The scene in which he stands behind the police counter taking a complaint from a concerned citizen while ballet slippers are laced right up his calves is exquisite. Even though Tilly was making marvellous dresses for the women of Dungatar, the police officer was the only person in the book who genuinely enjoyed his outfits, rather than what the outfits could achieve (Tilly included). The only character I genuinely enjoyed reading about was Sergeant Farrat, the cross-dresser. He persists and persists and persists and eventually Tilly gives in, despite any sign of true feelings, which is hardly the most romantic of relationships. The romance between Tilly and Ted McSwiney, a local man from a dirt poor family, tolerated in the town only because he is a football champion, felt forced. Full of class divides, unhappy marriages, affairs, sexual assaults, domestic violence, lesbians, a cross-dresser, drugs, mental health issues, child deaths and pasts that infiltrate the present, turmoil is never far from the surface.

The portrayal of Dungatar is a caricature but, at the same time, anyone who has ever lived in a small country Australian town will realise Rosalie Ham hasn’t had to reach too far from reality. In the years since then, Tilly has become an expert dressmaker and despite the fact that most of the townspeople hate her for historical reasons, they can’t resist her dresses. The Dressmaker is the story of Tilly Dunnage’s return to Dungatar, the small country Australian town where she spent the first of her formative years before being exiled at a young age. Perhaps the reason I hadn’t heard of it was because, despite the hype, as a story it’s really nothing exceptional. Less than seven degrees of separation and yet…

It’s surprising that I hadn’t heard of it, though, because it was written by my father’s best friend’s daughter’s husband’s aunt. I haven’t seen the movie, which is the way I like it, so I can do a review rather than a comparison. I’d never heard of this book until it was made into a movie but it’s so often the case these days. Follow me on Twitter My Tweets Tags 2 Stars 2.5 Stars 3 Stars 4 stars 5 Stars A Book About Writing Adaptation Advice Amazon Australian Author Australian Fiction Author Black Spot Blog Post Book Book Review Books Chapter One Character Characters Death Development Dialogue Diary Dictionary Editing Employment Enemies Closer English Family Fiction Genre Goodreads Growth History Ideas Inspiration Job Liberty's Secret LinkedIn Marketing Master's Non-Fiction Novel Plot Poems Poetry Poets Practise Project December Project January Project October Publishing Reading Romance Rules Sequel Short Story Sisters Song Lyrics Spelling Stereotypes Study Text Prize Tips Top Ten Trine University Word Count Work Writer Writers Writing Writing Journal Young Adult Archives

The dressmaker by rosalie ham