What a wonderful novel! Jennifer Ryan once again has written a novel I was completely enamored by! The Wedding Dress Circle takes place in Britain during WWII and centers around three ladies, Cressida, Violet, and Grace. Throughout the war, women had strictly enforced clothing rations and niceties like wedding dresses were unheard of. The trio along with their sewing circle joined together to create beautiful wedding dresses by redesigning donated dresses. As the women help others, they also discover what exactly is important to them (both personally and professionally)! The Wedding Dress Circle is a heartwarming tale that I also learned a lot from—love that! Jennifer Ryan’s novel are like chicken soup for your soul! I highly recommend this 5 star gem to everyone!

Fantastic Historical Fiction book that interweaves an extended family back together through a wedding dress during the war through many trials and tribulations. Also shows how a community can come together through war time to help any and all. Writing keeps the reader engaged from start to end. Highly recommend to all.

Not what one expects to hear about a book set during WWII, but The Wedding Dress Sewing Circle by Jennifer Ryan is absolutely delightful!  The history is intriguing and prompted me to research some on my own, only to find that Ryan was on point in every way.  The characters were so fun and easy to connect with, and the storyline kept me turning pages until there were no more.  Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher, for providing me with an ARC ebook in exchange for my honest review. Books like this make learning history fun!

If it is possible to write an uplifting book taking place in England during WWII, Jennifer Ryan has figured out how to do it. I've previously read "The Chilbury Ladies Choir" and "The Kitchen Front" by this writer, so I was excited to read her latest novel. The story is told in alternating chapters by 3 women in one small town. They are as different as night and day but come together in a sewing circle to repurpose old wedding dresses at a time where wedding dresses and clothing material in general are not available. These dresses are then loaned out to young women to wear on their wedding day. You are completely drawn in to the stories of Violet, a vain woman who only cares about marrying a titled man, Grace, the Vicar's daughter, who is ready to become a vicar's wife, and Cressida, a famous dress designer who lost her own true love during WWI. Although where these ladies end up is quite predictable, the journey is wonderful.

A super sweet story. It was predictable, but if it had turned out any other way, I would have been annoyed. Witch several main characters, this could easily be a series. I hope the author writes more. I would love to read more of their stories!

My favorite kind of book! A WWII historical fiction novel, with so much to be learned, truly likable characters (and one character you must hate!), a few love stories, and happy endings all around.

Through the stories of Cressida, Violet, and Grace we are able to transport ourselves to the countryside outside of London during the Blitz. We learn about the way the war impacted fashion and clothing, and how groups of women banded together to ensure brides still had proper wedding dresses.

Best of all, we see each of our three main characters give up false assumptions about themselves, and embrace the best parts of themselves as they strive to find happiness and love during a time of war.

This was a very quick read - which I thoroughly enjoyed! Five stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Special thanks to @netgalley for the ARC.


Also posted to Goodreads

What a delightful book!
Here is a feel good story definitely needed in the world right now.
This is the story of Grace, the do-gooding vicar's daughter, Violet, the daughter of the manor in the village and Cressida, a couture designer and "black sheep" aunt to Violet. The setting is WW 2 and the blitz of England and the hardships the people endured are central to the story. The women come to be part of a sewing circle and develop a project to refurbish wedding dresses for women in England during the war.
The characters are brilliantly developed and I most enjoyed following their personal development throughout the story. The plot is fast paced and compelling for a quick read with an oh satisfying ending. When I read good historical fiction, I find I'm hoping that most of the story is true. I would love to meet all the characters in this story.
I highly recommend this book to fans of WW2 historical fiction who don't enjoy gruesome detail but want a real feel for what life was like at the time.
Thanks to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for a chance to read this and give an honest review. This book made my happy!

Thank you Random House Publishing - Ballantine for an ARC of The Wedding Dress Sewing Circle in exchange for my honest review!

This story was so beautiful and inspiring! The friendships that develop are very endearing and it really makes you appreciate the human spirit and importance of kindness. I appreciated that it wasn’t just a love story but the female friendships were just as important for the characters.

