I am a fan of Jennifer Ryan and The Wedding Dress Sewing Circle does not disappoint. Set in 1942 England, the story follows three main characters who are trying to find their way during World War II. Due to clothes rationing, the sewing circle meets to mend and share wedding dresses. The strong female characters really shine in this story loosely based on actual events. It’s a charming, heartwarming feel-good read.

Thank you to Ballantine Books and NetGalley for this ARC.

THE WEDDING DRESS SEWING CIRCLE by Jennifer Ryan is a heartwarming and intriguing novel of historical fiction set in Britain during World War II. It is the story of three women whose lives unexpectedly intersect in the small village of Aldhurst outside London. Fashion designer Cressida Westcott reluctantly ends up back at her estranged family’s manor house after her home and design house are bombed during the London Blitz. Her niece, Violet Westcott is thrilled her famous aunt has come and hopes she will liven up their dull wartime lives. Grace Carlisle, the local vicar’s daughter, is about to marry, but with clothing being rationed, her only chance for a white wedding is to repair her deceased mother’s tattered and moth-eaten wedding gown. When Cressida joins the village Sewing Circle meeting, she inspires the village women to come together not only to mend Grace’s mother’s gown, but to use their sewing skills to piece together new clothing from discarded scraps. Soon their wedding dress projects bring happiness to brides far and wide. I enjoyed seeing the relationships between the women flourish. Although this is a wartime story, it is also a heartfelt story about family, friendship and love. I also learned so much from the historical aspects of the novel. Based on true events, this story is expertly researched and written. I highly recommend this book and I thank the author, publisher and NetGalley for the chance to read and review an early copy.

4.25 white wedding dress stars

This one is set during the war in the countryside village of Aldhurst and features three memorable women. This one really brings home the impact of the war as clothing was rationed and everyone had to mend old clothes and trade children’s clothes to get through. Finding a wedding dress could be a challenge!

We meet Cressida Wescott, fashion designer, as her London home and fashion house are bombed one evening and she’s left with nothing. Forced to flee to her childhood home in Aldhurst, she’s anxious to return to London to start over.

Cressida’s niece, Violett Westcott, is beautiful and searching for a husband. That plan is soon put on hold when she is conscripted! She’s sent off for training and finds quite a different world!

The daughter of the village vicar, Grace Carlisle, is preparing for her upcoming wedding. Her father finds her mother’s old wedding dress, but it’s been damaged by moths and time.

The village Sewing Circle comes to the rescue with repairing the gown and Cressida is drawn into village life and finds her talents most welcome. It doesn’t take long until an organized effort springs up around providing wedding dresses for women across England, including those in the armed forces.

This sweet tale has a bit of everything – history, characters to root for, and romance. I applaud the author for taking the time to tell each character’s story and to develop them into strong characters. They really grew over the course of book and I was reluctant to finish this one and say goodbye to them.

THE WEDDING DRESS SEWING CIRCLE is another wonderful historical fiction novel from Jennifer Ryan. Her earlier works include The Chilbury Ladies' Choir, The Spies of Shilling Lane, and The Kitchen Front. Also set in a small English village during WWII, THE WEDDING DRESS SEWING CIRCLE portrays the lives of several women: Grace, the vicar's daughter; Violet, a young aristocrat conscripted for war work; and Cressida, her aunt who has become a well-known fashion designer. They struggle in different ways to balance society's expectations with their own, often unformed, dreams. Ryan once again depicts a close-knit, supportive group of women – this time focused on sewing and clothes rationing during the war. She refers to numerous government efforts like Mend and Make Do and the IncSoc Utility contest. Those activities raise interesting questions about the role of fashion, consumerism, and social class. And, of course, there is an element of thwarted romance. Grace is engaged to a local curate, but is attracted to Hugh, Violet's brother and head of the local manor. Violet seeks to marry an English aristocrat and Cressida has foresworn marriage, focusing instead on her career. They all grow and change and re-evaluate priorities as the story progresses. THE WEDDING DRESS SEWING CIRCLE is a LibraryReads selection for May with wide appeal to fans of romantic historical fiction and cozy English villages.

Cressida Westcott was expected to do her duty and marry the peer that her brother chose for her. Instead she ran away from Aldhurst Manor over twenty years ago and never looked back. She is a successful fashion designer whose world comes crashing down around her when her home and design studio are destroyed during the London Blitz. With nowhere else to turn, she returns to her childhood home, where the friendships that she makes will change her life. Her brother is gone, but he has passed on his sense of duty to her nephew Hugh and her niece Violet. Hugh is almost unbearable and Violet finds the war an inconvenience when it comes to finding a husband with a title.

