Wednesday, July 6, 2016

The Dressmaker

Author: Rosalie Ham
Stars: 2
Review by: Mandy Apgar


Not to be nitpicky right off, but this cover is awful. Central character looks like a bored 16 year old that outfitted herself with poorly fitted cast off items. The central gist is this: after 20 years Myrtle ("call me 'Tilly'") Dunnage, accomplished seamstress and dressmaker trained in high class European houses of fashion, returns to the backwater Australian town of her birth and her slightly mad and invalid mother. She had been sent overseas after an instance involving the death of a classmate - and soon finds out that the town still thinks she is a freak of sorts for that and the stain of her illegitimacy, as well as her budding relationship with the town footballer / rogue of all trades Teddy. Tolerating the increasing bullying and harassment of the townspeople isn't easy but Tilly has her mother, Teddy, and the police Sergeant (the latter having his own fondness for lace and frills) - until things change and Tilly exacts her own brand of revenge. Honestly, I thought this could have been done a lot better with the characterization as many seemed empty. It served as the basis for a recent Kate Winslet movie and that was "Unforgiven" with a Singer, it is great. This had a few too many extraneous characters and it seems flat and shallow, plus there isn't as much play in it. Tilly and her mum aren't as feisty as they should be and the other characters are too one dimensional.

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