The Dressmaker by Rosalie Ham

The Dressmaker is a modern Australian classic, much loved for its bittersweet humour. Set in the 1950s, its subjects include haute couture, love and hate, and a cast of engagingly eccentric characters. It is now a major motion picture, starring Kate Winslet and fine Australian actors including Judy Davis, Hugo Weaving, Liam Hemsworth and extras from the author’s hometown of Jerilderie.

Comments

What a great read!  We thought this book was going to be a story of true love and redemption. Instead it was a pleasant surprise to find it was more about revenge with a little dark humour.  A very enjoyable read that was extremely well written.  Linguistically the book was beautiful. Allowing us to feel like the characters were real people and that the town of Dungatar was a real place.

While some of us found the start was a little slow and complicated with lots of characters to keep track off, the book soon found an easy rhythm.    We all loved the book’s heroine and the cleverness with which she sort revenge her fellow townsfolk.

Rating 9/10

Read by – Cultcha Club Book Club