The Dressmaker's Secret

I loved the dressmaker, it was one of my favourite books and I loved the movie, being able to read the sequel was such a pleasure and I wanna thank NetGalley and Pan Macmillan Australia for approving me.

The story starts out with buzz of the queen coronation.
Myrtle “Tilly” Dunnage is working at Salon Mystique after leaving Dungatar.

Just like “The Dressmaker” Rosalie Ham’s writing is a pleasure to flick through, you’re engaged by the first page and can’t stop even if you wanted too.

Not going to lie I was shook at what happened within the first couple chapters there were some things I DID not see coming.

I never wanted the story to end but I’m so satisfied with this ones ending, I’ll forgive it. What a heartwarming, engaging & beautiful story woven perfectly with twists and turns so mischievous. I could go on forever.

I can not wait for its release 27TH OF OCTOBER.
Gonna grab up a physical copy too,

5 stars.

What a pleasure to catch up with Tilly and the population of Dungatar. With some new characters introduced, The Dressmaker's Secret gives some more insight into Tilly as well as Sergeant Farrat and the McSwiney family. Loved it. Thanks to Netgalley for a preview of this lovely book.

This sequel to "The Dressmaker" keeps the quirkiness and originality of the characters alive. Most of the characters in the first book make a reappearance, with a couple of new additions. You can visualise the beautiful dresses once again, and fall in love again with the outrageous Tilly.

‘Now here she was, the sad mess of her life enduring and another past from which to flee.’

In this sequel to the wonderfully quirky ‘The Dressmaker’, we find Tilly Dunnage in Melbourne. It is 1953, and Melbourne society is looking forward to several events around the coronation of the young princess who is about to become Queen Elizabeth II. And appropriate dresses will be required. Tilly is working in a pretentious, second-rate salon in Collins Street where she is underpaid and unappreciated. Why? Because Tilly is keen to remain anonymous as she tries to escape from the past.

But the past is not quite so keen to let go of Tilly. Sergeant Farrat and the McSwiney clan have been looking for her, as are the residents of Dungatar. While the former might have Tilley’s best interests at heart, the residents want revenge. Well, some of them would just like some new frocks.

I loved ‘The Dressmaker’ (novel and film) and this novel is a worthy (albeit darker) sequel. Can Tilly succeed, despite the odds stacked against her? How many of her secrets will she be able to keep? There are some delightful laugh-out-loud moments (where would we be without Horatio Farrat?), some beautiful creations to admire and some very tricky moments to negotiate.

While I did not enjoy this quite as much as ‘The Dressmaker’, I am longing for it to be turned into a film so I can admire the dresses Tilly creates.

I strongly recommend reading ‘The Dressmaker’ first.

Note: My thanks to NetGalley and Pan MacMillan Australia for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book for review purposes.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

I received a copy of The Dressmaker’s Secret through Netgalley in return for my honest review.

The Dressmakers Secret is the sequel to The Dressmaker which is an Australian story, loved for it’s humour.

I enjoyed The Dressmaker and The Dressmakers Secret is a great sequel. There are characters we already know and a few new characters introduced in The Dressmaker’s Secret.

The Dressmaker’s secret has the reader wondering can Tilly succeed? and when and how will her secret(s) be revealed?

Within this book, there are some laugh-out-loud moments, some sad moments, and as expected, some beautiful creations described.

The wonderfully strong, loving friendship between Tilly and Sergeant Farrat shines brightest in this story of friendship, family, love and resilience. That is what I liked the best in thes book, the unconditional friendship between Tilly and Sergeant Farrat.

I recommend reading The Dressmaker before you read The Dressmakers Secret to make sure you are familiar with the characters and their background stories.

Following on from The Dressmaker we find Tilly Dunnage hiding out in Melbourne having burned down the town and fled from the residents of Dungatar. Tilly is trying to stay anonymous working at the not so fabulous Salon Mystique, living alone at the horrible Short family residence whilst trying to hide from her terrible past and build herself a new future.

However Tilly's past is not so keen to let go, both friends and foe have followed her to Melbourne and her secrets cannot stay hidden forever.

This book was so fun, it was packed with drama, romance, secrets, unconventional characters and crazy 1950's vibes. I was immediately wrapped up in the story and carried away by Ham’s descriptive prose. I could vividly imagine the streets of Melbourne dressed up for the queen's coronation, feel the fabrics Tilly was working with and experienced Tilly's pain everytime another obstacle arose on her way to her new life. This was a novel with so many laugh out loud moments, moments that will leave you distraught and also moments that will have you so riled up with anger at how women were treated in the 50s. It is safe to say this novel was a rollercoaster of emotions for me.

There are characters you will recognise from The Dressmaker (The Sergeant, The McSwiney family, Marigold, Gertrude etc) as well as new characters who bring their own eccentricities to the story. In this novel we meet Nita the glamorous movie star and her stalker, the welfare officer who is also set to ruin Tilly's life, Julie a woman who can make a size 11 foot look like a size 5, and the members of the Hippocampus club, where crossdressers and rule breakers are welcomed with open arms. It is a wild and wacky novel that I thoroughly enjoyed.

I would highly recommend this to anyone who enjoyed The Dressmaker and i can’t wait to watch Tilly’s dresses come to life if this novel also gets a screen adaptation (fingers crossed).

I was fully invested in this book. I read it in one day that never happens. While reading i was there and it was written jn a way that was not too descriptive but gave me just what i needed. This was a lovely surprise. I really enjoyed this.

In the sequel to The Dressmaker, Rosalie Ham has the reader reuniting with residents of Dungatar in The Dressmaker’s Secret.

This is an easy read, with quirky characters and one you could easily devour in a day.

I would like to thank NetGalley and Pan MacMillan Australia for kindly gifting me this book to read and review.