I want to thank Netgalley and the author for gifting me the ebook. Really enjoyed this book a lot. I love the fashion side of the story. I also love the cover!

This was such an enjoyable book and fulfilled my strong historical interest: namely WWII Britain and how “regular” people coped with wartime shortages. Further, the author explained wartime government rules relating to clothing coupons and how they affected what people could buy, when items were even available. I had never heard about so many things covered, such as how valuable downed parachutes were, nor that the government had outlawed their personal use for clothing; likewise, government banning of icing on cakes due to sugar shortage was news to me. Nor did I know there had been such an item as “liquid stockings” or cheaper substitutes!

As to the characters, Cressida, Violet, Grace and Hugh show beautiful and heartwarming changes for the better. The “do your duty to the family” mentality of wealthy patriarchs in terms of marriage evinced by both Hugh and Violet illuminated an area I had not learned about previously. The on-the-scene description of the Blitz of London early in the book was extremely evocative and I felt I was truly there.

The story revolves around not only the local Aldhurst Village Sewing Circle, how it evolves into the Wedding Dress Sewing Circle (and such circles did actually exist) but also that women such as single Violet were conscripted, something I did not know but found interesting. The work of the Air Raid Precautions (ARP) personnel is also elucidated.

The narrative of each character’s story developed well, and there is no shortage of conflict and romance both. As I mentioned earlier, characterizations are superb.

This was the first book I had read by the author, but will not be the last. My thanks to #NetGalley and the publisher, Ballantine, for an advance copy.

This is a story set in war time. Most of the women are single and they began by fixing a deteriorating bride's dress for one of their own. Then they began gathering more bride's dresses and fixing them up for whatever woman would like to borrow one.
Ballentine Books and Net Galley let me read this book for review (thank you). It will be published on May 31st.

The women helping try to please their families with the men they date and plan to marry but it's not going well. They fall in love with others. Friends in the past. Now their loves. Will they marry who they should or will they follow their hearts?

I knew that sewing was going to be a big part of this story as it is called “The Wedding Dress Sewing Circle,” but it opened my eyes to a whole part of WWII in Britain that I knew nothing about - clothing rationing. I’ve heard of food rationing, but never considered that fabric and buttons would be in short supply as well. I appreciated the author’s attention to every detail and her thorough research of the period. I was not surprised to read in her comments at the end that she had a family connection to WWII fashion.

Told from the POV of three very different women: Cressida, Grace and Violet, this is really a story of connection and how the people that surround you can change your life. I thought the characters, including a vibrant cast of side characters, were well drawn and believable and really appreciated their different arcs.

Thank you to Netgalley and Jennifer Ryan for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley, Ballantine Books, & Penguin Random House for the opportunity to read and review this book before it's publication date! This in no way affected my review, opinions are my own.

History with JR's backlist: Really liked Chilbury Ladies' Choir, LOVED The Spies of Shilling Lane, DNFed The Kitchen Front. As for The Wedding Dress Sewing Circle, I liked it A LOT. 4.5 stars, but I'm rounding up because it was SO CLOSE to full 5 star love.

Multiple POV historical fiction continues to be a favorite and I think this book used the narrative device so well! Three very different women who all help one another to grow in substantial ways, surrounded by the backdrop of a town and further group of women that will warm your heart.

The only misgivings I had was in how some of the changes in the characters came about - they were *totally believable* that these changes would happen over time, but I felt like I was told more than I was shown. I was able to look past it, but those that need really strong character development in a "show don't tell" way might get a little irked.

The Wedding Dress Sewing Circle would best be read during a crisp autumn evening, wearing an oversized knit sweater and knee-high socks, sitting on a comfy worn-in plush chair in front of a crackling fire, with a nice charcuterie board and an old fashioned glass filled with something red - Sangria, Manischewitz, Malbec, Concord Grape Juice - any would do the trick.

The Wedding Dress Sewing Circle by jennifer Ryan was such a delightful read. It checked all the boxes for me ~ wonderful characters, small-town setting, people coming together to make their little corner of the world a better place, and several HEAs.