WWII affected so many different aspects in everyone’s lives and it was interesting to read more about how it affected woman’s fashion. Very enlightening!

I loved how each of the women grew in themselves but also in how they loved. There was some great character development! I have read a lot of WWII focused books but none of them have told such a powerful story while also focusing on an important message which is you need to learn who you really are and what makes you happy before you can really love.

For my complete review please check out my post on Instagram (@beccakatesbookshelf), available today!

I wish to thank NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine Books for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this book. I have voluntarily read and reviewed it. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

What a delightfully enjoyable book. It is set in WWII in England. A major designer loses her shop in a bombing incident and is forced to return to her childhood home outside London to recoup and rebuild her business. Her brother allows her to set up shop in one of the extra rooms in his manor house. She reconnects with friends and meets new people who belong to a local sewing circle. One of the young girls is to be married and wants to wear her mother’s wedding dress which needs major repairs. The circle pitches in to repair the lovely dress and they discover a new movement to help the women of England be able to have beautiful wedding by borrowing a refurbished wedding dress. The idea takes root and the reader follows the romances of several of the women in the circle. This is a sweet read and one I think anyone will greatly enjoy and learn about how the women in England found they could become involved in many ways in the support of the troops. The characters are believable and engaging. I liked them all.

This is a solid “cannot put down” book. I look forward to reading more of Jennifer Ryan’s books.

I loved this story and I found this story of the fashion world and the military charming. The war was not so charming but the sewing Circle was kept busy.The wedding dress Sewing Circle made and repaired old wedding dresses using silk from parachutes and from old clothes with lace. Brides had to be very frugal in these days.They had many donations from people willing to donate their own wedding dresses. Amidst all this is an extremely aristocratic society of love and romance.

Jennifer Ryan can do no wrong! I LOVE her books and this was no exception!!! I thought the characters were so well done and I cared so much about the plot. I read it all in under one day, it was just that good. I really loved it. It left me feeling empowered, warm, and fuzzy. What more can you ask for in a book?!!

I have enjoyed Jennifer Ryan's other novels, and this one is just as good as the others. It is well written, with excellent character development, and the story moves along. There are a lot of WW2 books out there, but I think this one is one of the best in that genre that I've read recently.

This is my first read by Jennifer Ryan and I really enjoyed it, fully. This is the story of three women, it takes place in a small village in England in the year 1942. We have Grace the vicars daughter, Cressida who left London after her house and company is bombed in the blitz and we also have the hoity toity Violet, Cressida's niece. This story is told from the point of view of all three women. The writing was so lovely, using such words as ebullient, buoyant and congenial. Such beautiful language that really spoke of England in the forties. I really loved the author's use of words. I was pleasantly surprised how this book conveys the way women can teach each other how to be strong and independent, not just someone's arm candy but truly their own person, in her own right. The sense of time and place was clear and I loved how patriotic the village was, true to their country and the village itself. The romance side of the story wasn't easy wishy-washy and was like real life. The war itself wasn't front and center, it was the village and its population that had the story to tell. Such an uplifting read that takes place during a time that wasn't.

Jennifer Ryan has a flair for writing about the hope and perseverance shown by women through difficult circumstances. She returns with another engaging and uplifting book set in England during WWII. “The Wedding Dress Sewing Circle” follows three strong women, as well as a few of their good friends, who learn the value of love and friendship as they “Mend and Make Do” with one white wedding dress.
I loved the premise and really enjoyed “The Kitchen Front.” While the characters in this book had interesting situations and decent-if-predictable storylines and character growth, I struggled more with Ryan’s voice in this book. All three main characters had finished their redemption arcs by 60% of the way into the book and slipped from woebegone women to moralizing speech-makers. While it took longer to realize the happily ever afters for each character, there was little doubt the women would end up where they did. I started skimming around 70% because the speeches and dialog just ended up feeling repetitive and didactic.
If you like feel-good fiction and WWII hope and perseverance, this is a lovely book. But where I gave Kitchen Front a 5, this felt like a 3.5 at best.

