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The Dressmaker's Child
William Trevor has won just about every literary award possible and he is frequently described by critics as the best short-story writer alive. His novels and short stories have been published in Penguin for the last forty years. The Dressmaker's Child contains two stories chosen by the author from recent collections together with a story appearing in book form for the first time.
- GenresShort StoriesFiction
55 pages, Paperback
First published May 31, 2005
About the author
William Trevor
186 books778 followersWilliam Trevor, KBE grew up in various provincial towns and attended a number of schools, graduating from Trinity College, in Dublin, with a degree in history. He first exercised his artistry as a sculptor, working as a teacher in Northern Ireland and then emigrated to England in search of work when the school went bankrupt. He could have returned to Ireland once he became a successful writer, he said, "but by then I had become a wanderer, and one way and another, I just stayed in England ... I hated leaving Ireland. I was very bitter at the time. But, had it not happened, I think I might never have written at all."
In 1958 Trevor published his first novel, A Standard of Behaviour, to little critical success. Two years later, he abandoned sculpting completely, feeling his work had become too abstract, and found a job writing copy for a London advertising agency. 'This was absurd,' he said. 'They would give me four lines or so to write and four or five days to write it in. It was so boring. But they had given me this typewriter to work on, so I just started writing stories. I sometimes think all the people who were missing in my sculpture gushed out into the stories.' He published several short stories, then his second and third novels, which both won the Hawthornden Prize (established in 1919 by Alice Warrender and named after William Drummond of Hawthornden, the Hawthornden Prize is one of the UK's oldest literary awards). A number of other prizes followed, and Trevor began working full-time as a writer in 1965.
Since then, Trevor has published nearly 40 novels, short story collections, plays, and collections of nonfiction. He has won three Whitbread Awards, a PEN/Macmillan Silver Pen Award, and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. In 1977 Trevor was appointed an honorary (he holds Irish, not British, citizenship) Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE) for his services to literature and in 2002 he was elevated to honorary Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (KBE). Since he began writing, William Trevor regularly spends half the year in Italy or Switzerland, often visiting Ireland in the other half. He lived in Devon, in South West England, on an old mill surrounded by 40 acres of land.
In 1958 Trevor published his first novel, A Standard of Behaviour, to little critical success. Two years later, he abandoned sculpting completely, feeling his work had become too abstract, and found a job writing copy for a London advertising agency. 'This was absurd,' he said. 'They would give me four lines or so to write and four or five days to write it in. It was so boring. But they had given me this typewriter to work on, so I just started writing stories. I sometimes think all the people who were missing in my sculpture gushed out into the stories.' He published several short stories, then his second and third novels, which both won the Hawthornden Prize (established in 1919 by Alice Warrender and named after William Drummond of Hawthornden, the Hawthornden Prize is one of the UK's oldest literary awards). A number of other prizes followed, and Trevor began working full-time as a writer in 1965.
Since then, Trevor has published nearly 40 novels, short story collections, plays, and collections of nonfiction. He has won three Whitbread Awards, a PEN/Macmillan Silver Pen Award, and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. In 1977 Trevor was appointed an honorary (he holds Irish, not British, citizenship) Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE) for his services to literature and in 2002 he was elevated to honorary Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (KBE). Since he began writing, William Trevor regularly spends half the year in Italy or Switzerland, often visiting Ireland in the other half. He lived in Devon, in South West England, on an old mill surrounded by 40 acres of land.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
April 18, 2021
4/5 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
April 4, 2023
The story opens with an unknown narrator describing a young Irish man, Cahal, at work as a car mechanic. A young Spanish couple, directed to him by their hotel, come to ask him to take them to see ‘The Weeping Virgin of the Wayside’. They have been told The Virgin will bless them.
Even though Cahal knows the statue has had its status removed by the Church, since it was found that the tears of the virgin are created by the rainwater above the statue, he agrees to take the couple to see it for fifty euros. He is pleased with this, it’s a very good deal for such a short drive.
