Author: Brenda Janowitz
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publisher: Graydon House Books
Publication Date: March 3, 2020
Book Description: Two years after Grace Kelly’s royal wedding, her iconic dress is still all the rage in Paris—and one replica, and the secrets it carries, will inspire three generations of women to forge their own paths in life and in love.
Paris, 1958: Rose, a seamstress at a fashionable atelier, has been entrusted with sewing a Grace Kelly—look-alike gown for a wealthy bride-to-be. But when, against better judgment, she finds herself falling in love with the bride’s handsome brother, Rose must make an impossible choice, one that could put all she’s worked for at risk: love, security and of course, the dress.
Sixty years later, tech CEO Rachel, who goes by the childhood nickname “Rocky,” has inherited the dress for her upcoming wedding in New York City. But there’s just one problem: Rocky doesn’t want to wear it. A family heirloom dating back to the 1950s, the dress just isn’t her. Rocky knows this admission will break her mother Joan’s heart. But what she doesn’t know is why Joan insists on the dress—or the heartbreaking secret that changed her mother’s life decades before, as she herself prepared to wear it.
As the lives of these three women come together in surprising ways, the revelation of the dress’s history collides with long-buried family heartaches. And in the lead-up to Rocky’s wedding, they’ll have to confront the past before they can embrace the beautiful possibilities of the future.
Rating: 4 Stars
Review: If you were a fan of last year’s The Gown by Jennifer Robson, then I 100% think this book will be for you. Like that story, this centers the making of a wedding gown and is a multi-generational family story. And like that story, I absolutely could not put it down.
The Grace Kelly Dress is told in three timelines. You will meet Madame Rose, who is creating a replica of Grace Kelly’s Dress for a bride in 1958. Joanie, in 1982 who wore that same dress at her wedding, Lastly is Rocky who in 2020 is engaged to the man of her dreams, but wants one thing, not to wear her mother “Joanie’s” wedding dress.
Each timeline could absolutely stand on it’s own. There was love and mystery throughout each one of these women’s stories that kept perpetuating this tale. I found myself completely vested throughout my reading of this.
My only criticism is I wanted more of each character’s tale, but this book would have been way too long. It has an extremely satisfying ending. If you are looking for a feel-good read, I think this will meet you expectations.
Thank you NetGalley and Graydon House Press for an Advanced Reader’s Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Obsessed Bookaholic 