Paperback, 384
pages
Expected publication:
February 7th 2017 by William Morrow Paperbacks
About the book:
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?
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?
My Thoughts…
Two women, two storylines, and two different era’s. Hanna, 1876, and Sarah, present time, are
entirely different women with entirely different lives. Hanna is poor, working to feed and clothe
her siblings and keep her drunk father from abusing them. Sarah has married well and is working on her
thesis. The thesis is what pulls these
two stories together. Sarah’s thesis is
the story of Hanna and Margaret, Hanna’s friend who goes missing.
There were times that I wondered exactly how these two
stories would come together, what would bind them. I kept reading, not able to stop with the
need to find out what happen to Hanna and Sarah. I found the 1876 story line more
intriguing to me. I was interested in
how Hanna would be able to take care of her siblings in a time when the only
job women could do is sew or whore themselves. Sarah was a character that I struggled to
connect with. I knew there was more
to her, something that was keeping her from being honest, but I couldn’t figure
out what it was until it was revealed.
San Francisco is described in great detail, especially in
the 1876 timeframe. I could picture
the stores, the markets, the whorehouses, and the ragged homes Hanna and
Margaret were growing up in. The
details were perfectly shared so that I could see exactly what the characters
were seeing. I felt like I was
walking the streets with them, the fear of being mugged, the drunks
approaching, and the history of the era were real to me.
The Dressmakers Dowry is a quick read. The words flow, the story moves along. I recommend picking up your own copy.
Purchase Links
About the Author:
Meredith Jaeger has lived and travelled around
the world, spending periods in the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, and
Australia. She is a native of the San Francisco Bay Area, born and raised in
Berkeley, California. A graduate of the University of California, Santa Cruz,
Meredith holds a BA in Modern Literature. While working at a San Francisco
startup, Meredith fulfilled a lifelong dream to write a novel, the result of
which was The Dressmaker’s Dowry. Like the character
Hannelore Schaeffer, Meredith is also the daughter of a European immigrant, who
moved to California in search of a better life. Meredith lives in the San
Francisco Bay Area with her husband, their infant daughter, English bulldog and
elderly cat.
“This gripping read is a satisfying exploration of the timeless nature of love and resilience.”
—Booklist (STARRED review)
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