The Dressmaker

This is a wonderful novel whose main character is Tess Collins, a young British woman who survives the sinking of the Titanic and finds herself having to learn a whole new life in a whole new world. Tess is a wonderful character, and she's surrounded by an interesting group of both historical and fictional personages.

Tess is working as a maid, but her true love and skill lie in dressmaking, and she siezes an opportunity to sail to America with the renowned British designer Lucille Duff Gordon. While on the ship she meets and takes a liking to two very different men: crew member Jim Bonney, and American millionaire Jack Bremerton. Although separated in the sinking, Jim and Tess find each other on the rescue ship, though she fears Jack went town on Titanic.

Worse though, is that Lady Duff Gordon and her husband were on what's being called the "millionaire's lifeboat," and one of the crew on that boat says they were bribed by the Gordons to ignore the screams of people in the water and leave them behind - or worse. New York Times reporter Pinky Wade is all over the story, and Tess is unsure if she's found a friend or if Pinky just views her as a source.

Through it all, Tess learns that she is strong, and that she can make something of herself. And we get a really great story. I honestly couldn't put it down.

The Dressmaker

Non-Recommendations

I've started and put down a couple of books recently, and I think it's only fair that I blather about them a little bit.

First is Agaat, a novel set in South Africa that got a ton of great reviews. I just couldn't get into it. It's a translation, and something seems to be lost in the language, or maybe it's just the style - it sort of dumps you into this stream-of-conscious thing and I couldn't figure out who/what/where/when. Not my style at all.

Second is Clara and Mr. Tiffany, an historical novel about the real-life Clara Driscoll, who worked with the great Louis Tiffany and actually designed many of his lamps. I just found the writing a little old-fashioned and kind of tedious, and I couldn't connect with any of the characters.

Third is The Eat-Clean Diet Stripped, which is obviously a diet book. I did read most of it, and there is some good advice, and I already do a lot of what it says. Tosca Reno (who I've never heard of, but she's apparently some sort of fitness celebrity) stresses the importance of "eating clean," which means eating natural foods, to lose weight, particulary that last stubborn 10 pounds. But she cuts out entire categories of food - no dairy, no sugar - and I just can't see myself giving up yogurt and wine (yes, your body sees alcohol as a sugar). I do see the value of eating frequent small meals, and I will make sure I include protein in my meals and not just eat carbs, but that's as far as I'm willing to go.

Caleb's Crossing

I really enjoyed this novel by Geraldine Brooks, which is a fictionalized account of a real person, Caleb, the first Native American to matriculate from Harvard. But the book is really more about Bethia Mayfield, the young English girl who befriends him on 17th-century Martha's Vineyard, and the surprising life she leads.

 Bethia is the daughter of the island's Calvinist minister, and is an educated young woman, a rarity for the time. That she gets her education clandestinely, listening in on her brother's lessons and soon outpacing him, tells us something of her spunk and wit. Bethia lives a long and interesting life, moving from the Vineyard to Cambridge, to Padua and back. The book is her memoir, written in bits and pieces over the course of her life, from minister's daughter to indentured servant to doctor's wife.

Bethia's best friend on the island is Caleb, son of the Wampanoag chief who also has a thirst for books and learning. It is left to Bethia to tell Caleb's story, and she does so beautifully and with great feeling.

Brooks does a wonderful job of bringing Caleb and Bethia to life. This was a really lovely book.

Caleb's Crossing

The Last Boyfriend

This is Book 2 of the Inn Boonsboro Trilogy, and I enjoyed it as much as I did Book 1. This one hooks up Owen Montgomery with Avery MacTavish, two people who have been friends their entire lives but are starting to see each other in a different light. We also keep up with Beckett and Clare from Book 1, who are getting married.

Yes, it's simple, easy reading. I read the whole thing pretty much on a plane - half going to Tampa, half coming back from Tampa, so that's an idea of how quick of a read it is. And the characters are very likeable, and we also still have a ghost and an inn in a quaint small town. Is it predictable? Sure it is, but that doesn't mean it isn't entertaining. And it's a nice palate cleanser after some of the deeper stuff I've been reading.

Book 3 is due out in November (yes, Nora really cranks them out), and I'm betting that one is about Ryder and Hope, and they find out who the ghost's boyfriend is, and Hope's a-hole ex-boyfriend comes to town. I guess I'll have to read it to find out.

The Last Boyfriend