On the way back Cahal hits a child who has run out in front of him. It’s an accident but Cahal does not stop. He remembers having heard about the dressmaker’s daughter who is known to run into the road and fling herself at passing cars. Strangely she has not been stopped from doing this, nor has she been seriously hurt.
Cahal has no idea as to why she does it and the narrator never tells us. We only know that the girls home life isn’t good and that her mother, the dressmaker, is a drinker often leaving her daughter alone at night to go to the bar.
The girl’s mother, the dressmaker, somehow knows that Cahal, was the one to hit her daughter and keep going. Instead of going to the police, she stalks Cahal.
The guilt, the unsettling atmosphere that descends when Cahal fails to stop and after when he realises that the dressmaker knows it was him. The guilt Cahal feels even though it was an accident, with no intention to hurt, obviously lays heavy and his life which before was full of hope and looking forward to the future is now something else. Cahal may not have had to face any consequence from the police or townsfolk but his own conscious would not leave him alone. If he had simply acted quickly and told the truth, if only. So the consequences he did face were of his own making and, perhaps, the more devastating.
The Dressmaker’s Child is a wonderful short story, the author gets across so much in such a few words. He sets the scene, conveys the story and gives the reader such food for thought. He has taken a slice of time and place and written an undeniably touching story.
4-4.5*
Even though Cahal knows the statue has had its status removed by the Church, since it was found that the tears of the virgin are created by the rainwater above the statue, he agrees to take the couple to see it for fifty euros. He is pleased with this, it’s a very good deal for such a short drive.
On the way back Cahal hits a child who has run out in front of him. It’s an accident but Cahal does not stop. He remembers having heard about the dressmaker’s daughter who is known to run into the road and fling herself at passing cars. Strangely she has not been stopped from doing this, nor has she been seriously hurt.
Cahal has no idea as to why she does it and the narrator never tells us. We only know that the girls home life isn’t good and that her mother, the dressmaker, is a drinker often leaving her daughter alone at night to go to the bar.
The girl’s mother, the dressmaker, somehow knows that Cahal, was the one to hit her daughter and keep going. Instead of going to the police, she stalks Cahal.
The guilt, the unsettling atmosphere that descends when Cahal fails to stop and after when he realises that the dressmaker knows it was him. The guilt Cahal feels even though it was an accident, with no intention to hurt, obviously lays heavy and his life which before was full of hope and looking forward to the future is now something else. Cahal may not have had to face any consequence from the police or townsfolk but his own conscious would not leave him alone. If he had simply acted quickly and told the truth, if only. So the consequences he did face were of his own making and, perhaps, the more devastating.
The Dressmaker’s Child is a wonderful short story, the author gets across so much in such a few words. He sets the scene, conveys the story and gives the reader such food for thought. He has taken a slice of time and place and written an undeniably touching story.
4-4.5*
October 30, 2019
William Trevor writes in with a beguiling beauty.
Totally worthwhile experience reading this, and ‘experience’ is certainly what it felt like.
"THE DRESSMAKER’S CHILD"
I was completely engaged from the first sentence - innocence, guilt, complicit in death, conscience, potential romance - captivating tale.
“Even though she didn’t look up, he wanted to go to her and knew that one day he would.”
"THE HILL'S BACHELOR"
Sad, inevitable, heartfelt.
The author has a way of subtlety conveying much more than his sentences. His economy of word is exceptional.
I felt, smelt, sensed every aspect of this story. Powerful in its simple observational narrative.
“.. her position in the household was one of obedience and humility, and sometimes, what was said, or incidents that occurred, left a sting that in private drew tears from her.”
“THE PIANO TUNER’S WIVES”
Loquacious = tending to talk a great deal; talkative.
A new wife who has to live with a widower whose late wife continues to be “left in the man she’d loved.”
..
Totally worthwhile experience reading this, and ‘experience’ is certainly what it felt like.
"THE DRESSMAKER’S CHILD"
I was completely engaged from the first sentence - innocence, guilt, complicit in death, conscience, potential romance - captivating tale.