This book, about a small-town sewing circle reworking worn clothing to extend the life or restyle it into something else was heartwarming and the personal growth several characters experienced was uplifting and a pleasure to read about.

In light of everything going on in the world today, I think a lot of readers are looking for an escape and this is the perfect book for that. Yes, there is adversity and it is set during WWII, but it's joyful and heartwarming just the same. I highly recommend this to anyone wanting a beautiful, easy-to-read escape from the reality of 2022.

Thank you to Netgalley, the author, and publisher for an ARC at my request. All thoughts are my own.

Sometimes you just want to immerse yourself in a good story and The Wedding Dress Sewing Circle definitely fits the bill.

Set in England during WWII, author Jennifer Ryan follows 3 women in a small English village -- Cressida Westcott, a fashion designer who flees London after both her home and design house are bombed; Violet Westcott, Cressida's niece, who has lived a very privileged and pampered life; and Grace Carlisle, the local vicar's daughter who's engaged to a dull man whom she doesn't love.

These three unlikely women begin to form a strong friendship along with the other ladies of the sewing circle when Grace brings her late mother's wedding dress to be repaired. Riddled with moth holes after being stored in the attic for so many years, Grace wants to wear the gown for her upcoming wedding. With each chapter focusing on one of these three women, we get a good perspective of village life during the war as well as how this core group of women start to bond. Cressida, Violet, and Grace have each gone or are going through romantic heartache, and it soon becomes evident early on how the story will progress.

Despite the predictability of the book, I still enjoyed the story. Thank you to #NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group/Ballantine Books for providing me with an ARC of #TheWeddingDressSewingCircle.

This was the first book I’ve read by Jennifer Ryan and It was fantastic. We meet three women who connect through a wedding dress, since this is WWII and fabric, like just about everything else, is hard to come by.

Cressida is a designer, who has to go back to her family’s home, now owned by her nephew Hugh, after her London home and shop is destroyed in a bombing. We meet two other women, Violet who is Cressida’a niece and is serching for a titles wealthy man to marry, as well as Grace who is engaged to a local chaplain. When the three become part of a local seeing circle and Cressida offers to re-design Grace’s mother wedidng dress, the story really starts with a tale of romance, occasional heartbreak, friendship and watching as these women start to come into their own and break of out of the confined roles women had at that time.

I always love a good book with strong females leads, and we have that here. What I really enjoyed the most is although it’s centered around a wedding dress, the romances really take a backseat to the friendship and sense of belonging these women feel.

I can’t wait to go read other books by Jennifer Ryan now!

This is my first time reading something by Jennifer Ryan, and it definitely will not be my last. I loved the multiple POVs of the characters, as well as the characters themselves. I felt like they were SO well-developed and SO realistic - every time there was dialogue, the character (especially Violet) said EXACTLY what I thought she should be saying. That's such a hard thing for a writer to do, and Jennifer Ryan nailed it. Other reviewers have noted that they wished they could be friends with the characters, and I wholeheartedly agree! I thought the Author's Note at the end was super interesting as well, mostly because I'm a nerd for research.
Overall, this was a wonderful story of friendship and overcoming obstacles and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to others.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for the ARC!

I really enjoyed this sweet story about a group of women trying to deal with the struggles of life during the war. Told from multiple perspectives, the story centers around a group of women in a small village who all face a challenge to the life they thought they wanted.

After a bomb destroys her London home and workplace, Cressida, a famous clothes designer heads to her family home in the country side. Cressida decides to help the local women's group to 'Mend and Make Do" as they are encouraged by the government.

Cressida's spoiled niece Violet is conscripted into military service, and she learns much more than how to drive a car.

With war rationing making it difficult to find a wedding dress, the ladies of the sewing circle help Grace, the local Vicar's daughter to restore a beautiful dress that belonged to her mother. That dress begins a circle of friendship and community service in this quaint country village.

Much more than a typical war brides story about WWII, this story shows the everyday life of British citizens and their commitment to the war efforts.

Historical fiction fans will enjoy their charming story.

Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to review this book..

