The Wedding Dress Sewing Circle is a historical novel set in Aldhurst Village, England during World War II. The novel is told from the perspective of three women: Grace, the meek vicar's daughter, who longs for love and a family of her own; Violet, the daughter of the wealthiest family in the community, who wants to marry an aristocrat; and Cressida, Violet's aunt, who lost her home and fashion design business in London during a bombing. The women spend time in the community sewing circle and come up with the idea to remake old wedding gowns that can be borrowed by brides, in light of the strict clothing rations during the War.

I wanted to read this novel because I love historical fiction. I have liked all of Jennifer Ryan's books, and The Chilbury Ladies Choir is one of my favorite novels.

This is such a lovely book - absolutely my favorite read of the year. It reminds me a lot of The Chilbury Ladies Choir in both setting and format -- a small British village during World War II, told from the perspective of different women in the community.

I loved the stories of the three protagonists. Violet was very off-putting at first, with an air of privilege, but she became my favorite character as she becomes involved in the war effort in a serious way and her perspective changes through work and a romance with a dashing American officer. Grace has a sweet story about pursuing her dreams and pining after a childhood sweetheart. Cressida also reconnects with a man from her past, with her niece (Violet) and nephew (Hugh, Grace's crush), and she finds herself changed by living in a small, close-knit community for the first time since she was a young girl.

I highly recommend The Wedding Dress Sewing Circle for fans of historical fiction, and especially for anyone who is interested in fiction set during World War II. It is beautifully written and tells such an ultimately uplifting story.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review

This novel is set in London during WW2, this is a story of 3 women and how they survive and the changes they go through during the war.

Jennifer Ryan's newest book The Wedding Dress Sewing Circle is an enjoyable, satisfying read. Set in World War 2 England, the book centers specifically on three women who are tied together in numerous ways but most significantly through mending and making over a wedding dress. While initially quite different in personality and outlook, the three main characters all grow significantly during the six months time frame of the book. The war, and particularly the clothing rations, play into the story line by providing the context and backdrop for the story which focuses on the hardships of those at home. With an emphasis on a wedding dress, there is definitely some romance involved and some definite twists and turns.

Recommended for high school and up. A great, fun summer vacation read. This is my first book by this author and I look forward to reading her other titles.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received The Wedding Dress Sewing Circle from Random House Publishing--Ballantine Books via NetGalley. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.

Thank you to the author and publisher for providing me with a digital ARC of this title via Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

I am so glad I got the chance to read this title. It was such an enjoyable, fun read. I loved the characters and the sweet story of the women in a small town making a big difference through their sewing circle. I will happily recommend this title and pass it on to my friends.

This is the third of Jennifer Ryan’s novels that I’ve read and I enjoyed it just as much as I did her previous works. One of the things I appreciated about this book is that, despite the similar background and setting (the home front in the British countryside during WWII) to both The Chilbury Ladies’ Choir and The Kitchen Front, Ryan still managed to make this a very different story. With most of the men off fighting in the war, the women at the home front do what they can to support the war effort. But with all the rationing taking place and the severe limitations on necessities from food to clothing, challenges abound for those trying to keep things going at home. It is against this backdrop that we meet 3 spirited women from different walks of life who are brought together through a joint effort of wanting to help other women celebrate love by mending wedding dresses for brides across the country.

Cressida Wescott grew up in Aldhurst village, but left when she was in her twenties due to a falling out with her brother. After fleeing to London, she makes a name for herself as one of the country’s top fashion designers — not an easy feat, especially for a single woman given the sentiments of the time and the traditions that confined most women to a life of marriage and motherhood. All goes well until both Cressida’s London home and her design house are bombed to ashes in the London Blitz and instantly, she loses everything that she worked so hard to establish. With no other recourse, Cressida has no choice but to return to Aldhurst and stay with her niece and nephew while she rebuilds her business, all the while hoping that the two of them are kinder and more hospitable than their late father was. While her niece Violet is thrilled that the famous aunt she never knew will be staying with them, she has her own “trouble” to worry about in the form of the conscription letter for war work that she receives, which effectively dashes her lifelong dream of marrying an aristocratic husband. Meanwhile, Grace Carlisle, the local vicar’s daughter, is engaged to be married and wants desperately to be able to wear her mother’s wedding gown for the ceremony. For Grace, it’s a special way to remember her beloved mother, who died 10 years ago, and also her only hope for a traditional white wedding given the mandatory wartime clothes rationing, which has made wedding gowns a scarce commodity. Unfortunately, her mother’s wedding gown is too damaged to wear without repairing, so Grace brings it to her sewing club in the hopes that, together with the other ladies in the club, they are able to salvage it. It is there that she meets Cressida, who decides to accompany Violet to one of the meetings, and as they come up with a plan to repair the wedding gown, the women also form an unexpected, close friendship. Soon, the “project” of repairing Grace’s wedding dress expands into the broader idea of a wedding dress exchange program where the ladies from the sewing circle mend donated wedding dresses and lend them out to other brides so they can get the chance to have a white wedding of their own.

