Just in time for the centennial anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic comes a vivid, romantic, and relentlessly compelling histori... read full description
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Feb 21, 2012
Maureen
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It's now almost 100 years since the Unsinkable Titanic sunk. This book is based on some true rather sad facts of what happened on this doomed cruise.
The story opens with Tess Collins escaping her job, supposed to be a seamstress, but is a more of a general maid. She knows a ship is sailing and hopes to secure any kind of a position to get on and get away from England. There her fateful adventure is about to begin. It's an eye opening world for her as she goes about in First Class on the sh More...
The story opens with Tess Collins escaping her job, supposed to be a seamstress, but is a more of a general maid. She knows a ship is sailing and hopes to secure any kind of a position to get on and get away from England. There her fateful adventure is about to begin. It's an eye opening world for her as she goes about in First Class on the sh More...
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Dec 16, 2011
Judith
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When Tess Collins walked away from a thankless housemaid job in Cherbourg...in 1912....and simultaneously found employment as a maid on the soon-to-be sailing Titanic ocean liner...little did she know that History would become a major part of her life
Given that the hearings, post "sinking", are a major part of this story, the actual trials are secondary to the social aspects....even the newly minted Suffragette Movement is given a back seat to the development of Tess' stor More...
Given that the hearings, post "sinking", are a major part of this story, the actual trials are secondary to the social aspects....even the newly minted Suffragette Movement is given a back seat to the development of Tess' stor More...
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Feb 11, 2012
Mirella
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Synopsis:
Just in time for the centennial anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic comes a vivid, romantic, and relentlessly compelling historical novel about a spirited young woman who survives the disaster only to find herself embroiled in the media frenzy left in the wake of the tragedy.
Tess, an aspiring seamstress, thinks she's had an incredibly lucky break when she is hired by famous designer Lady Lucile Duff Gordon to be a personal maid on the Titanic's doomed voya More...
Nov 26, 2011
Corinne
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Tess knows that she is capable of so much more than what a servant is asked to do. Not only does she hate being subservient, but she would so much rather sew than clean. Give her a thread and a needle and she can create magic, she just needs a chance to prove herself. When she finally gets the courage to change her stars, she ends up in designer Lady Lucile Duff Gordon's high-class world, a sphere so unfamiliar it's foreign. It also happens to be the on the decks of the Titanic. You see whe
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Nov 15, 2011
Sue
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I received a copy of this from NetGalley and I read it in one day. Kate Alcott's novel is about the Titanic, but that's only part of the story. Tess Collins leaves a job as a maid in Cherbourg to try her luck getting on the Titanic and to America. She meets Lady Duff-Gordon, who's a famous dress designer--and Tess dreams of working with her. Soon traveling on board the Titanic, Tess meets Jack--an older man who works for Henry Ford, and Jim, one of the sailors on board. Both are attractive
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Aug 22, 2011
Karen
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Just when you think you've read everything about the sinking of the Titanic comes this little book which takes an interesting and different slant on it. Tess, an aspiring seamstress, is hired by the famous designer Lady Duff Gordon (a real person) just as the Titanic is about to sail. On the ship she meets two men, one a sailor, Jim, and the other a wealthy businessman, Jack, who figure into her story later. She survives the sinking, as does her employer, but there is controversy because Lady Du
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Feb 21, 2012
Amy
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As we approach the 100 year anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic readers will see the publication of many books on the sinking, the survivors, and the disaster at large. They will also find a delightful historical novel, The Dressmaker, by Kate Alcott which examines the event and its aftermath. Tess, a talented seamstress stuck in a job as a maid makes an impulsive decision to quit her job and attempts to obtain working passage on the Titanic in hopes of starting a new life in America. In
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Feb 07, 2012
Patti
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Stories and information about the Titanic will be popular this year, with the 100th anniversary of the iceberg tragedy occurring on April 14. The Dressmaker by Kate Alcott is one of those stories.