I never tire of WWII fiction, and this one is a unique story line. Cressida has a successful career as a fashion designer in London when both her home and design house are destroyed in a bombing raid. She is homeless, so goes back to the family manor that she left so long ago when she decided not to carry on the traditions that were expected of the landed nobility. She clashes with her brother, now the head of the clan, but she literally has nowhere else to go. Her niece, Violet, part of the nobility who strives for nothing more than marrying well, looks forward to Cressida's return because of the clothes she'll be able to acquire. Grace, the vicar's daughter, part of the local sewing circle, encourages Cressida to join, and the group takes on the challenge of repairing Grace's mother's tattered wedding dress for her own upcoming nuptials. Severely restricted clothing coupons mean that brides cannot buy wedding dresses, or even fabric. The 3 women bind together, and the sewing circle starts acquiring and repairing old wedding dresses for loan to brides. The business grows by leaps and bounds, and the three women are also changed by their association with each other. Cressida and Violet have new found respect for people in other social strata, and Grace starts to question her own goals and life's path.

I really enjoyed this book, and the author places us in England, with bombs dropping and building crumbling. We are given a set of characters that we soon care about, and we begin with famous dress designer Cressida Westcott, a women who gave up the nobility life and forged a path of her own.
We travel with Cressida back to her roots, and with no other place to live she ends up in her childhood home. From here her life is set on a new track, a niece she didn’t know Violet, an old friends daughter, he is the Vicar, Grace, and a town of giving people, end up changing the lives of many.
This page turner of a read gives us a taste of community life, those who give all to make a special day more enjoyable for young brides, throw in a bit of romance, and dark times become brighter.
A book that once finished you would love to continue with!
I received this book through Net Galley and Ballantine Books, and was not required to give a positive review.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing-Ballantine Books for an egalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is my fourth Jennifer Ryan read and her WWII fiction is top notch. The female characters are always ones that I wish could be friends and by the end of the reading that is what they have become. Seriously, there has to be a streaming service producer somewhere that could turn these novels into fantastic mini-series.

In this novel, Ryan takes us to a small English village where a women's sewing circle band together to help each other during a time of war. The novel is narrated by three main characters0 dressmaker Cressida Westcott, the black sheep of a local family that is forced to end her exile and return home, her niece Violet who desires to get married to uphold the family name and just wishes the war would go away, and Grace Carlisle, the daughter of the local vicar who is readying to get married. The novel touches on the topics of female friendships, duty, love, and finding oneself.

This will certainly be among my favorite reads of 2022!


Expected publication 31/05/22
Goodreads review 08/05/22
#TheWeddingDressSewingCircle #NetGalley.

A terrific story about three women who had set ideas about their live and others until World War II brought them together to help redesign wedding dress. The three women Cressida, a clothes designer, Violet, an aristocratic, who thought her only mission was to be married to an aristocratic gentlemen and finally Grace who is a vicar's daughter who has been doing nothing but taking care of others, come together to help mend clothing so they can be reused by others, because Great Britain had a shortage of fabric and had to ration how much each person received. Now Grace who was getting married needed her mother's old wedding dress to be update so she brought the dress to the circle to get help fixing the dress and it is at that moment that the Wedding Dress Sewing Circle began. They thought that if they could reuse the wedding dresses then others could use them. And it thorough the process of fixing the dress in the circle that the three women started to see one another's point of view and learn from each other which created a tight knit group of women who became great friends and families.
I like that that the author developed characters that were opened to new ideas and were willing to help others achieve their goals and willing to change.
There is a few love stories going one here and they get their Happily Ever After, but the best part of the story is the story of Wedding Dress Circle and how important each of the members were to the circle and to each other.
I've been reading a lot of stories of how World War II effected Great Britain both fictional and non-fictional and it is amazing how much the country had to endure to survive and how strong they all had to be.
I want to thank Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Ballantine Books and NetGalley for this terrific heartwarming story about three women who got involved and helped others and in turn help themselves.

Absolutely charming!

There are have been many wonderful WWII novels in recent years, but this one may be my favorite. Three very different women come together in the English countryside and start the Wedding Dress Sewing Circle to mend and share wedding dresses after British women are told to get married in their military uniforms. Based largely on true events of perseverance and community this shared an element of Homefront life I hadn't been as familiar with.

