Dressed by Iris in Aussie Readers

Jan 25, 2022 Brenda rated it it was amazing

Shelves: aussie-authors, net-galley, 2022-release, 3500-2022, read-on-kindle, own-read, historical-fiction, arc

Initially set in Carrington, Newcastle, where the Mitchell family were as poor as church mice, living on what their mother Agnes could dredge up, from ham bones to make soup and cardboard inserts on their old, worn-out shoes. Then Jim, the eldest son, found work in Sydney, the new harbour bridge being his saviour. The family moved to Sydney and lived in a small cottage, while Bob, Agnes’ husband also found work on the bridge. For awhile things were better than they’d ever been.

When they’d lived ...more

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Feb 13, 2022 Helen rated it it was amazing

Shelves: review-copy-from-publisher

Can I just say WOW, WOW and WOW what an amazing story so beautifully told, Mary-Anne O’Connor has taken me on a journey back to the 1930’s starting in Newcastle then in Sydney during the days of the depression, the finishing of the Sydney Harbour Bridge to meet the Mitchell family, it is heart-felt and heart-warming as we see this family struggle through hard times but never give up hope and their positivity, a must read, come along and meet them all and the beautiful Iris who designs the most g Can I just say WOW, WOW and WOW what an amazing story so beautifully told, Mary-Anne O’Connor has taken me on a journey back to the 1930’s starting in Newcastle then in Sydney during the days of the depression, the finishing of the Sydney Harbour Bridge to meet the Mitchell family, it is heart-felt and heart-warming as we see this family struggle through hard times but never give up hope and their positivity, a must read, come along and meet them all and the beautiful Iris who designs the most gorgeous of clothes.

Living in a shanty town is a struggle for this catholic family but Agnes the patriarch never gives up and when her eldest daughter Iris is given a ribbon from her hopeful boyfriend John Tucker and a cloche from her father for her seventeenth birthday she shows such promise in designing things and is encouraged to earn a few pennies to help out with the family. Soon the family get the opportunity to move to Sydney as her brother Jim gets a job working on the Harbour bridge, this means leaving John Tucker behind even if their future was not certain because John is Protestant.

Living in Sydney Iris is soon working as a cleaner in one of the big stores in Sydney but at night she designs clothes at home which she loves, here she meets Natasha a model for designer Caron and they become good friends and when Natasha see the clothes that Iris is designing she insists that she show them to Caron, Iris is not sure about this but soon she is moved from cleaning to the fourth floor and designing but is not treated the way she should be.

Iris has never forgotten John and when he arrives in Sydney the feelings are still there but this is problems because of religion and her parents are against their being together. John is working for a Sydney newspaper and he meets Natasha and she helps bring him and Iris together and just in time when John is there to save Iris and also has John and Iris’s brother becoming good friends.

Life was hard in the 1930’s and the Mitchells have to fight some terrible people as they fight to put food on the table and stand up for justice and honesty in a hard world, I loved this story so much and the Mitchell family Bob, Agnes, Jim, Iris, Helena, Tom, Billy and Rosie what they went through had me cheering them one, the faith and hope they held in their hearts showed courage and strength. There were some lovely happy times throughout this story and there were times I was crying, it is an emotional story, the characters are easy to make friends with, this is a story that I would highly recommend. I loved that the author used her family history to put this story together, it is a brilliant story.

My thanks to Harlequin AU for my copy to read and review
...more

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Jan 30, 2022 Janine rated it it was amazing

Shelves: net-galley, for-review

What a great book this one was. Its the first of Mary-Anne's that I have read but definitely won't be the last.

Such a true depiction of the era and the hardships that many Australians faced during the 1930's, from poverty to richness and one girl's dream to be a fashion designer.

Highly recommended for readers of Womens Fiction or Australian historical fiction.
Thanks go to Harlequin and Net Galley for the complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest opinion ...more

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Apr 10, 2022 Lisa - (Aussie Girl) rated it really liked it

Shelves: romance-historical, historical, read-in-2022, uno-2022

3.5 stars

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Sep 01, 2022 Rhoda rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites

Thank you to @harlequinaus for sending me a copy of this book to review!

Set during the Depression years of the early 1930s, seventeen year old Iris moves with her parents and siblings from a shanty-town near Newcastle to Sydney, where the family of 7 take up residence in a small, cramped house. Iris has to leave her forbidden love John behind - with her being Catholic and John being Protestant, it was perhaps not meant to be anyway.

To make ends meet, Iris takes a cleaning job at Caron’s, an upm ...more

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