THE WEDDING DRESS SEWING CIRCLE – JENNIFER RYAN

Atmospheric, wise and warm . . . comforting and unputdownable . . . an enchanting hug of a novel – Cathy Kelly on The Kitchen Front To have. To hold. To sew. Jennifer Ryan’s The Wedding Dress Sewing Circle is ‘A Great British Sewing Bee’ set in the Second World War, and inspired by true events. After fashion designer Cressida Westcott loses both everything she owns in the Blitz, she has nowhere to go but the family manor house she fled decades ago. Cressida is at a loss as to how to rebuild her business from a small country village. The answer comes from an unlikely source: the local sewing circle. With clothes rationed, wartime brides are left with no choice but to make do and mend and after helping local vicar’s daughter, Grace Carlisle, repair her mother’s dress, Cressida finds herself inundated with similar requests. Before long, the sewing circle find themselves mending wedding dresses for brides across the country. And as the women dedicate themselves to helping others celebrate love, they might also find it for themselves . . .