The 3 women grow as the war changes them and each searches for self and love amidst worldwide and personal turmoil. I loved all 3 and enjoyed their stories immensely.

This is an outstanding historic fiction novel and one I will remember long after reading it!

Mend and Make Do

What every bride wants is a white wedding gown. Set during WWII fabric is hard to come by and especially silk fabric. This is a charming story set in a quaint English village where the women come together to solve this problem. It all starts with one moth eaten wedding gown.

The characters are wonderful and all fit together in the story. Grace the shy Vicar's daughter engaged to marry Lawrence a Vicar and become a Vicar's wife. She takes her mother's moth eaten gown to the Sewing circle in the village to see if the ladies can help mend it.

Violet Westcott and her brother Hugh live at the family manor house. When her aunt Cressida, a fashion designer from London comes to live at the Manor Violet is happy to see her. She has been bored in the village. Alas as soon as her aunt arrives Violet receives a conscription letter to report for service to the war effort.

Grace asks Cressida to help with mending her wedding dress. Soon the sewing circle is taking in wedding dress donations and under the guidance of Cressida lending them to brides not only local, but across the country.

A story of ladies working together to help other's during the war. It is also the story of romance between many of the couples and those they meet and fall in love with. Some know right away it takes longer for others, but the weddings are all wonderful with the dresses from the sewing circle.

A happy, entertaining story of clean romance, sweet beginnings and endings and a village working together. Each character must find his or her own way and solve the feelings and inadequacies they see within themselves. They must find it within themselves to take a chance and go for what their heart longs.

I loved this book it was a very good read and I would recommend it.

Thanks to Jennifer Ryan for writing such an enjoyable book, to Random House Publishers for publishing it and to NetGalley for making it available to me to read and review.

I absolutely loved this novel! I unfolded like a slow walk, yet so much happened. This is a great addition to Ryan's growing library of WWII fiction. Admittedly, Cressida sometimes came off as slightly preachy and Violet took time to warm up to, but the character development was rich and lovely. I sincerely hope this gets turned into a miniseries so I can see it come to life. I did not want this one to end!

4 stars

For her fourth novel, Jennifer Ryan has crafted an uplifting story of three women whose lives are brought together by a wedding dress and a war. Based on true events, our characters Violet, Cressida, and Grace will learn how to love for love's sake, to sacrifice for the greater good, and to become the best versions of themselves as they work to provide proper wedding dresses for brides in the face of an imposed clothing ration.

In structure and scope, this book is very similar to what is perhaps Ryan's best-known work - The Chilbury Ladies' Choir. Both books share a lot of the same ingredients: small English village, multiple female perspectives, and a little bit of light romance. For me, this book started out a bit slower than I would have liked with Ryan taking a fair amount of time to set up the characters and the story. However, once we hit about the 33% mark, I really started to get invested as Ryan puts our three ladies through their paces on the way to greater growth. I would have loved to see a bit more of the actual wedding dress sewing circle itself (with it being the title and all), but I did end up thoroughly enjoying this heartwarming story of love, loss, and hope.

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for an ARC of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It's light, comfortable reading about three women living in a small town in England during WWII. One is a fashion designer whose London home has been leveled by bombing during the blitz. The second is her young niece, who at first comes across as a typical spoiled aristocrat, but shows her mettle after joining the British Army and working as a mechanic and driver. The third protagonist is a young vicar's daughter who is unhappily engaged to a clergyman and needs a bridal gown. The three women bond while members of a local sewing group, working to "mend and make do" while clothing and fabric are scarce.

While set during WWII, this book does not seek to disturb you and makes good bedtime reading. It would make excellent book club or summer vacation reading. Highly recommended.

Loved the story of friendships with women and their resourcefulness and care of each other during WW2. I think if there’s one thing women always excel at, it’s making the best of things and making those things better. This story about wedding dresses being mended and shared around the community and inspiring it to be widespread is such a great example of that. So interesting learning about the rationing of clothing as well.

I also loved the 3 main characters. They each had flaws but also had courage. I loved their stories, how they grew thru the story with each other and in their relationships with the men thru grew to love.

Thanks to Netgalley for the advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.