PRESENT DAY DUBLINLucy Young travels to Dublin to search for her ancestor Hugh Gavin who emigrated from Dublin to Boston in 1720. She brings with her a 300- year-old diary written by the Duchess of Alden of Boden Castle, Dublin. When Lucy contacts Professor Patrick Ralley of Trinity College Dublin to donate the Alden diary to the university, she asks for his help to research Hugh Gavin’s life and … research Hugh Gavin’s life and her family’s possible connection to the castle. In their search they will uncover a secret that has lain hidden for three hundred years.
DUBLIN, 1719
Abigail Harton’s father is a medical doctor who has used the last of his family’s savings to fund a charitable hospital in the city. He has saved the lives of the wife and son of the Duke of Alden in childbirth and hopes that the Duke will provide an annuity to support his work.
Meanwhile Abigail and her mother must use their considerable talent at embroidery to provide for the household, and Abigail designs an emerald-silk damask cloth for weaver Hugh Gavin. She also accepts work from Hugh’s sister Mary to embroider a dress made from the cloth, which has been commissioned by Miss Elizabeth Goulding to be worn at the upcoming Duke of Alden’s Ball at Boden Castle.
But an event occurs at Boden Castle the night of the ball that will lie secret for the next three hundred years, until Lucy and the Professor uncover the secret of the emerald dress.
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The Emerald Dress
Vivienne Kearns
Abigail Harton lives with her parents and brother Benjamin. Her father is a doctor who has opened a hospital for free service for the poor. He is hopeful that the “The Duke and Duchess of Alden will grant him an allowance for services that he preformed for the Duchess during the birth of her first child’s birth.
In the meantime he has been using his savings to fund the hospital and his home but falls short and his wife and daughter take on embroidery jobs from Miss Mary Gavin. Miss Gavin’s brother is a master weaver and they work together. She is ever so hopeful that they will make the business grow.
Mary is making dresses for the Boden Ball which will be held in December.
Abigail has fashioned a pattern of blue birds with silver and gold threads and has payed out the pattern for the fabric to be weaved into. She goes back to the Gavin’s home and sells the pattern and is pleased when Mary offers her a job to do the embroidery for the dress front.
Abigail’s father introduced her to a doctor friend Doctor Monroe.
Later Abigail is engaged to Dr. Monroe, but when she learns that her Doctor Monroe has a wife Miss Sumner in Cork, and a child on the way from another will wedding bells ring for the couple?
My thoughts about this book,
At first I thought oh a lovely story can’t wait to see how this goes.
Then we zipped to the president day. My heart saddens because I don’t care for modern stories. But alas it goes back.
You see it’s a story of a woman who is trying to find out connection’s of her past for her Aunt. It’s done tastefully, I did enjoy this story.
There is no stone unturned, no door left closed as the mystery is unraveled. Each thread is revealed.
I recommend this book!
My disclaimer…
I was given a copy of this book for my honest review.
Any book or novels I leave reviews on are not dependent on the book/novel review author’s opinion. No one influenced my voluntary review for any of the books or novels I read, they are my own opinions.
The majority of the book is written in the early 1700’s in Dublin, Ireland. Lucy, a present day American, is researching her ancestry for her aunt. I will add here that Lucy doesn’t even come into the story until chapter 13. Personally, Lucy’s few appearances in the book really could’ve been left out and the reader would be none the wiser.
The title of the book has very little to do with the actual book in my opinion. Yes, the main characters helped make the dress, but that’s where it ends. The dress was weaved by Hugh Gavin, embroidered by Abigail Harton and put together by Mary Gavin and her assistant Grace. The dress was made for an Elizabeth Goulding for a ball at Boden Castle.
Abigail was the daughter of a doctor in Dublin and she and her mother were forced to do some embroidery work because Dr. Harton was working for free at the local hospital for the poor but yet the family still needed to pay the bills, keep a roof over their head and food on the table. When Abigail took in her sample for the embroidery for the Emerald dress she was hired by Mary Gavin to complete it before the ball.
Working was an embarassment for Abigail and she didn’t want to be seen with either of the Gavin’s. However, while she was working there she eventually felt comfortable in their company. She still dreamed of landing a secure marriage and thought she would have one with Dr. William Monroe, whom had come to work at her father’s hospital. Little did she know Dr. Monroe was not whom he appeared to be.
This book had an excellent premise, but I struggled through it. The author did a great job of researching for the book if the listing at the end is any indication, but the book fell flat for me. Another thing I will note, the book jumped from one characters perspective to another constantly, this was frustrating to me.
I liken it to a train wreck, you know the end result is a disaster but still you continue to watch. That’s what I felt while reading this book. I had this morbid curiosity to see what happened in the end. That being said, I do hope this book does appeal to others.
I received an advanced review copy for free through BookSirens, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.