Grace, the vicar’s daughter, thought she would never marry. Now she is set to marry the former curate. She dreams of wearing her late mother’s wedding dress but it needs major repairs after being stored in the attic for years. With the help of Cressida and the local sewing circle the dress is redesigned to cover the damage. When Grace’s wedding is called off, the idea of loaning her dress to other brides at a time when clothes rations are limited is born. It is the beginning of the Wedding Dress Exchange. Soon dresses are being donated to the sewing circle to be repaired and altered, enabling brides to have the traditional wedding of their dreams.

Jennifer Ryan’s heartwarming story is one of love, friendship and growth. Violet’s conscription allows her to see the shallow person she was and grow into someone who cares for those around her. Cressida’s whole world was her design studio, but rediscovering family and building friendships in Aldhurst showed her what was missing from her life. Grace had taken on her late mother’s responsibilities, caring for the members of her father’s parish. She has talents and dreams of her own that she finally has a chance to realize. Each woman blossoms with the love and support of the women in the sewing circle. It is a story that will have you smiling long after you have finished reading. I would like to thank NetGalley and Random House/Ballantine Publishing for providing this book for my review.

I received an advance reading copy (ARC) of this book from NetGalley.com and the publisher in return for a fair review. This story takes place in England during the Second World War and revolves around three women. Cressida Westcott is a fashion designer who loses her business and her home during the blitz. She returns to her childhood home, Aldhurst Manor, where her spoiled niece, Violet, and duty-bound nephew still live. Violet's main interests involve finding a titled husband who is rich. The third woman is Grace Carlisle, the dutiful daughter of the local vicar. They all meet once a week at a sewing circle where many of the town's ladies come together to bring life back into old clothes. It seems that during the war, clothes were rationed in England and a person needed a number of coupons to buy anything new. Wedding dresses were no exception and this group decided to focus on remaking old wedding gowns donated to them so a new bride would have something nice to wear on her wedding day. It was all a very nice premise, but I found the characters very stiff and unlikeable. The story itself was predictable and I often questioned just how these ladies ended up the way they did. It all seemed very contrived and I just did not enjoy the book as much as I had hoped. I rarely read romance stories for this very reason. Perhaps someone who enjoys a good love story might feel differently.

I ended up liking this a lot more than I was expecting! I honestly was expecting yet another WWII story that would be similar to many others I've read, but this story managed to find something unique and new for me to read about. There is definitely romance for multiple couples in this, but at its heart, it's about a group of women in Britain who end up being the backbone of their community and discover that many of the ideas that were perhaps drilled into them by society and their families are at the very least outdated and do not really help the country, let alone themselves and the people in their lives who matter. The story takes place during world war II and revolves around three specific women and the chapters alternate among the three of them. Grace is a vicar's daughter who is still grieving the loss of her mom and who has had to pick up the pieces for herself and her father, who has all but stopped living ever since they lost her mother. Cressida Westcott is a well-known couturier in London who managed to make a name for herself as a woman, against the wishes of her father and her brother after she lost her fiance to the first world war. Violet Westcott is her niece and she starts out as a spoiled and snobby aristocrat girl, she was definitely pretty loathsome at the beginning, but I enjoyed watching her change and grow over time as she worked to unload herself of everything that had been drilled into her by her father ever since she was young. The three of them are thrown together after Cressida loses her home and business due to a bombing raid and that is where the book starts. I loved watching each of the women learn something about themselves and about what they were willing to accept for themselves. I loved watching these women form friendships and support each other during the war. There was definitely a huge "we're in this together" sense in this story and just turned out to be a really delightful read. I loved all the historical details the author included about fashion during the war, the sharing of wedding dresses to help with morale, the Make Do and Mend program, the Utility Clothes range, and the use of "found" parachutes to make clothing (albeit illegally), as well as the hugely popular IncSoc Utility Clothes designs, many of which still exist today in museums, and the IncSoc Utility Fashion Show. Also included in her story were women photographers, magazine editors/writers, and other ways women contributed to the war effort. The author includes a note at the end about many of these historical items and events that I found to be interesting. I am so glad this book caught my eye. I would definitely read other books by this author.