I loved the concept of this story and felt that Jennifer Ryan did a great job writing about the time period in a way that made me feel like I was there sharing the characters’ experiences. Speaking of the characters — I also loved how, once again, Ryan’s main female protagonists were all strong, admirable women who had no problem standing up against the conventions of the time. The narrative alternates between Cressida’s, Violet’s and Grace’s perspectives, and together, we get the entirety of their shared story and experiences. While there was a little more romance in this one than I expected, especially when compared to the previous two books of hers that I had read, it didn’t overshadow the rest of the story, so I was fine with it.

Overall, this was in the same vein of Ryan’s previous two “home front” themed novels in that the tone was lighthearted and uplifting, though it also dealt with serious issues in a respectful, non- heavy handed way. Having said that, I did feel that the story as a whole was a tad longer than it needed to be, especially around the midway mark, where some of the scenes felt repetitive and I felt like I was losing interest, but I kept with it and am glad I did, as the story turned out well in the end.

I enjoyed this one and definitely recommend it, especially for fans of Jennifer Ryan’s previous works about women’s wartime effort on the home front. Also if you’re looking for a WWII-themed read that’s resonant and poignant but not too heavy, this one fits the bill quite nicely.

Received ARC from Ballantine Books via NetGalley.

During WWII, women had no choice but to be resourceful and support each other, since they were left home when the men went off to fight. This book was a beautiful example of how 3 women took it on themselves to make sure that every bride had a wedding dress to be proud of for her wedding.

While there were definitely sad parts of the story, I found it to be uplifting and hopeful. I really enjoyed it.

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book, but my opinions are my own.

The Wedding Dress Sewing Circle is a heartwarming story of resilience and finding oneself against the backdrop of WWII. Three women in a small English village from different backgrounds come together to support the war effort through their sewing circle. When one of the women brings her mother's wedding dress to the group, the women find they have much more to contribute as they mend and repurpose the gown which sets them on a new journey that may lead to love. A thoroughly enjoyable read that shares a part of history that many may not know about.

An interesting read, not an absolute favorite, was not an “I can’t put this down” but drawn in enough to finish. I’ll have to read more of this author. Thanks to the publisher and netgalley for this ARC opportunity!

This was a really charming story of three women who are part of a group during WWII who provided wedding dresses to brides free of charge since the fabric and supply shortage made it difficult to find bridal gowns during the war. I didn't know that this was based on true events, and it was really interesting to learn about yet another facet of life that we take for granted that folks had to figure out how to work around in wartime. Fans of historical fiction will really enjoy this one. There's some romance, great character development, overall just a really great story.

Book received for free through NetGalley

Read 15% of the way into this book but kept starting and stopping and ultimately forgot about it. Figured it was better to review as is. It was written well just not my cup of tea.

3.5 stars.

I adored this author's book The Kitchen Front and was offered a comp copy of this her latest from Penguin Random House through NetGalley.

For me, this was a feel good story, as many WWII books attempt to be. When silk and other fabrics grew scarce in Britain, the government asked the people to "Make Do and Mend" clothing. There came a wedding dress shortage, so women were asked to wear their uniforms or street clothes instead. This sewing circle in a small English village would have none of that so began advertising for used bridal gown donations, of which they would loan out the original dress intact, or reconfigure it if damaged.

Here the circle grew very close while working to create happiness for others. The gown that started the entire idea was remade and used for three weddings and counting. With all the talk about weddings, of course there is some love and (gasp) romance, but this didn't bother me since it came with so much history and displays of kindness.

As with The Kitchen Front, I'm left with a much needed warm and fuzzy feeling. Maybe it will make you feel it too.

I was invited to read The Wedding Dress Sewing Circle by Jennifer Ryan by the publisher through netgalley.com. I was first introduced to Jennifer Ryan with her book The Kitchen Front, which is another wonderful story filled with well developed characters and a clever story. I was drawn to this book due to the title (I adore any books dealing with dresses, especially wedding dresses) and the cover. This story opens in 1942 England as Grace is examining her mother’s wedding gown and discovers it damaged by moths in the attic. Next, we meet both Violet and Cressida as they deal with situations arising from the war. Jennifer Ryan expertly weaves a clever story of these women. You feel that you are walking alongside them as they deal with what life throws at them, but then you hold your breath and cheer as the story winds itself to a wonderful conclusion. There are plot twists and romance, and a real appreciation for what the ladies in 1940 England had to deal with. I really enjoyed reading this story.

