In case anyone hasn't noticed yet, I love a good historical fiction novel. When it a historical fiction novel about the British monarchy, I start to drool. Which is why I was so flipping excited to discover Jennifer Robson's The Gown... About four months before it came out. And then I had to wait. And wait. And wait. While entering every early release contest I could find for the book (I didn't win any). And on top of that, the day the book came out, I was driving home from vacation and couldn't read! It was a rough day, knowing that the book was sitting and waiting for me on my kindle and not being able to read it. (Also, the cover is an amazing image from the wedding.)But then I got home. And I opened my kindle to page one, and I was lost. If there's anything I love more than a good historical fiction novel, it's a novel where I'm so transported into the world and the characters' lives that it feels real, and Robson really managed to do that with The Gown. And on that note, I think I'll actually tell you about the book that I loved so much.
Ann is in her early twenties in the story, and has worked at Hartnell's as an embroiderer for eight years, since she was fourteen. She's risen up the ranks and gotten to the point where she is entrusted with the embroidery for gowns of increasing magnitude, such as for the Queen and Princesses on their 1947 tour of South Africa. At the beginning of the book, she is living with her sister-in-law, Milly, but Milly emigrates to Canada, leaving Ann alone. She befriends the French Miriam, who has left France after the war, and the two become roommates. Their skill with a needle is undeniable, and so, after Princess Elizabeth and Phillip Mountbatten announce their engagement and Hartnell earns the commission, it is no surprise that Ann and Miriam are asked to create samples of the embroidery, then do the main embroidery on the Princess's wedding gown. During this time, Miriam is struggling with not only being a survivor of Ravensbruck concentration camp, but hiding her Jewish heritage when her whole family is captured. Ann and Miriam both meet young men, but one has a heart of gold, and one is only after the money he could earn if he got the scoop on the Princess's wedding gown.And that's where I'll leave it so that I don't tell too much of the story. Seriously, though, I absolutely adored this book. You can feel the characters' heartbreaks and joys, and their worlds are multilayerd and textured. I learned a lot about post-war England from a perspective that I don't normally look at. There's also a lot of talk about what it means to be an artist. Miriam is an incredible artist in the book, but she works through embroidery and collage. A different medium, as Ann tells her once, does not make her less of an artist. It definitely made me rethink how I approach some of my own knit and crochet project. This book also, not going to lie, makes me want to learn how to embroider. Luckily, the Royal School of Needlework at Hampton Court Palace offers online classes!
This is the first of Ms. Robson's books that I've read, but I'm definitely looking forward to reading more! This is one book I'll be buying a physical copy of as well.
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