I received an advance review copy from NetGalley for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

The Wedding Dress Sewing Circle is a fascinating novel by Jennifer Ryan. The plot is set in the English countryside in 1942 and the story is told alternately by three remarkable women. When famous fashion designer Cressida Westcott's London home and office are destroyed by bombs, the only place for her to go is her ancestral home, Aldhurst Manor. Although she hasn't been home for twenty years, Cressida returns to Aldhurst to live with her niece Violet and nephew Hugh. Grace Carlisle is getting married and remaking her deceased mother's wedding dress becomes a project for the local sewing circle. As this idea grows to include many dresses and brides, deep friendships develop among the women. Cressida's influence changes the direction of Violet and Grace's lives. Although this is a war novel, at the core of the story is friendship. What the women of Aldhurst achieve with support from their friends is remarkable. The Wedding Dress Circle is very insightful and entertaining.

The Wedding Dress Sewing Circle was such a good book, I didn’t want to put it down! World War II historical fiction has been hot for quite a few years, and quite frankly, I was getting a little burned out on the theme despite the variety of stories and settings. But that changed when I met Violet, Cressida, and Grace. The setting of a small village in the country with an estate and a group of women joining together for the war effort was written in such a charming way, it almost made you forget that the war was real.

But that same reality hits when Cressida’s home and business are bombed by the Germans, leaving her homeless. She reaches out to her nephew and niece who are living at the family manor and asks for refuge. This isn’t easy, as Cressida had never gotten along with her father or brother, who wanted her to marry well and be a typical lordly wife. You see, Cressida fled for France the first chance she could when she was of marriageable age and learned design. Eventually she relocated to London and had a thriving business, but she never kept in touch with her brother or his children. But they begrudgingly agree to let her stay with them until she can secure new lodgings and a new business front.

Grace is the vicar’s daughter, raised by him alone since the death of her mother some years before. Grace is a dutiful daughter, who helps her father with many things. She also takes care of her father in a way; since returning from World War I and seeing his best friend killed, he’s been a changed man, someone who at times can not cope with the world. Grace is set to marry another vicar, an ambition one who’s being talked about as becoming a deacon, and she’s set up to be the perfect vicar’s wife. As she meets Cressida at the weekly village sewing circle, an instant friendship is born in the task of repairing Grace’s mother’s wedding dress in time for the big day.

Violet is a pampered rich young lady who is appalled that she becomes conscripted into the local service to help with the war effort. But seeing as her arranged marriage has fallen through due to the man’s death in the war, she’s got nothing but time on her hands. Service life is a rude awakening, but she decides to make the best of it and becomes a skilled driver and mechanic, hoping to reach officer status eventually.

The goal to repair Grace’s wedding gown becomes a village-wide effort to help brides wear a nice white wedding dress on their big day because rationing means most women can’t afford to spend their ration coupons on a wedding dress. Soon dresses are donated, word is spread to other towns and villages, and Vogue magazine becomes interested enough to do a story on the wedding dress sewing circle.

I cannot imagine the rationing that our parents and grandparents and great grandparents had to do. Forty coupons a year for clothes (according to the book, but some other sources I’ve read had differing amounts), and something like a dress were 11 coupons, shoes 5, stockings 2. You could maybe get three outfits a year out of a ration book, but you could also buy second hand clothes. And there was a big push for fashion designers to streamline fashions using as little material as possible. Cressida, with Grace’s help, enters a contest featuring more utilitarian styles.

And yes, there’s romance for all three women in this book, and done in such a thoughtful way, showing how these women were making these choices because of how the war had changed them. Violet is no longer a spoiled brat looking to marry a duke or an earl, Grace realizes she doesn’t want to be a vicar’s wife, and Cressida realizes that while she’s been a great success professionally with her life, she was missing something, and finds that with Grace’s dad, the vicar, who also happened to be the best friend of the man she was engaged to when he was killed during World War I.

There were no huge surprises in this book, although the war was brought home during a bombing raid where Grace is trying to get a young boy to the shelter (she’s a warden) and a bomb hits and collapses the house so they’re buried in the rubble a short while. And that just made me remember the devastation England suffered during World War II. It was a very sobering moment.

If you’re looking for a good historical fiction novel, love an English countryside setting, like strong female characters, and one that’s got a little romance, The Wedding Dress Sewing Circle is for you.

I just really enjoyed this story. Very rarely do I find a book that I just want to be home and read well this one was really one of those. Plus the characters felt like they became friends.

I am sorry for the inconvenience but I don’t have the time to read this anymore and have lost interest in the concept. I believe that it would benefit your book more if I did not skim your book and write a rushed review. Again, I am sorry for the inconvenience.