I really, really enjoyed the Wedding Dress Sewing Circle! It was a wonderful women's literature/historical fiction book following several characters find love and purpose as they connected over helping create re-made wedding dresses from donated ones, and helping women get those wedding dresses, during the clothes rationing of WWII (this was based on historical events).

It was a sweet story and I enjoyed each of the women's stories. There was nothing inappropriate (sex, language, gore) in the book either, so it was suitable for young adults as well.

It made me happy to read this book. I needed something not too heavy or hard to read while on a trip and I enjoyed it immensely.

The Wedding Dress Sewing Circle is a captivating tale about reconnecting with your past in order to have a better future.

When renowned designer Cressida Westcott left her childhood home, she vowed never to return. Her parents had died, her brother Eustace subsequently treated her abominably, and so she struck out on her own and has been wildly successful. Twenty years later, a single bomb does serious damage to her independence. Cressida loses both her elegant townhouse and her design studio in the London Blitz and since she is far from the only one who has suffered such a loss, she finds herself with absolutely nowhere to go. Her friends aren’t close enough for her to move in with, the hotels are full and there is no flat, house or hovel vacant to rent. Since Eustace has died, Cressida screws up her courage and calls Aldhurst Manor, the family estate. Her nephew Hugh isn’t effusively welcoming but he agrees to let her stay. She heads to Aldhurst with only the nightgown she was wearing at the moment of the bombing, her coat and her handbag. She owns literally nothing else except her worries that she won’t be able to rebuild her business.

Violet Westcott has never met her aunt Cressida but she is thrilled when she hears the infamous black sheep of the family is coming to stay at the manor. Violet prizes her beauty above everything else and wartime fashions haven’t exactly made the most of it. Her biggest hope is that her aunt will be able to help her build a new wardrobe which will in turn help Violet catch a new aristocratic fiancée – the last one had foolishly managed to get himself killed in the war. But just as plans of new dresses dance like visions of sugarplums through Violet’s head, a conscription letter arrives in the mail. She is required to do her bit for the current inconvenient conflict and will have to leave for training in the FANYs just days after Cressida arrives. And before then she is expected to put in an appearance at the local Sewing Circle, a unit she nominally heads but which the village do-gooder runs. Surprisingly, Cressida agrees to join Violet on this little adventure and becomes a catalyst that will forever change the small group. And it all begins with one dress.

Vicar’s daughter Grace Carlisle had no idea the effect pulling her mother’s beautiful old wedding gown out of the attic would have on her life. The dress is not only her sole hope for having a white frock for her upcoming nuptials, it will be the only representation of Grace’s mother – who passed away from tuberculosis a decade earlier – at this pivotal ceremony. However, the smock is moth-eaten and Grace has no idea how to repair the damage without new silk – which is unequivocally unavailable. She takes it to the Sewing Circle meeting on the slim hope that the ladies there will have some inkling of what to do. Cressida Westcott’s appearance at the meeting therefore has the feel of a fairy godmother popping out of nowhere to get her ready for the ball. Cressida quickly takes over the project and their joint efforts to repair the gown surprisingly turn Grace from a rather frumpy, dispirited young woman into a luscious beauty who quickly rediscovers the joie de vivre and courage she lost when her mother passed.

Which is a good thing, because her former best friend Hugh, now lord of Aldhurst Manor and head of their small village, looks to be following in his extremely unpopular father’s footsteps – and it seems like only Grace is willing to step up and tell him just what he can do with his attitude of superiority towards their community and the people in it

Lately I’ve been reading a lot of romance novels which have a decidedly women’s fiction vibe, but this one is the opposite – women’s fiction that is for all intents and purposes a romance novel. The narrative follows our three heroines as they come to terms with some of their past life choices and find love along the way.

In the case of Cressida, this means dealing with the fact that the pain caused by her elder brother forced her to build an impenetrable shell which has kept her closed off from others. The bombing and move to Aldhurst help her realize just how lonely she is and how much she longs for community. Being welcomed back by those she grew up with in the village helps her to reclaim the loving, caring part of herself she’d had to leave behind in order to succeed, and she finds herself revitalized as she takes part in village life. Reconnecting with a good friend from childhood reminds her that not all men are like her brother and allows her to open her heart to the idea that her future doesn’t have to be as empty of romance as her past.

Violet’s father convinced her that her sole purpose in life was to be a vapid adornment in some man’s life. Watching the vigor and independence with which Cressida lives her life opens Violet’s mind to the idea she could be so much more. Joining the FANYs and having some sense gently pounded into her by superior officers who come from the working classes finishes her transformation into a bright, capable young woman, something for which I was extremely thankful. The Violet of the first few chapters was not someone I could have spent a whole book with. The new and improved Violet starts to look at men as something more than just a title and of course that helps her to discover love.

