The Dressmaker
A light romance released for the centennial anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic, Kate Alcott’s tale of plucky Tess Collins follows Tess as she flees servitude in 1912 France to follow her dream of becoming a successful seamstress. Sadly, Tess boards the Titanic for its maiden voyage to New York City. Happily, she survives the sinking of that great passenger liner. As luck would have it, the world’s most famous clothing designer, Lady Lucile Duff Gordon, who has taken Tess under her curmudgeonly wing, survives too.
In New York, Tess commits a grave error when she befriends a reporter who guesses the awful truth: while brave Tess saved people from drowning in the icy Atlantic, Lady Lucile saved herself, costing the lives of countless others. Trouble abounds, leading to a denouement that includes the Senate investigation into the tragedy, the decision Tess makes regarding the two men who love her (one a poor but proud coal miner with a jaunty spirit, the other a fabulously wealthy but really nice American businessman), her own independence, and the milestone suffrage parade along Fifth Avenue on 6 May 1912.
