Cover Image: The Wedding Dress

The Wedding Dress

Pub Date:   |   Archive Date:

Member Reviews

The Wedding Dress is a historical fiction novel that transcends several generations of women that all experience great love and wear the symbolic family wedding dress. The glitz and glamour of the wealthy in the 1920s before the stock market crash is where the novel begins with the coming out ball for Eleanor, where she meets Alex. The two fall in love and are at the top of the world until the Great Depression and their entire lives are changed forever. Despite the hard times, the two find ways to survive and set the example of family and love with the rest of the families stories that are told throughout the novel. The book provided a great escape and shows that even in tough times, love can prevail.

Was this review helpful?

#The WeddingDress#NetGalleyThe book brings you through four generation of a family from the highs to the lows
Story starts in San Francisco in the 1920'a as Charles and Louise Deveraux are living a grand life. They have a daughter Eleanor who is a debutante. The Mother and Daughter go to Europe for the perfect dress. At the ball she meets her future husband Alexander.on their honeymoon the stock market crashes. Things change, the families draw strength from each other.. They have a daughter and a granddaughter. life circles as each generation has many different hopes.
It is filled with traditions, and many family bonds as the world continues to go through change.
I really enjoyed this book as I have enjoyed many other Danielle Steel books.

Was this review helpful?

A great story following a family through the years as their fortunes change and the world changes. Tells us that not all riches are in houses and bank account but rather in the way we interact with each other. Loved this book.

Was this review helpful?

The Wedding Dress was a quick read, but did not meet my expectations. It was almost as if I had read this book before. Love and loss, financial gains losses and gains again., highs and lows, but nothing fascinating or memorable stood out.

Was this review helpful?

Danielle Steel does it again. A easy read , a historical fiction book.
This is about a young wealthy couple who marry in a lavish ceremony. Both have never know life without wealth. After returning from their honeymoon ,the stock market crashes and life as they know it changes . A good fast read in true Danielle Steel fashion

Was this review helpful?

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Eleanor was born and raised in the Golden Era before the Crash of 1929. When she met the love of her life, her mother took her to Paris to buy a couture wedding dress, which was the beginning of her happily ever after. During her honeymoon to Alex, financial ruin came to America and the world, and life changed dramatically. What follows is the story of Eleanor and Alex, and the future generations of their family, in which The Wedding Dress unites the generations.

Danielle Steel is a good writer, and I wanted to like this book more than I did. That is not to say that this was not an entertaining book, and a welcome read during the current COVID-19 crisis. I found this to be a generally well written book that kept my interest, and was a quick read. Right now, the world could really use some feel-good books where good people overcome adversity together, and this book definitely fits that bill.

This novel seems to follow the proven formula: girl meets boy, girl marries boy, girl and boy endure multiple devastating hardships together, and by the end everyone is happy and the book is tied up in a neat little bow. Such was the case with this latest novel. I understand doing what works, but I found myself wishing during the reading of this book that Ms. Steel would give her heroine just the tiniest break this time.

There were a few spots that were a bit to repetitive for my taste, as though the reader couldn’t be trusted to remember what had happened on the previous page. I also found a few minor historical inaccuracies that kept me pausing my reading to do a quick fact check on many points made in the book. I strongly feel that an author writing a historical fiction book should be thorough in their research, but most readers would probably not even notice the sticky points.

Thank you, NetGalley for the opportunity to review this book.

Was this review helpful?

The Wedding Dress by Danielle Steel is an excellent historical fiction that encompasses several generations of women within a family with the common underlying theme of an exquisite wedding dress.

The book starts with Eleanor and Alex and their lives before and after the tragic stock market crash of 1929.

It then moves to Camille (their daughter) and then to her granddaughter, Ruby. The reader gets to follow along through one family’s generations of love found and lost, moments of triumph and happiness to moments of utter despair and loss. We find some women are lost to those years, while others become fighters and are able to live onward. Interweaving through this family’s journey is a once in a lifetime wedding dress from Paris that is the tie that binds.

It was a refreshing read to be able to escape and read a generational novel with a positive ending.

I am a newfound fan of Ms. Steel (as I have only read and loved! Her previous book Spy), but I am quickly finding her books to be just what I need, and will be searching for more.

5/5 stars Excellent

Thank you NetGalley and Random House/Ballantine for this ARC and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion.

I am posting this review to my GR and Bookbub accounts immediately and will post it to my Amazon and B&N accounts upon publication.

Was this review helpful?

The latest by Danielle Steel does not disappoint. It’s full of glitz and glamour through a few generations. I read this as the world is going through the Covid-19 pandemic. Our economy is tanking and people are dying, our world is a standstill. It is ironic that the book starts out with stock market crash of 1929. Steel’s books provide comfort because they can transport us to a different place and time and provide a brief respite from reality.
The main character of this book is a wedding dress, designed in Paris for a young woman who has been swept off her feet at her coming out ball. We follow the journey of this dress through the years when the country goes many changes. From ostentatious wealth to turning backs on family tradition, we follow along the strong women of this family and how their marriages and families needed them.
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my unbiased opinion.