Tessa Collins is a talented seamstress who has been working as a housemaid as the novel opens. She seizes an opportunity to leave employment, and is very lucky to obtain new employment as a lady's maid to famed designer Lucile Duff Gordon who is sailing with her husband on the maiden voyage More...
Tessa Collins is a talented seamstress who has been working as a housemaid as the novel opens. She seizes an opportunity to leave employment, and is very lucky to obtain new employment as a lady's maid to famed designer Lucile Duff Gordon who is sailing with her husband on the maiden voyage More...
Dec 29, 2011
Rosanne
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The Dressmaker by Kate Alcott follows several survivors of the Titanic. Tess Collins boarded the ship in Belfast at the very last minute when she became employed by Lady Duff Gordon a very famous dress designer. While hired as a lady's maid, her skills as a seamstress become extremely important to Lady Duff Gordon.
Once safely on American soil, all who survived become center of attention. Senator Smith proceeds to investigate how the impressive Titanic could have sunk and why so few More...
Once safely on American soil, all who survived become center of attention. Senator Smith proceeds to investigate how the impressive Titanic could have sunk and why so few More...
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Oct 14, 2011
Ken
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When all was said and done and I reached the last page in Kate Alcott's historical romance I was rather disappointed. I wanted more historical plot about the Titanic hearings in Washington DC and New York (fascinating stuff); and less about the romantic choices given to a determined immigrant who wants to become a dress designer (a bit too treacly for my reading taste). Many of the characters Alcott uses in the novel are based on real people: Elinor Glyn, Sen. William Alden Smith, Margaret "
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Feb 12, 2012
Jenny
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This is a free book from the Goodreads First Reads giveaways.
This was a historical novel exploring the events of the Titanic and what happened afterwards with some of the survivors. The title refers to the real life English designer, Madame Lucile Duff Gordon; but the plot revolves around her "assistant" Tess Collins. I enjoyed the author's skill in telling another Titanic story full of tragedy, human characters, and even some romance without losing my interest.
This was a historical novel exploring the events of the Titanic and what happened afterwards with some of the survivors. The title refers to the real life English designer, Madame Lucile Duff Gordon; but the plot revolves around her "assistant" Tess Collins. I enjoyed the author's skill in telling another Titanic story full of tragedy, human characters, and even some romance without losing my interest.
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Nov 18, 2011
Misfit
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The basic plot outline: Tess Collins chafes at the life as a servant, and wants to realize her true skills as a seamstress, and whilst looking for opportunities at the dock she catches the attention of Lucile Duff Gordon. Lady Lucy is minus a maid at the last minute, Tess gets the gig and before you know it servant Tess is out of steerage and walking the main decks of the Titanic, literally *bumping* into folks left and right (including the very wealthy and still married Jack Bremerton).
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Jan 22, 2012
Reading
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Review Written by Andrea @ Reading Lark
Source: Provided by Publisher via NetGalley
http://readinglark.blogspot.com/2012/01/...
I have been a fan of the history and controversy surrounding the Titanic since childhood. There was something about this tragedy that compelled me to watch every documentary and read voraciously through the fiction and nonfiction surrounding the sinking. The wreckage was found in 1985 and due to my tender age of three, I don't truly remember the event, More...
Source: Provided by Publisher via NetGalley
http://readinglark.blogspot.com/2012/01/...
I have been a fan of the history and controversy surrounding the Titanic since childhood. There was something about this tragedy that compelled me to watch every documentary and read voraciously through the fiction and nonfiction surrounding the sinking. The wreckage was found in 1985 and due to my tender age of three, I don't truly remember the event, More...
Nov 14, 2011
Ziaria
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This book was almost just like watching a movie play in my head. The writing was so vivid that I could see the majestic Titanic and watch in horror as she sank. I envisioned New York as it had been during that period. Everything the author wrote about, she brought to life.
This wasn't a book just about the Titanic and the aftermath. This was a book with several story lines all weaved seamlessly into a great read. You had Lucille and Cosmos's story with Tess. You had Tess's relationships More...
