The Gown

London, 1947: Besieged by the harshest winter in living memory, burdened by onerous shortages and rationing, the people of postwar Britain are enduring lives of quiet desperation despite their nation's recent victory. Among them are Ann Hughes and Miriam Dassin, embroiderers at the famed Mayfair fashion house of Norman Hartnell. Together they forge an unlikely friendship, but their nascent hopes for a brighter future are tested when they are chosen for a once-in-a-lifetime honour: taking part in the creation of Princess Elizabeth's wedding gown.

Toronto, 2016: More than half a century later, Heather Mackenzie seeks to unravel the mystery of a set of embroidered flowers, a legacy from her late grandmother. How did her beloved Nan, a woman who never spoke of her old life in Britain, come to possess the priceless embroideries that so closely resemble the motifs on the stunning gown worn by Queen Elizabeth II at her wedding almost seventy years before? And what was her Nan's connection to the celebrated textile artist and Holocaust survivor Miriam Dassin?

With The Gown, Jennifer Robson takes us inside the workrooms where one of the most famous wedding gowns in history was created. Balancing behind-the-scenes details with a sweeping portrait of a society left reeling by the calamitous costs of victory, she introduces readers to three unforgettable heroines, their points of view alternating and intersecting throughout its pages, whose lives are woven together by the pain of survival, the bonds of friendship, and the redemptive power of love. (From HarperCollins)

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Why Jennifer Robson wrote The Gown

"If you look at the aftermath of the war in Britain, indeed all of Europe, what you're looking at is smoking ruin across the entire continent. People were confronted with cities and livelihoods that had been destroyed. Apart from the human casualties and the emotional devastation, the economy was in ruins. The treasury was empty. Rationing becameworse after the war. Clothing was heavily rationed.

I was really interested in delving into the contrast between the very grim reality of ordinary life and the glamour and stardust of this royal wedding.- Jennifer Robson

"I was really interested in delving into the contrast between the very grim reality of ordinary life and the glamour and stardust of this royal wedding.It was the contrast between the two I was interested in, but I also wanted to get as close to the royal wedding as possible to go behind-the-scenes. We love going behind-the-scenes of these things. I think everyone does."

Read more in Jennifer Robson' interview with The Next Chapter.

From the book

Interviews with Jennifer Robson

Other books by Jennifer Robson