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A review by ellyrarg
The Dressmaker's Gift by Fiona Valpy
3.0
Well, blah. I enjoyed the history chapters, between the three girls. I wonder if part of that was because their strength came from real life stories.
The present day chapters were awful. Harriet as a character was flimsy and awkward. Too much of her present was lost in reflection on her grandmothers past and it was trite and generally awful to read. She didn’t have any of her own depth, her character was a shallow mirror. Blah, so so blah.
Also, I feel like the author doesn’t appreciate the intelligence of the reader, as if everything needed to be spelt out (an example: the constant repetition and clarification of whose who in the last chapter, blah. Yes, we clearly understand from context that one Harriet is the great aunt, and one is a modern age drip).
There was also the problem of tying up all the loose ends in a manner that made everything smell of roses. It was awful. It was all done in the last two chapters, so it didn’t feel like a natural progression where everything settled, but an unrealistic force that’s determined that nothing be left askew. So blah.
It did have some shinning moments. The blue dress (in the intro and when she made it, not that awful last chapter) was lovely. V and the yellow triangles pulled my heartstrings (though could she not have sewed them into/under the patches? So they couldn’t even seen but with no evidence?).
Overall, Not a huge fan. The story has its merits, but I feel like it was poorly written. Hey ho.
The present day chapters were awful. Harriet as a character was flimsy and awkward. Too much of her present was lost in reflection on her grandmothers past and it was trite and generally awful to read. She didn’t have any of her own depth, her character was a shallow mirror. Blah, so so blah.
Also, I feel like the author doesn’t appreciate the intelligence of the reader, as if everything needed to be spelt out (an example: the constant repetition and clarification of whose who in the last chapter, blah. Yes, we clearly understand from context that one Harriet is the great aunt, and one is a modern age drip).
There was also the problem of tying up all the loose ends in a manner that made everything smell of roses. It was awful. It was all done in the last two chapters, so it didn’t feel like a natural progression where everything settled, but an unrealistic force that’s determined that nothing be left askew. So blah.
It did have some shinning moments. The blue dress (in the intro and when she made it, not that awful last chapter) was lovely. V and the yellow triangles pulled my heartstrings (though could she not have sewed them into/under the patches? So they couldn’t even seen but with no evidence?).
Overall, Not a huge fan. The story has its merits, but I feel like it was poorly written. Hey ho.