In 1942, Cressida Westcott, a celebrated fashion designer, finds herself homeless after her London house and business are destroyed in the Blitz. With nowhere to turn, she heads to the country village of Aldhurst and her family manor, which she left long ago after choosing a life of independence rather than a restricted one of duty. She is welcomed by her niece Violet and nephew Hugh. While Violet is excited to meet her famous aunt, she is preoccupied with marrying a man with a title and Hugh has inherited his late father’s rigidness. The local vicar’s daughter Grace is preparing to wed another vicar and is hoping to repair her mother’s badly damaged white wedding gown. Once Cressida meets the women of the local sewing circle, she not only helps Grace with her dress but she is able to bring a new unity and sense of purpose to the group. They band together to create a wedding gown exchange enabling women to have the wedding of their dreams during a period of severe rationing. Together Cressida, Violet and Grace, three very different women, learn more about themselves and the possibilities that could lie ahead including finding true love.

While set during the height of World War II, Jennifer Ryan’s appealing book is about community and helping one another during a time of hardship and sacrifice. While the threat of bombs and death are all around, this is a book that celebrates the human spirit. The story of the wedding gown exchange is based on a true-life effort that spread across England. I have enjoyed reading all of the author’s books as they are filled with spirited women full of gumption and resilience. The Wedding Dress Sewing Circle is a charming, uplifting story. A nice change from some of the heavier, gut-wrenching wartime novels I also read.

This was a book I was surprised I enjoyed so much. It revolves around the life of three women during the height of World War two. Cressida is a designer who is forced to leave London and return to the family manor in a small village. Her niece Violet is a pampered young woman who suddenly finds herself conscripted in the armed forces and gains newfound confidence and independence. Grace is the vicar's daughter who isn't quite sure if her fiancé is the right man for her, especially when her heart belongs to another.
These women lives intersect when they begin to repair and update an old wedding dress. What starts as a small project spreads through all of England. The story was uplifting and I loved that it was based on true events. I received a complimentary ebook from Netgalley.com in exchange for a review.

Jennifer Ryan's latest story, THE WEDDING DRESS SEWING CIRCLE, is a spirited, lush plunge into Britain during World War II. Disasters large and small unite an unlikely trio of women into a powerful force for good. No one would have expected the changes rippling from the night a bomb flattens the house and business of accomplished couture designer Cressida Westmount. With nowhere else to go, she retreats to the countryside manor from which she fled years ago to live the life of her dreams. There she discovers her niece Violet is more than vacuous upper crust husband hunter and meek, mild, retiring Grace is a powerhouse of design, passion, and intelligence. However, Cressida may be the spark, but all three of these women change, love, expand into their fullest and most radiant selves. Providing wedding dresses to war brides desperate for a white wedding, this trio and friends create an ingenious and wonderful way to make the world a more beautiful place during an impossible time. I felt like I knew the characters and the village, the life and times. A wonderfully researched and beautiful story. I received an advance copy and these opinions are my own, unbiased thoughts.

The Wedding Dress Sewing Circle by Jennifer Ryan, makes readers feel warm and cozy all over. It is historical fiction based on true events. You will absolutely fall in love with the brave women in this delightful story. Jennifer Ryan, writes the right amount of romance without graphic sex scenes. The talented author visually transports you into the heart of her books.

1942- During the London Blitz:
Cressida Westcott is a famous fashion designer. Her clothes are sought after designs often featured in Vogue magazine. She is ultra successful until her home and business are destroyed during a bomb raid. Cressida survives the attack, but is forced to go back to the family home where she was raised. There she becomes reacquainted with her nephew Hugh, niece Violet, and a delightful group of women in a sewing circle.

With the help of an incredible young woman named Grace Carlisle, Cressida and the spirited women in the sewing circle soon begin redesigning used wedding dresses into beautiful works of art. These gorgeous dresses are used by brides of that era to help create the wedding of their dreams.

I am a huge fan of historical fiction. This book is the perfect example of brave people during war stepping up in hardship to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. That is what love, hope, and strength are all about. Jenner Warner nailed it in her outstanding new book.

The Wedding Dress Sewing Circle is available on May 31st. (4.75 ⭐⭐⭐⭐💫)

Thank you, NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, for the honor of reviewing this inspiring look back in history. It inspires me to reach out and grab life! Chin up and eyes forward!

I love a good historical fiction. Add in a little romance, wedding dresses, and a fashion show... I was hooked. I learn so much from historical fiction. I didn't realize that not only was food rationed in WWII but clothing, too! I think I am taken in by the friendship of the women in this book. As a girl who dreads groups of people, I'm a little jealous of the connections formed by this group of women.

