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About the Book

About the Book

The Gown: A Novel of the Royal Wedding

From the internationally bestselling author of SOMEWHERE IN FRANCE comes an enthralling historical novel about one of the most famous wedding dresses of the 20th century --- Queen Elizabeth’s wedding gown --- and the fascinating women who made it.

London, 1947: Besieged by the harshest winter in living memory, burdened by onerous shortages and rationing, the people of postwar Britain are enduring lives of quiet desperation despite their nation’s recent victory. Among them are Ann Hughes and Miriam Dassin, embroiderers at the famed Mayfair fashion house of Norman Hartnell. Together they forge an unlikely friendship, but their nascent hopes for a brighter future are tested when they are chosen for a once-in-a-lifetime honor: taking part in the creation of Princess Elizabeth’s wedding gown.

Toronto, 2016: More than half a century later, Heather Mackenzie seeks to unravel the mystery of a set of embroidered flowers, a legacy from her late grandmother. How did her beloved Nan, a woman who never spoke of her old life in Britain, come to possess the priceless embroideries that so closely resemble the motifs on the stunning gown worn by Queen Elizabeth II at her wedding almost 70 years before? And what was her Nan’s connection to the celebrated textile artist and holocaust survivor Miriam Dassin?

With THE GOWN, Jennifer Robson takes us inside the workrooms where one of the most famous wedding gowns in history was created. Balancing behind-the-scenes details with a sweeping portrait of a society left reeling by the calamitous costs of victory, she introduces readers to three unforgettable heroines, their points of view alternating and intersecting throughout its pages, whose lives are woven together by the pain of survival, the bonds of friendship and the redemptive power of love.

Audiobook available, read by Marisa Calin

The Gown: A Novel of the Royal Wedding
by Jennifer Robson

  • Publication Date: December 31, 2018
  • Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction
  • Paperback: 400 pages
  • Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks
  • ISBN-10: 0062674951
  • ISBN-13: 9780062674951