Was this review helpful?

The last few Danielle books have been (at least to me) unlike what she is best known for. This one is not one of those books but it is almost too much like what she does all the time. The Wedding Dress is a generational story starting in the 1920's and ending in the 2000's. It is the story of a wedding dress passed from generation to generation, as well as the stories of the women who wore it. From Eleanor, the young bride who meets her love at her debutante ball, to her daughter Camille and her granddaughter Ruby Moon. The Wedding Dress is a story of love, loss, rebirth, and ultimately family. Each woman's story is not without it's tragedies, from Eleanor's husband Alex losing his legs at war, Camille losing herself to a life of drugs and alcohol, and Ruby's husbands illicit affairs with young girls. While two of the three women manage to survive and thrive, one will ultimately pay the price for her life decisions.
I did feel the book could have had a different title as the dress did somewhat take a backstage storyline. Overall it is a good book, not my favorite but a good book.

Was this review helpful?

I received a free digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

As much as I enjoy Danielle Steele, this one was just okay for me. I enjoyed it but it just felt like a retelling of her older stories. As always, it was well written and a fun read. I always love diving into a new Danielle Steele.

Thank you kindly to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for this review copy.

Was this review helpful?

The young daughter of a banking magnate in San Francisco is marrying an wealthy older man who is also in banking in the late 1920s. The daughter is taken to Paris with her mother to have her wedding dress made. The wedding is lavish, and they leave for a honeymoon in Italy. Meanwhile, back at home, the stock market crashes and over-extended banks crash too. The couple return home to nothing. Both families must sell off whatever they can to survive. The younger couple finds jobs and a small apartment. Her parents had land in Lake Tahoe and sell off what they can and live in a small cabin on a small lot. It is not the life any of them foresaw...

Was this review helpful?

This was a great book about a couple who get married right before the depression and how the world events impact their family, parents and life.

Was this review helpful?

Sometimes a Danielle Steel novel is just what I need. This one is especially lovely, a well crafted family saga. It is the story of generations of women who have had to combat endless problems to find peace. The setting is San Francisco at its’ most opulent and following the first person to wear a magnificent wedding dress to be followed by future generations.

The disasters constantly befell the family, but they managed to overcome them. Steel follows events in history and puts the family in them. The women are by no means saccharine. The problems are surmounted with incredible grit.

This is a very good read, which was exactly what I need in these months of COVID.

Thank you Netgalley for for this charming Steel novel.

Was this review helpful?

I'm always excited for a new Danielle Steel book and this one didn't disappoint, I thank Net Galley for the opportunity to read it. I have been a Danielle Steel fan since being a teenager. The story flowed well and kept me turning the pages to see what was next. The descriptions made me feel as though I was there. I recommend this book.

Was this review helpful?

An elaborate wedding dress, family dynamics and a history that lived on, never to be forgotten.' Danielle Steel stitches together the past and present, embroidering its sleeves with tales of courage, heartbreak and remarkable women.

Thank you to #NetGalley and the publisher for the early read in exchange for an honest review. I grew up reading Danielle Steel and enjoy her novels especially ones infused with history. From the stock market crash, bombing of Pearl Harbor, World War II and emergence of Silicon Valley, significant events shaped our country and the characters' lives.

Was this review helpful?

Best book ever! Read it in a day! Can’t wait to see what Danielle Steel comes up with next! I imagine myself married one day with a wedding dress. It’s romantic, sweet, etc.

Was this review helpful?

Oh I loved it! Yay! Danielle Steel takes her readers on the memorable, multi-generational journey of the Deveraux family's wedding gown. There are joys and sorrows the family must overcome over the course of the twentieth century, but just enough lightheartedness and strength to lift me up during this tender time in our world. The Wedding Gown is a quick, pleasant and much-needed escape - and while I know it wouldn't fit her formula I'd love a sequel or even a novella/epilogue because... the ending!! Thank you to #netgalley for the opportunity to preview #theweddingdress by one of my favorites, @daniellesteel

Was this review helpful?

Danielle Steel books seem to follow the same formula, but it leads to an enjoyable book. This is the story of a family that starts in the 1920’s and follows 3 generations. It is well written and you connect with the characters and story. Thank you to net galley for an advanced readers copy.

Was this review helpful?

Danielle Steel does historical romance/historical fiction really well. I truly enjoyed The Wedding Dress and since her books can be a little formulaic and redundant, "truly enjoyed" is high praise. The glamorous 1920s to the tumultuous 1960s - this book captivated me for a little while in this weird time we are living in.

Was this review helpful?

I read this book overnight. I know better than to start a Danielle Steel book at bet time but...... This book was really good! Sometimes I feel like an author that puts out so many books a year starts to sound repetitive in the writing of those books. I was thinking that maybe the case with this book but I love this author so much that I was willing to find out and I am so glad I did! With the stress of what the world is facing right now I was able to put that away and fall into a wonderful novel. Thank you for that!

Was this review helpful?