“Even though she didn’t look up, he wanted to go to her and knew that one day he would.”
"THE HILL'S BACHELOR"
Sad, inevitable, heartfelt.
The author has a way of subtlety conveying much more than his sentences. His economy of word is exceptional.
I felt, smelt, sensed every aspect of this story. Powerful in its simple observational narrative.
“.. her position in the household was one of obedience and humility, and sometimes, what was said, or incidents that occurred, left a sting that in private drew tears from her.”
“THE PIANO TUNER’S WIVES”
Loquacious = tending to talk a great deal; talkative.
A new wife who has to live with a widower whose late wife continues to be “left in the man she’d loved.”
..
Read
April 4, 2024Three short stories brought together to mark the 70th anniversary of Penguin, which showcase Trevor's talent for vignettes of human inconstancy. We get various sketches of duty that breeds loneliness on a farm in the Irish midlands; a dereliction of duty that haunts after a car journey; and corrosive envy that continues to bite even once a marriage is made. Trevor is renowned for his short stories and I think they are often more successful partly because his later work is often so sour. In these cases, there is a heart in all of them, however, so it's a nicely curated collection that sits well together. More lime than sherbet but this trio is worth popping in your pocket for your next train journey.
December 27, 2024
Enjoyably written insights into characters in rural Ireland. Three short stories, all with a man as the main protagonist but observing acutely their relationships with women and landscape around them. Felt like I was reading sketches for a bigger work. Beautiful, quite spare writing but just wanted more!
April 17, 2018
I'm ashamed to say that I've never heard of William Trevor, as he appears to be a master of short story writing, if this little collection is anything to go by. You could really get into the psychology of the characters, even though they're not very long stories.
July 8, 2023
Beguiling writing, the words unsaid looming large in the background.
Definitely loved the writing, but the subject matters of the stories stung me. Such, such is life. It passes in sighs muttered and held in, in secrets unsaid and binding, in loves fought for and wanting.
Definitely loved the writing, but the subject matters of the stories stung me. Such, such is life. It passes in sighs muttered and held in, in secrets unsaid and binding, in loves fought for and wanting.
June 14, 2021
3,5
Die letzte Short Story hat mir am besten gefallen, aber leider kam ich beim Lesen nie so richtig rein. Es sind aber definitiv einige schöne Formulierungen zu finden!
Die letzte Short Story hat mir am besten gefallen, aber leider kam ich beim Lesen nie so richtig rein. Es sind aber definitiv einige schöne Formulierungen zu finden!
April 3, 2022
داستان دارک جالبی بود
به سمت و سویی که در ابتدا فکر میکردم برود نرفت
به سمت و سویی که در ابتدا فکر میکردم برود نرفت
May 26, 2024
adored each of these three stories
July 29, 2025
Disturbing
January 1, 2026
Die kleine Sammlung besteht aus drei Kurzgeschichten:
The Dressmaker's Child: ★★★★☆
The Hill Bachelors: ★★☆☆☆
The Piano Tuners Wives: ★★★☆☆
The Dressmaker's Child: ★★★★☆
The Hill Bachelors: ★★☆☆☆
The Piano Tuners Wives: ★★★☆☆
October 18, 2016
Excellent short stories.
December 26, 2021
I've read these short stories before, when I was younger, and they didn't seem to have much impact on me. But I read through them again last night and discovered how haunting, disturbing, and elegantly simple each story is. The story that had the strongest impact on me was 'The Piano Tuner's Wives' - Belle is just too much. Trevor seems to have a knack for creating ghostly, selfish, and unalterably human characters.
August 15, 2011
Three cracking short stories if you have an hour to kill
September 17, 2014
Three lovely short stories set in Ireland. This is a very thin collection which you can finish in an hour. Good for reading during lull moments at work or when travelling.
July 27, 2011
Short stories about life in Ireland.
August 7, 2014
Well written, didn't blow me away though. Would read this again.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews