Reviews

The Winter Dress by Lauren Chater

ekline's review against another edition

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3.0

3.5 ⭐️

bellerina2000's review against another edition

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4.0

I really enjoyed this book. I loved learning about the Dutch History and the beauty and hardships of living as a woman in that time. I loved the characters, their growth and how they lived through hardships. It’s a great read highly recommend!

michellec1024's review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted slow-paced

3.25

madi_sey's review against another edition

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1.0

DNF

Having read two books while this one sits lifeless on my bookshelf, I can say pretty confidently I won’t be reading it. It was INCREDIBLY slow, and at more points then one I felt like I was reading an instruction booklet.

Will not be finishing, I’ll probably read something more exciting, like a Math textbook.

gcpisani's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful informative mysterious medium-paced

4.25

jacki_f's review against another edition

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3.0

I like historical fiction that's based on or inspired by real events so the premise of The Winter Dress was really intriguing to me. In 2016, divers off the cast of the Netherlands found a 17h century chest in a shipwreck. When they opened it, they discovered a surprisingly well preserved silk dress. Let me say that again: a silk dress was in a chest under the sea for 400 years and emerged in good condition.

Amazing.

Lauren Chater has taken these facts and created a story - or really, two stories. One about the people who find the chest and one about the woman whose dress it was in the first place. She's imagined a woman living in early 17th century Amsterdam who becomes the lady's companion to a female artist. It's a great premise and it feels very well researched.

Wile I liked this, I didn't love it. The pace was a bit slow (until near the end) and I didn't feel sufficiently invested in either Anna in the 17th century or in Jo, the textiles historian who is researching the dress's history. But it was still an interesting and memorable read.

chelseas_reads's review against another edition

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4.0

the winter dress follows two characters: jo and anna. jo is a modern day textile historian (isn’t that a cool profession??), and anna a 17th century woman. the whole story is connected through a silk dress that anna owns and ends up preserved through a shipwreck.

i’ve always been a fan of connecting storylines. i prefer stories like this, where there’s only two people (otherwise i find it gets confusing). anna owns and occasionally wears a silk dress. jo and a team of divers discover the dress amongst a shipwreck, and jo takes it upon herself to discover as much about anna as she could.

both anna and jo were extremely different. anna was soft and delicate, whereas jo was the opposite. despite their differences, i found i loved both women. they were interesting and brought a life to the story.

the way lauren chater wrote this book was really well done. from the connections to the storytelling itself. *chef’s kiss* i absolutely couldn’t recommend this book enough.

p.s. the dress mentioned in this book is real (which really surprised me!). although not linked to anna. anna’s friend, catharina van shurman, sounds a lot like anna maria van schurman (a real woman, who was an artist!). small things like this make a book 100% more interesting to me.

ivy's review against another edition

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mysterious slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Loveable characters? No

2.0

katiemac96's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional informative slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

annawebstar's review against another edition

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informative lighthearted mysterious sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0