For readers of Amy Bloom, Sarah Waters, and Anthony Doerr, The Dressmaker’s War is the story of a brilliant English seamstress taken prisoner in Germany during World War II: about her perseverance, the choices she makes to stay alive, and the haunting aftermath of war. London, 1939. Ada Vaughan is a young working-class woman with an unusual skill for dressmaking who dreams of opening her own … dreams of opening her own atelier. When she meets Stanislaus von Lieben, a Hungarian aristocrat, a new, better life seems to arrive. Stanislaus sweeps Ada off her feet and brings her to Paris. But when war breaks out and Stanislaus vanishes, Ada is abandoned and alone, trapped on an increasingly dangerous continent.
Taken prisoner by the Germans, Ada does everything she can to survive. In the bleak horror of wartime Germany, Ada’s skill for creating beauty and glamour is the one thing that keeps her safe. But after the war, attempting to rebuild her life in London, Ada finds that no one is interested in the messy truths of what happened to women like her. And though Ada thought she had left the war behind, her past eventually comes to light, with devastating consequences.
Gorgeously written and compulsively readable, The Dressmaker’s War introduces us to an unforgettable heroine—Ada Vaughan, a woman whose ambition for a better life ultimately comes at a heartbreaking cost.
Praise for The Dressmaker’s War
“Mary Chamberlain’s clear, bright prose is river-swift and Ada Vaughan is a character rich with beautiful, flawed humanity. This is a gripping story about limits and the haunting, brutal way they can be drawn and redrawn in war.”—Priya Parmar, author of Vanessa and Her Sister
“A thrilling story, brilliantly told—I couldn’t put it down. Ada Vaughan is a character to fall in love with: utterly real, flawed, and beguiling.”—Saskia Sarginson, author of The Twins and Without You
“I found myself completely swept up in this tale of love, ambition, and vanity.”—Juliet West, author of Before the Fall
“The Dressmaker’s War is a powerful and gripping tale of longings and dreams, and how a chance meeting that seems to offer the answers and more instead comes with devastating consequences. It’s a story about what a person will do and can do under force.”—Cecilia Ekbäck, author of Wolf Winter
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The Dressmaker Of Dachau by Mary Chamberlain is a heart-wrenching read focusing on a young woman caught up in World War II.
The reader witnesses both her naivety and her strength of character to survive. As a vulnerable young woman, she finds it hard to separate the lies from the truth, believing everything she is told. Consequently her choices prove to send her life spiralling out of control. “When you make a lie… you have to live it and sooner or later, the truth comes out.” Only with hindsight can she see and say she wishes “to have made a different choice that night.”
Given a reason to survive the lead character develops a strength that will keep her going against the odds. She has a reason to survive Dachau, a reason to survive all that life throws at her. Without hope, we would perish and die. We see that war brings a new set of rules, a different moral code as people do what they do to survive.
Mary Chamberlain has drawn a very believable character in her leading lady. Her morals are questionable but her strength of character is huge. In contrast, the male characters are parasites, preying on the weak, innocent and vulnerable. They are also well drawn but elicit feelings of intense dislike and disgust from the reader.
The Dressmaker Of Dachau is not an easy read as fact is blended with fiction to produce an epic tale that shows life in WWII and just beyond.
A word of caution: There are adult themes and scenes, as well as a war setting that some readers may not like. The Dressmaker Of Dachau is not an easy read. It is not for the faint hearted. If you are easily offended or of a sensitive nature, this book is not for you.
I read this is two days, it was compelling. The story of a young woman’s plans for her future interrupted by a couple of poor choices. Sadly realistic.
Tragic story featuring a central character about whom you really cared. Subject not for everyone.
The book hooks quickly, but then become rather disturbing with details that are all to believable. I remember the book despite not wanting to.
Great book.
Bad ending
How horrible that men twisted a woman’s life and denied her imprisonment to make a case!
I kept reading looking for a silver lining because I went to Dachau when I was in Germany and have always been interested in World War II and those who lived it. It was well written but I hoped for better outcome.
This was a really good book. I love World War II books and this did not disappoint. It was really sad what she went thru but interesting.
Tragic war story. Thought provoking.
The women’s experience of WWII is something we haven’t heard enough about. This haunting story gives voice to the horrible experiences and the hateful aftermath for so many women in Europe incorrectly labeled as collaborators.
I enjoy stories from that era and this book had a new to me perspective. I find it fascinating how women survived such difficulties.
If you want to learn something about how young women can get sucked into prostitution as well as what happened to some British civilians caught on the continent during WWII, this is worth trying. I had trouble liking the main character and didn’t like the prologue, which gave away the ending, but at the same time, it was interesting enough to keep going. The author seems to know her history about British prostitutes and WWII, but her fiction was not quite convincing.
I can’t get this story out of my mind. What a sad time in history!
had me until the end
Her war experience was very interesting, but I thought the after war portion of the book was less interesting and the result of a series of poor decisions.
Great read, but very sad story.
Well written World War 2 novel
Skill and determination: Ada, a gifted dressmaker, has both. She is dreaming of opening her own shop, when along comes a “charming” aristocrat, who sweeps her off her feet , takes her to Paris….and disappears. The war comes and with it the Germans. Ada’s life becomes a bitter struggle for survival. And then…..
Very interesting if you sew. Dressmakers had to be able to design their own patterns back then or copy pictures. No crutch of printed patterns as we have today. I liked the personification descriptions of different types of fabric. Good history of the times too.