This wasn't a book just about the Titanic and the aftermath. This was a book with several story lines all weaved seamlessly into a great read. You had Lucille and Cosmos's story with Tess. You had Tess's relationships More...
Nov 05, 2011
Rachel
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I finished this book in one day. It doesn't mean that it was so poorly written that it was easily done ... but it was written in such a way that I coudn't put it down. It was an entertaining read and a fast-paced novel that spans over a month in a historical time. This was a book about a woman who was on the Titanic and the aftermath of its sinking. A young girl named Tess escaped her boorish life in Chemborg, France, to be a helper of the famous designer, Lady Duff Gordon and because she was on
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Nov 10, 2011
The Dressmaker is not so much a novel about the Titanic. Alcott weaves fictional and non-fictional characters to tell a consuming story, a story that is a glimpse at the class system between the rich and the poor. It is also a story involving the varying sentiments of the suffrage movement.
We meet Tess, a young woman who was taught to sew by her mother to hopefully bring her daughter a better life. However, farmed out to work at a young age as her family was poor and had too many m More...
We meet Tess, a young woman who was taught to sew by her mother to hopefully bring her daughter a better life. However, farmed out to work at a young age as her family was poor and had too many m More...
Nov 29, 2011
Amanda
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Just in time for the centennial anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic comes a romantic tale of a young woman who survives the terrible tragedy of ship's infamous sinking to rise up and seize an amazing opportunity to become more than she is. Woven with a romantic atmosphere, The Dressmaker offers a compelling portrait of a unique time in history, and the very real people who survived it.
Tess, an aspiring seamstress, knows opportunity when she sees it. After agreeing to be the perso More...
Tess, an aspiring seamstress, knows opportunity when she sees it. After agreeing to be the perso More...
Oct 25, 2011
Penny
rated it:
Read courtesy of Netgalley and KnopfDoubleday.
Alcott weaves some fantastic fiction with the actual in our main heroine, Tess Collins. Tess decides in a moment of spontaneity to leave behind the life of wretched servitude and walks out to where the Titanic is docked in search of a new life. By chance she meets Lady Duff Gordon (Lucile), world-renowned fashion designer. Tess will do anything to be given the opportunity to become part of Lucile’s world and to prove that she is an expert dres More...
Alcott weaves some fantastic fiction with the actual in our main heroine, Tess Collins. Tess decides in a moment of spontaneity to leave behind the life of wretched servitude and walks out to where the Titanic is docked in search of a new life. By chance she meets Lady Duff Gordon (Lucile), world-renowned fashion designer. Tess will do anything to be given the opportunity to become part of Lucile’s world and to prove that she is an expert dres More...
Jan 14, 2012
Janice
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The mystique of the Titanic continues with this historical fiction novel. Tess, a dressmaker dreams of going to America to get away from the family she is working for as a maid. She manages to get on the ship as a maid for a couple (the Duff Gordon's - who were actual passengers on the Titanic). Lady Duff Gordon is a famous fashion designer who manages to survive the sinking along with her husband. The ensuing controversy that surrounds many of the passengers who survived the sinking and the
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Dec 20, 2011
Ariel
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Thank you to Doubleday for providing me with a copy of this book to review.
I love reading historical fiction and especially anything about the Titanic so I really thought I would love this book. I especially liked the fresh angle of looking at what happened to the survivors when they got back on land. Somehow the book fell a little flat from me and it's hard for me to put my finger on why. I think it may be the author's writing style, the characters seem so emotionless. The story beg More...
I love reading historical fiction and especially anything about the Titanic so I really thought I would love this book. I especially liked the fresh angle of looking at what happened to the survivors when they got back on land. Somehow the book fell a little flat from me and it's hard for me to put my finger on why. I think it may be the author's writing style, the characters seem so emotionless. The story beg More...
