This would definitely be my favourite Fiona McIntosh novel so far. From the start I was caught up in Edie and Tom/Alex's lives and, after Tom's accident, had my fingers crossed that, somehow, these two star-crossed lovers would find their way back to each other.

Fiona McIntosh always knows how to create extremely likeable characters, and Eden and Tom/Alex were both sweeties and I enjoyed following their journeys. I especially admired Eden for her strength of characters and determination to be more than just a good Jewish wife and mother, which was what her father was hoping for her. The fact she was a talented seamstress who dreamt of establishing her own salon, despite women's restrictive choices in the 1920s, was a big plus.

I also liked most of the secondary characters including Abe Valentine, Eden's father, Penny Aubrey-Finch, Alex's fiancee, and Edie's French friend, Madeleine. In fact the only character who really annoyed me was Benjamin Levi, the guy who was determined to make Eden his wife.

Despite being predictable and a bit cliche, "The Tailor's Girl" was a delightful story full of emotion, mystery, drama, loss and love. I was captured from the first page and didn't want to put the book down until I finished the last. ( )

The Tailor’s Girl by Fiona MacIntosh
This is another delightful historical story from the author of The French Promise and Fields of Lavender. This book could probably be best described as an historical romance with the wounded soldier and his wife as the central characters. The horrors of war and attendant memory loss are as central to this story as is the womens’ movement for equal rights.
The Tailor’s Girl of the title is Edie the daughter of a Jewish tailor based in London. Her desire to lead a life as an independent woman, more than wife and mother, provides an ongoing focus when the hero Tom changes direction through an accident that is no fault of his own.
Whilst I thoroughly enjoyed this tale, the somewhat convenient ending was rather contrived, but having said that it was an enjoyable read with an ending that suggests love conquers all. ( )

I’ve been eager to read The Tailor’s Girl, having liked everything I have read by Fiona McIntosh, in fact a glowing quote from my review of her last novel, The French Promise appears on the book jacket of this novel. Yet I have to confess that I was disappointed by this story that is essentially a historical romance, which is not my favourite genre.

The characters are appealing, ‘Tom’ is a charming wounded war hero who inspires sympathy as he struggles with amnesia after fighting on the front. Eden is a sweetheart with an innate core of strength who wants more than to be just a wife and mother, with dreams of being a successful designer and seamstress. I desperately wanted them both to find happiness and I was invested in their relationship, which is wildly romantic.

The setting and period are vividly drawn from the English countryside, to the streets of Paris, and the grandeur of London’s Savile Row. McIntosh touches on the post Great War challenges faced not only by the returning soldiers but also the women whose new found freedoms were curtailed upon their return.

But I was dissatisfied with the story of the The Tailor’s Girl. I found the plot to be entirely predictable, and its major turning points were horribly cliche, though I can’t reveal them without risking spoilers. The entire story also felt oddly familiar but it wasn’t until another reviewer pointed out the strong similarities of this story to an old movie, ‘Bitter Harvest’ (based on a novel) released in 1942 (starring Ronald Colman and Greer Garson)that I realised why. To be fair though the details are McIntosh’s own, different from the film’s, and the amnesia trope is common in both film and fiction.

I want to be clear that my disappointment with the novel is purely a matter of genre preference, the writing is of McIntosh’s usual high standard and I found the characters and setting appealing. As such, I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend The Tailor’s Girl to any reader who enjoys historical romance, but I have to admit this isn’t a favourite of mine. ( )