Grace has allowed herself to be swallowed by grief. Rather than mourning her mother, Grace essentially took her place, allowing vicarage work to devour her lively spirits and replace them with a placid, serene woman who spent twenty-four hours a day in service to others. She has also allowed herself to become engaged to a man who sees her as little more than a work horse. Cressida helps Grace realize that sometimes the best we have to offer everyone around us is our genuine self.

As the women work on their own love lives, they also begin a project to find wedding dresses for those around them. Wartime rationing has left many brides scrambling for something to wear on their big day and often settling for wearing a uniform or everyday dress. The ladies of the sewing circle begin refurbishing old wedding gowns and lending them out, which turns into quite a popular enterprise.

Ryan’s prose is elegant and engaging, her characterizations rich and wonderful, and her historicity is blended perfectly into her story telling. If you like women’s fiction and tales of the second world war at all, you will love any book written by her including this one.

The Wedding Dress Sewing Circle is a perfect meringue cookie of a book. It is sweet and light and lovely, almost to the point of being too twee. It doesn’t have much depth but if you are looking for something charming and delightful, pick this up.

“The Wedding Dress Sewing Circle” by Jennifer Ryan is a purely delightful read! This WWII historical fiction tells the story of Cressida Westscott, London fashion designer whose home and design studio are destroyed in a Nazi bombing raid, forcing her to seek shelter in the village she fled years earlier. Despite her apprehensions on returning to her small village, she is soon caught up in friendships and community life including the village sewing circle. There is more than one romance in the book - only appropriate for a “wedding” titled book! Each character is so well-drawn that we are quickly caught up in their story and want to see how it spools out, and how Ryan will pull all the threads together at the end. Highly recommend for fans of WWII historical fiction! Thanks to #NetGalley for the early digital copy! #TheWeddingDressSewingCircle #NetGalley

Jennifer Ryan writes in a manner that draws in the reader, creating a feeling of belonging. Characters are beautifully crafted in all her books. Cressida Westcott is forced to leave Chelsea behind and seek asylum with a niece and nephew she knows little of and is leery of her reception. A noted couturier, she must reimagine life as it is rather than as it was. Slowly, she becomes a part of the family, the village and the women of the sewing circle. Her talent takes on a new meaning as she awakens feelings and emotions, and opens herself to friendship and belonging.
The Wedding Dress Circle is more than chic lit, slightly WWII historical fiction, it is a very relatable tale.

I love historical fiction books like this one that feature a group of strong women across classes who come into their own during the war, finding new found purpose and love along the way. This book was especially interesting with its focus on the cloth shortages and the ways women came together to help one another with wedding dresses and other special occasion items. The author did such a good job interweaving real facts throughout the story seamlessly. Perfect for fans of books like The Chilbury ladies' choir or The Kew Gardens girls at war. Much thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance review copy!

I really enjoyed this book. While it does include the standard have and have-nots arguments, the way things are resolved in the book are satisfying. I did learn a lot about how things were during war time England. And it was interesting to read how things were handled in London versus the countryside.

This was such an enjoyable refreshing read, the camaraderie of women during WW II is so uplifting. I wish we had the women's groups here in the US that they still do in England.

I had heard of the mend and make do programs they had during WW II and growing up my grandmother continued to take a piece of clothing and repurpose it into something else. The idea of wedding dresses getting a new life with a new bride filled my heart with joy. I took my time reading this book as I wanted to savor the characters and the time period.

I loved the previous book by this author, The Chilbury Ladies' Choir and I loved this book as well. I can't wait to find other books by this author.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group-Ballantine Books for the opportunity to read and review this wonderful story.

An upbeat ode to love in its various forms, fashioned as a historical romance set in England during WWII. I loved reading this heartwarming and hopeful story, which also celebrates women, community and equality. That sentence may sound jarring given the time frame and setting, and horrific loss, fear and deprivation do feature in the tale. Overall, however, the author chose to focus on survival, resourcefulness and keeping calm and carrying on. This book was mostly beautifully written, and the main characters, the Kent countryside and the fashions particularly came alive. As a daughter of a Protestant minister, I especially appreciated how aptly Jennifer Ryan captured the selflessness, duties and sacrifices expected of the vicar’s daughter, and the associated conflicts with which she struggled. I occasionally noticed dialogue seeming a bit stilted, and in some, especially earlier scenes, “showing rather than telling” would have been more compelling. I’ve also read The Kitchen Front, The Spies of Shilling Lane and The Chilbury Ladies’ Choir by Jennifer Ryan, and felt the tone in the latter two was a bit flat and the character development a bit wanting somehow. For my taste, The Wedding Dress Sewing Circle is at least on par with the seemingly popular The Kitchen Front, and might be the strongest of Jennifer Ryan’s historical novels to date. Three and 1/2 stars, rounded up due to the joy sparked by the read and the escape to a beautifully depicted English village. Many thanks to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for the ARC. This review reflects my honest opinion.