Oct 21, 2011
Amy
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Feb 15, 2012
Karen
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In the months leading up to the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic, The Dressmaker is but one entry into what will be many books rehashing the event. This particular tale is unique among others I have read in that it focuses mainly on events following the event, including the Congressional hearings in the U.S., and the protagonist is servant to a wealthy woman rather than a wealthy passenger herself.
This is most definitely a book about women, for women and perhaps some a More...
This is most definitely a book about women, for women and perhaps some a More...
Feb 16, 2012
Angela
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I think I would have enjoyed this book more as a history, or even a biography. I liked how it primarily focused on the repercussions of the Titanic sinking, rather than on the event itself, because that's unique. However, I think that was detrimental to a narrative like this; the Titanic's sinking seemed almost glossed over, and the survivors didn't seem to be very affected by it, mentally. I also wasn't sure how much was real and how much was embellished, which nagged at me the whole time I w
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Jan 01, 2012
Mary
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Tess Collins becomes a personal maid to Lady Duff Gordon to start a new life in America. Unfortunately, they boarded the Titanic for the crossing from England. They both survived, but on different lifeboats. Tess starts to work at Lady Duff Gordon's fashion house. There is a congressional inquiry about the Titanic, and Lady Duff Gordon's behavior aboard her lifeboat is questioned. Tess must decide between her new job and her loyalty to Lady Duff Gordon, and her growing friendship she has with Ji
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Oct 05, 2011
Are
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Well I obviously loved it since I had only meant to read a chapter or two before bed and instead stayed up until five in the morning finishing it. The story completly sucked me in and before I knew it I was halfway through the book. I really enjoyed the insights of what happened not only aboard the Titatinc but afterwards during the government hearings. Tess's relationship with the famous dressmaker Lucile was very complicated and it was interesting the comprimises Tess was willing to make fo
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Oct 07, 2011
Marti
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A story about the Titanic with actual portions from the hearings held in the Senate does not sound at all interesting. Until you throw in real people who actually were on the ship. Until you throw in real people who faced huge challenges and dilemmas, head on. Until you realize how big business and having large amounts of money did indeed determine most of the outcomes. Until you meet Tess and Jim. They wanted honesty and truth in a world where money and influence are all impor More...
Feb 22, 2012
Karen
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I knew when we first met Tess, putting unironed, crumpled sheets on her employer's bed, that this wasn't going to be the usual Titanic story. This one was going to have a different spin to it. I was really looking forward to reading Kate Alcott's The Dressmaker, and I am really glad that I did get to read it! Tess wrangles her way on to the Titanic by seizing an opportunity to work for Lucile, Lady Duff-Gordon, the infamous clothing designer and the somewhat questionable survivo More...
Feb 13, 2012
Carol
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The Titanic’s 1912 sinking remains a legend steeped in tragedy and mysterious allure. So just in time for its 100-year anniversary along comes Kate Alcott’s, The Dressmaker, a very compelling historical novel about a young woman who survives the disaster only to find herself in the middle of a media driven government hearing. Having met two men while on board ship, a roughly-hewn, but kind young sailor and a rather enigmatic Chicago millionaire, this young aspiring seamstress gets an incredibly
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Dec 04, 2011
The Joy of Booking
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The love story in this book is frankly the least interesting part of the story to me. The romances are convenient but implausible, and the suitors are stock. The connection with true history was the really fascinating part – there really was a Lady Duff Gordon who survived the Titanic sinking in a lifeboat holding less than a quarter of the number of people it could contain. In addition, Tess, Pinky, and the unsinkable Molly Brown contribute to the amazing changes that were going on at the time
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Feb 01, 2012
Suzanne
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The year is 1912. A young woman in service, Tess Collins, aspires to more out of life. She dreams of being a seamstress and designing her own dresses. She carefully plans her escape from service and offers her services as a ladies maid on board a luxury liner headed for America. Tess is hopeful that America can provide her with the future she dreams of. As luck would have it, the would-be dressmaker lands a position with a famous dressmaker and boards, yes, you guessed it, the Titanic.
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