Spotlight and Giveaway: The Gown

We're pleased to introduce The Gown by Jennifer Robson. It was recently published and is receiving rave reviews. Thanks to William Morrow, we have one copy to give away!

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 honor: 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?

“Marvelous and moving, a vivid portrait of female self-reliance in a world racked by the cost of war.”
—Kate Quinn, New York Times bestselling author of The Alice Network

“Robson has managed to craft a story that is personal and universal, timely and timeless.”
— Pam Jenoff, New York Times bestselling author of The Orphan’s Tale

Photo by Natalie Brown

Jennifer Robson is the USA Today and #1 Toronto Globe & Mail bestselling author of Somewhere in France and Goodnight from London. She holds a doctorate in British economic and social history from Saint Antony’s College, University of Oxford, where she was a Commonwealth Scholar and an SSHRC Doctoral Fellow. She lives in Toronto, Canada with her husband and young children.

With The Gown, Jennifer drew from her academic background, as well as from two years of research, including interviews with the last surviving seamstress who worked on Elizabeth’s gown, Betty Foster, and visits with the master embroiders at Hand & Lock, a bespoke hand embroidery atelier in London. At Hand & Lock, Robson reconstructed one of the distinctive star flower motifs from Elizabeth’s wedding gown.

Visit Jennifer online:
Website * Facebook * Twitter * Instagram

How to win: Use Rafflecopter to enter the giveaway. If you have any questions, feel free to contact us. If you have trouble using Rafflecopter on our blog, enter the giveaway here. 

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Giveaway ends January 22nd at midnight EST.