Another one I’d put in the category of books it would be safe to recommend to your Mom or Grandma.

It starts out ok when we meet two of the women working on the embroidery for Princess Elizabeth’s wedding gown in the late 40s. But then it gets bogged down some in the actual embroidery work and it gets a little boring and then they add a third woman, decended from one of our protagonists, and that adds an altogether unnecessary element to everything, in my view. I’d have rather the story just remained in the 40s.

The writing is fine but nothing especially moving or memorable and even stilted at times — not sure if that was intentional because of the stuffy rules at play in London society at that time. ( )

Londres, 1947. Asediados por el frío invierno, los británicos padecen el racionamiento a pesar de su victoria en la Segunda Guerra Mundial. Pero Buckingham Palace remontará los ánimos de la nación con el anuncio del compromiso de la princesa Isabel. Para Ann y Miriam, bordadoras en el taller de un famoso modisto, la boda es más que una celebración. Han sido elegidas para un honor único en la vida: crear los bellísimos bordados que adornarán el vestido de novia de la futura reina de Inglaterra. Una oportunidad única para una chica inglesa de clase trabajadora y una emigrada francesa que ha sobrevivido al régimen nazi.
Toronto, 2016. Intrigada por las exquisitas flores bordadas que ha heredado de su abuela, Heather intenta desentrañar el misterio de su origen. ¿Cómo alguien que nunca habló de su pasado en Inglaterra poseía unos bordados de incalculable valor que se parecen tanto a los que llevaba Isabel II en su boda? ¿Qué conexión tenía su abuela con la superviviente del Holocausto, Miriam Dassin?

Are marigolds annuals (yes) or perennials? They are described as both. Far fetched but interesting to learn about the embroidery. ( )

I was in England during the week of mourning for Queen Elizabeth. It was a unique experience to see the throngs of people who came out to honor their monarch. There were everyday people from everywhere — she certainly touched a lot of lives. My book club chose The Gown by Jennifer Robson, which didn’t feature the then Princess Elizabeth as a main character, but rather all of the fanfare surrounding her wedding and in particular the making of her gown. The book is told in two timelines with fictional main characters that were true reflections of the era — two women finding a way in the world after the devastation of WWII. The novel brought the time and place to life with rich historical detail. I would call The Gown women’s fiction because of its emphasis on women’s changing roles in a new world, while fighting against obstacles and prejudices from the past. Both characters face struggles, some heart-breaking, with determination and an eye to a hope-filled future. The modern day thread is a smaller part of the book, yet I found it be a wonderful way to bring all the storylines to a satisfying conclusion. (Special note, including a spoiler: there is a scene that features some sexual abuse some may find triggering.)

Recommended.

Audience: adults.

(I purchased this book for my Kindle. All opinions expressed are mine alone.) ( )

I won The Gown from Library Thing's Early Reviewer program back in October 2018, but never received a copy from the publisher (William Morrow). It still appeared on my Not Reviewed list (I've been an Early Reviewer since November 2007), so I checked my libraries and borrowed and read the e-book in July 2022. (ETA 16 September 2022: I checked out a print copy shortly after Queen Elizabeth II's death.)

The gown of the title was Elizabeth's wedding gown (from her November 1947 wedding, while still a princess, to Philip Mountbatten), which is pictured on the book's cover. Although the book is subtitled "a novel of the royal wedding," it's really historical fiction about two women who worked as embroiderers on that gown, and the granddaughter of one of them.
In post-war London of early 1947, 25-year-old Ann Hughes, a long-time embroider for designer Norman Hartnell, meets newly-hired 22-year-old Miriam Dassin, a Jewish refugee from France liberated two years earlier from a concentration camp. Miriam has been referred to Hartnell's by Christian Dior, but she is also a talented fiber artist. Ann's widowed sister-in-law is moving to Toronto, Canada, and Ann needs a new roommate to keep her housing, so she invites Miriam to live with her.

Soon, Hartnell gets the commission to design and make Princess Elizabeth's wedding gown. Ann and Miriam are put in charge of embroidering sample motifs ("York roses in several sizes, star flowers, ears of wheat, jasmine blossoms, and smilax leaves" - page 141), and embellishing them with seed pearls, crystals, and beads. Later, they are the lead embroiderers on the gown's bodice, sleeves, skirt, and train - done in a workshop with no windows, as even then the public was eager to learn details of the gown.
In Toronto in 2016, journalist Heather Mackenzie's grandmother dies and leaves her a box with exquisite embroidery samples in it. Losing her job shortly after, she decides to go to England to unravel the mystery of her grandmother.

Heather's story is necessary to fill in what happened to Ann and Miriam after the royal wedding, as the story set in the past ends shortly after that. There's romance (good and bad) for all three women, but it, like the royals, is really a minor part of the story.

In February 2017, author Jennifer Robson interviewed Betty Robson, one of the seamstresses at Hartnell who had helped create Princess Elizabeth's 1947 wedding gown. She even worked Betty in as a character near the end of the book. Robson also spent a day at Hand & Lock, London's oldest and the world's foremost custom embroidery workshop. to see what the work done by Ann and Miriam might be like. This and other research made the book come alive.

What I liked best, though, were the details about everyday British life after World War II. For example, wartime rationing was still in effect - Elizabeth paid for her wedding gown mostly with clothing coupons she had saved. ( )