The Wedding Dress Sewing Circle is WWII historical fiction. This novel was well researched and with the kind of details that readers enjoy. I absolutely loved this novel.

Ryan provides three narrators, with each woman having the opportunity to tell her own story. The history in this novel focuses on the rationing of clothing during WWIII, when German blockades made it difficult to have clothing, yarn, and fabric imported. Each person received clothing coupons that allowed her to replenish her closet. These small number of coupons were not sufficient and so women worked together to mend and repair worn clothing and to turn old clothing into new fresh designs. The three women protagonists in this novel--Cressida, Violet, and Grace--work together to help each woman in the village have the opportunity to replenish her wardrobe. In the midst of this work to provide clothing, Grace asks for help to repair her mother's moth damaged wedding dress. It is the work on this wedding dress that leads the community to donate and remake wedding dresses for every woman, who needs a dress for her wedding day. This story is historically accurate. Wedding dresses were repaired and remade and loaned to every woman who wanted to wear a white gown on her wedding day.

The Wedding Dress Sewing Circle is captivating and a cannot-put-down story. There is no real mystery in this novel, but it is the village and the people who live there, whose stories are so compelling. There is love and romance and history, all of which work to keep the reader turning pages into the night. This is the first Jennifer Ryan book that I have read. I will definitely read more. Thank you to the author and to Random House Publishing for providing this ARC for me to read and review. The opinions expressed in this review are my own honest thoughts about this novel. I loved it. And a big thank you to NetGalley for introducing me to another fabulous writer.

The Wedding Dress Sewing Circle by Jennifer Ryan is the story of three bold women lift the spirits of homefront brides in wartime Britain where clothes rations have put a damper on celebrations, especially weddings. When renowned fashion couturier Cressida Westcott loses her home and her design house in the London Blitz, she has nowhere to go but back to the family manor. Her niece, Violet Westcott, is thrilled and awestruck that her famous aunt is at Aldhurst Manor. Life has been unbelievably dull as life is put on hold while the men fight overseas. But soon she is conscripted into service and her dull, boring routine is about to take an interesting turn. Grace Carlisle, the local vicar’s daughter, is trying to repair her mother’s wedding gown. When she meets Cressida at the local Sewing Circle, Grace asks for her help. Cressida is more than willing to help. Soon the Sewing Circle is motivated into action as they offer their services to help other brides. In a time of war, these women work hard to celebrate love. Can they even find it for themselves?
The Wedding Dress Sewing Circle was inspired by true events as Ms. Ryan grew up listening to her grandmother’s stories about life during WWII. From the very beginning, the mood and atmosphere captured me as the British people are striving to keep a stiff upper life and to carry on. I have read many stories about WWII and this book is the first in my memory that focused on the experiences on the homefront. Cressida, Violet and Grace are three very different women who strive for similar goals: love and a life that matters. I thoroughly enjoyed reading their experiences and their strength to rise to the challenges that wartime can bring. I especially enjoyed seeing Violet’s growth from a spoiled debutante to a capable woman who underestimated her own intelligence. Ms. Ryan is a new author to me and I look forward to reading more of her books in the future. At its heart, The Wedding Dress Sewing Circle is about strength in community, in individuals and strength to overall life’s challenges. I thoroughly enjoyed The Wedding Dress Sewing Circle and highly recommend it!

The Wedding Dress Sewing Circle
is available May 31, 2022 in hardcover, eBook and audiobook



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The Wedding Dress Sewing Circle is a wonderful WWII historical fiction. If your a fan of novels set in homefront Britain during World War II you'll love this book!

This is a heartwarming book about friendship, love and finding ways to uplift each other even in during times of war. When a small town sewing group joins together to update a wedding dress for one of their own they come up with an idea to update & mend older wedding dresses so wartime brides still have a special dress. Based on true events Jennifer Ryan does it again with a lovely story and a group of women you can't help but want to see succeed and maybe find love too!

Thanks to Ballantine books for an advanced copy of The Wedding Dress Sewing Circle! It comes out May 31st!

Jennifer Ryan deftly captures how British women of all ages and social classes found the world tilting in directions they never anticipated during WWII. She explores how the circumstances on the homefront and beyond altered the lives of women who found themselves trying to maintain a foothold on their dreams, take advantage of new opportunities, and find new anchors to keep them balanced. Told primarily through the perspective of three women with unique viewpoints, this heart-gripping tale of a small village sewing circle brings another interesting contribution to the increasing body of excellent fiction about women in WWII.

Thank you to Random House Publishing, Ballantine, the author, and Netgalley for access to an early electronic version of this book.