This book was a brilliant read and one that is perfect to escape for a few hours and loose yourself.
A great read.

This is a heartbreaking story about the sacrifices we make for the people we love, and how strength can triumph when you feel there’s nothing left to fight for.

Netta Nichol works hard to establish her dressmaking business in Yorkshire while her hard hearted step mother raises Netta’s son as her own in Scotland. Despite bereavement and mental illness, Netta overcomes adversity to become the best person she can be in order to claim back her son.

A great read that pulls at your heartstrings and fills you with frustration at the unfairness of life.

Thank you very much for the chance to read this novel. I enjoyed both the story and the characters presented, it was a steadily moving read and one that I would happily recommend to others.

This is a powerful story of love, loss and determination. It’s a heartbreaking tale which is difficult to read at times.
It took me a while to get into this book due to the dual timelines of which I am not a fan.
Not a bad book but not the best in this genre

THE WEDDING DRESS MAKER is the first book by Leah Fleming that I have encountered and while I didn't hate it, I definitely don't think it was the best written in this genre.

A story of love and loss during wartime alongside family and day to day struggles of the time, THE WEDDING DRESS MAKER is about the determination of a young woman fighting for what is right and the child that was taken from her shortly after birth. It also deals with post natal psychosis which is not something that was readily understood at the time, and it is handled expertly and sensitively.

Netta Nichol grew up a farmer's daughter in Galloway in the west of Scotland. An only child, her father Angus longed for a son to take over the family farm, but after her mother died young he then married Peg who was unable to bear him a child, much less a son. Netta found her stepmother harsh in comparison to her beautiful loving mother who spoke of dreams and rainbows whereas Peg dealt in black and white practicalities. The transition wasn't an easy one as Peg thought Netta's head was in the clouds far too much having been mollycoddled by her mother and Netta fighting Peg along the way.

One night at a dance, Netta met the dashing Corporal Raeburn Hunter and their tender courtship blossomed into loving proposal. Accepting without hesitation, Netta was filled with dreams of their future. Eloping to Gretna Green, they married in the former tradition over the anvil but it would not be legal until they did so via the registry - which they could not do so for fourteen days. But Rae's leave was only for 10, so they made plans to meet at the registry office and then honeymooned for the remainder of their precious time together before Rae had to return to barracks. But their future as man and wife hung in the balance when Rae missed their rendezvous at the registry office to legitimise their marriage. Furious with him, Netta returned home to discover a telegram notifying her of his unit's deployment thwarting their surreptitious plans. Netta could do nothing but carry on in the hope that the war would soon be over and Rae would come home.

But war takes far more than it gives, and it wasn't long before Netta received the unemotionally indifferent telegram informing her of her beloved Rae's death. She was devastated. And what was more, she was pregnant...and their marriage, despite being real to them, was never formally legalised. When Netta bore Rae's son - named Raeburn Angus Hunter - it was an incredibly difficult birth, leaving her unable to care for her child. She was transferred to Park Royal to recover and receive specialist treatment while her father and stepmother took over the care of her baby throughout her lengthy absence. Netta lived for the day she would see baby Ray again and when eight months later she was discharged, she soon discovered that her father and Peg were the only ones her child knew and looked upon as his parents. They even took to calling him Gus, rather than the name she had given him, and it was the name he now responded to. Try as she might, Netta had been replaced as her son's mother as Peg informed her that she was now his mother.

Netta was exiled to make a life for herself with a job and a home so that she could return and claim her son and ensure that he would be well cared for. She moved to Yorkshire where she took work in a fashion house pinning hems for seamstresses with the dream of becoming a designer herself. She visited the farm miles away in Scotland twice a year to see Gus, becoming known as his adored Auntie Netta, whilst she worked hard to achieve her ambition. As she soon set herself up securely and comfortably, she knew the time had come to Gus to come and live with her. But every time the subject was broached another reason why he couldn't wasn't thrown her way. And Netta left empty-handed without her son once again. By this time Gus was now 4 years old and she had already lost so much precious time with him as her son. He saw only Peg as his mammy. Netta was his beloved aunt. Would she ever have her son back? He was the only part of Rae she had left...and Peg has taken that from her.

Amidst the upsets, setbacks and turmoil, Netta was resourceful and driven as she achieved her dream of becoming a dressmaker/designer and was well-known locally for her beautiful work. But was it enough?

THE WEDDING DRESS MAKER is a powerful story of love, loss and determination. Though the title is deceiving as the focus is not really on making wedding dresses - in fact, there isn't a deluge of these at all -but rather on Netta's story and her personal journey. It's a heartbreaking tale but not an easy one to take in at times. A lot of monologuing and description - of which I am not a fan - but then the story is predominantly made up of Netta's memories.

However, I found it took me a while to get into the story at first as the format of the dual timelines was somewhat different in approach - being in the form of Netta's memories as she encounters items in the attic during her latest visit to the family farm. Rather unusual at first but it does work quite well once you get used to it. I did find the Scottish brogue and dialect a little hard to follow, as speech patterns were written as they sounded rather than what they actually were, making it hard for someone not as familiar with Scottish dialect to follow in part. Like the format, you do get used to it but it does remain am awkward concept.

