come home.
But war takes far more than it gives, and it wasn't long before Netta received the unemotionally indifferent telegram informing her of her beloved Rae's death. She was devastated. And what was more, she was pregnant...and their marriage, despite being real to them, was never formally legalised. When Netta bore Rae's son - named Raeburn Angus Hunter - it was an incredibly difficult birth, leaving her unable to care for her child. She was transferred to Park Royal to recover and receive specialist treatment while her father and stepmother took over the care of her baby throughout her lengthy absence. Netta lived for the day she would see baby Ray again and when eight months later she was discharged, she soon discovered that her father and Peg were the only ones her child knew and looked upon as his parents. They even took to calling him Gus, rather than the name she had given him, and it was the name he now responded to. Try as she might, Netta had been replaced as her son's mother as Peg informed her that she was now his mother.
Netta was exiled to make a life for herself with a job and a home so that she could return and claim her son and ensure that he would be well cared for. She moved to Yorkshire where she took work in a fashion house pinning hems for seamstresses with the dream of becoming a designer herself. She visited the farm miles away in Scotland twice a year to see Gus, becoming known as his adored Auntie Netta, whilst she worked hard to achieve her ambition. As she soon set herself up securely and comfortably, she knew the time had come to Gus to come and live with her. But every time the subject was broached another reason why he couldn't wasn't thrown her way. And Netta left empty-handed without her son once again. By this time Gus was now 4 years old and she had already lost so much precious time with him as her son. He saw only Peg as his mammy. Netta was his beloved aunt. Would she ever have her son back? He was the only part of Rae she had left...and Peg has taken that from her.
Amidst the upsets, setbacks and turmoil, Netta was resourceful and driven as she achieved her dream of becoming a dressmaker/designer and was well-known locally for her beautiful work. But was it enough?
THE WEDDING DRESS MAKER is a powerful story of love, loss and determination. Though the title is deceiving as the focus is not really on making wedding dresses - in fact, there isn't a deluge of these at all -but rather on Netta's story and her personal journey. It's a heartbreaking tale but not an easy one to take in at times. A lot of monologuing and description - of which I am not a fan - but then the story is predominantly made up of Netta's memories.
However, I found it took me a while to get into the story at first as the format of the dual timelines was somewhat different in approach - being in the form of Netta's memories as she encounters items in the attic during her latest visit to the family farm. Rather unusual at first but it does work quite well once you get used to it. I did find the Scottish brogue and dialect a little hard to follow, as speech patterns were written as they sounded rather than what they actually were, making it hard for someone not as familiar with Scottish dialect to follow in part. Like the format, you do get used to it but it does remain am awkward concept.
Not a bad read, THE WEDDING DRESS MAKER is a good fit for fans of historical fiction, particularly in dual timelines.
I would like to thank #LeahFleming, #NetGalley and #HeadOfZeus for an ARC of #TheWeddingDressMaker in exchange for an honest review.
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