Not a bad book but not the best its genre either, THE WEDDING DRESS MAKER is a good fit for fans of historical fiction, particularly in dual timelines.

I would like to thank #LeahFleming, #NetGalley and #HeadOfZeus for an ARC of #TheWeddingDressMaker in exchange for an honest review.

A beautifully written book which is mainly a love story but also deals with social issues of the time.
Unlike other books set in the Second World War and its aftermath this story very tenderly deals with the mental issues that the brave returning soldiers encountered and the fact that they survived whilst their comrades did not.
It deals with mental issues following child birth and the stigma of a child born out of wedlock.
Masterly story telling

I seem to be in the minority here - I didn't hate it, but it definitely wasn't the best book I've read in this genre.

It took me a while to get into it at first, as the way in which the dual narrative approach is done is quite unusual - rather than alternate chapters or anything like that, it's instead done as a memory from items found in an attic by Netta. Bit unusual, but it does work very well once you get used to it.

I just didn't find myself that gripped by it if I'm honest. It was quite predictable, and very overdramatic at times. I ended up skipping most of the more melodramatic moments and heading straight for the ending, which yes was a happy ending, but was also one that was able to be seen from a mile away.

Not the worst I've read, but definitely not the best.

What a sad tale, of wrongs which cannot be put right, years lost which can never be re-lived, hurts which do not heal - & maybe the saddest thing is that there probably were real-life stories like this. I cannot say I enjoyed reading this, although it may have been better not using an e-book version – the chapters were set in different time periods, with the dates quite close together & it was confusing keeping track of whether we were in the past or the present. Mixed feelings as to recommending it or not...

A story of wartime love, loss, family struggles, mental & physical health issues but most of all the determination of a young woman to fight for what she knows to be right, and the child that was taken from her shortly after birth.
A fairly well researched book, though lacking in depth occasionally - many loose ends left at the end presumably for a sequel??
Disclosure: I received an advance read a copy of this book free via NetGalley. All opinions on my own.

Netta Nichol is the central character in this story told in dual time frame. She grew up as a farmer’s daughter in the beautiful west of Scotland and it was there at a dance she met her soul mate. Their tender courtship was exquisite and he soon proposed to her. She immediately accepted, full of ecstasy and dreams of their happy future. They eloped and married over the anvil in Gretna Green just before he was due to be sent abroad in the dying days of World War11. Their honeymoon was so precious because so many men had been lost in battle and their future as man and wife therefore hung in the balance. Their dreams of validifying their marriage were thwarted when plans for his unit were unexpectedly altered and they literally ran out of time. Netta could do nothing about it but carry on with her life.
She bore him a honeymoon son but his birth was difficult and she was transferred to a specialist hospital to recover, her father and step mother taking care of her baby throughout her lengthy absence. By the time she recovered, her family were the only ones baby Gus knew and Netta was exiled until she could find a home and a job so that her parents could be sure the child they now considered as their own would be safe and well cared for. Netta was devastated but she saw the wisdom in their argument so she set off to prove herself. She moved south to Yorkshire, determined to prove that she was fit to become a worthy mother. She visited the farm miles away in Scotland to see Gus twice a year and she became known as his adored Auntie Netta. In the times between visits she laboured hard to achieve her ambition. There were upsets and setbacks along the way but she was resourceful and driven. What follows is this powerful story of love, loss, and courageousness to reach out and secure her dreams for their future together. It is truly a testimony of her bravery and determination.
I drank in this compelling story and loved everything about it. The storytelling is simply wonderful. It totally absorbed all of my attention and I am in awe at the amount of research Leah undertook to enhance this story and give it added authenticity. I thought her characters were beautifully crafted coming to life in my heart, filling me with empathy, compassion and understanding. Leah Fleming is a massively talent author and it really shows in this novel. It is a massive and well deserved 5* review from me and a recommendation that this is a story full of heart and is an excellent read.
I received this book through my membership of NetGalley and from publisher Head of Zeus in return for an honest review. Thank you for my copy. These are my own thoughts and I have read no other reviews before writing my own. I am a massive fan of Leah and have found that she never disappoints me with her intelligent and very interesting writing.

I have loved reading about Netta and her fall from grace and how she tries to gain her self-respect enough to claim her child from her family.She is clever at sewing and makes beautiful wedding gowns working her fingers to the bone and she is determined to succeed and learn to live again.Excellent book.5*

Thanks to netgalley for an early copy in return for an honest review
Having read a lot of books by this FANTASTIC author came as no surprise as to how FANTASTIC her new book is stepping back in time to the west coast of scotland down to Galloway was like going home nets was one of the strongest women life had not treated her great but through sheer determination and working her fingers to the bone with her dressmaking she got there I utterly just loved everything about this book it had a touch of oldfashonieness about it which I love in a book I read well in to the early hrs as I couldn't wait to find out I can not praise this OUTSTANDING Author and her book enough