In London, WWII brings 3 women together: Cressida, a fashion designer from London, her well to do niece Violet whom she’s never met, and Grace, a plain but helpful vicar’s daughter. Along with the ladies of the local sewing circle, these three women work to repair Grace’s late mother’s wedding dress for Grace to wear at her own wedding, and along the way learn something about themselves and what they want from life. I’ve read many WWII books but this was the first that described the work of the conscription office and some of the specific jobs women were required to serve. I also knew very little about the wedding dress shortage and donation efforts. My favorite thing about Jennifer Ryan is that she is able to take me back to war torn England without making me cry. Her stories remain sweet and uplifting and yet she doesn’t leave out the true details of war. I’m able to learn about a sad historical time without being left in a pool of tears. And once again, in The Wedding Dress Seeing Circle, she finds and shares the stories of hope and community during these difficult times.

I received a complimentary copy of this book to review. Opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own. Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for the opportunity to read and review.

Set in wartime Britain, The Wedding Dress Sewing Circle is historical fiction, based on actual happenings.. Women from all walks of life were being called upon to take on tasks not normally done by females at that time. They became mechanics, factory workers, and helped save lives as bombs fell.

This book tells the stories of three different women, Cressida, a fashion designer whose home and business have been bombed, Grace, a shy vicar's daughter, and Violet, a somewhat spoiled 'lady'. Their paths become intertwined when Cressida returns to her family home in the country. Grace is due to be married and trying to refurbish her mother's wedding dress. Cressida steps in to help and the ladies of the town sewing circle join in. With the cloth shortage and rationing, the traditional white wedding dress is just not available for brides. The women end up starting a movement that spreads throughout the country to collect and repurpose wedding dresses so the war brides can wear a white dress. All three women are changed by the work and the war and their lives take on new direction and meaning.

A little romance, a little history, and a good read!

From all the horrors, the fires, the bombs and deaths – this is a love story during WWII. Three single women are about to change the course of their lives without realizing it.

Grace is 24 years old which makes her feel like she’s on the edge of being an old maid. She’s living with her father in Aldhurst Village of England in 1942. She misses her mom who died ten years ago. Grace finds herself desperate to have a husband and family. When she tells a vicar her wishes, he immediately asks her to marry him. Even though he is older, she immediately says yes to the proposal without the thought of love.

Cressida, at 46 years old, has a well-established fashion design business in London. When a bomb destroys her home and business, she has no choice but to go back to her childhood home that she left years ago. She had a dispute with her brother who called her an “unfortunate spinster” after the man she was set to marry was killed in the war. Her unforgiving brother had since died and she could only hope that her niece and nephew would welcome her back into the Aldhurst Manor.

Violet is a 21-year-old beauty. She lives with her brother, Hugh, at the Aldhurst Manor and all she can think about is getting married to someone with a title. But there’s only one person in the village that can fulfill this dream. He had a round face but she felt like “he’ll have to do.” She was in a hurry to find someone as married women were not required to serve in the war.

When these women were trying to maintain a sense of sanity during the WWII with great fears, they opened their hearts to the possibility of hope and love. They became connected through the Sewing Circle with the goal of remaking bridal gowns to be loaned out – white gowns which were now hard to get. Grace brought them the first pure ivory satin dress that was once worn by her mother. Moths had ruined part of it and she was hoping it could be saved.

Besides a wonderful romance that centered around wedding dresses, there was a lot of research done about how the war transformed women. Couples didn’t wait months to plan a wedding. Women started wearing trousers for practical reasons breaking the rules from the past. Violet said, “Times have changed with the war…It isn’t what we look like that’s important, it’s what we do.” While there was a tremendous amount of grief from WWII, this book pointed to a spark of goodness which lies inside.

My thanks to Jennifer Ryan, Ballantine Books and NetGalley for allowing me to read this copy with the expected release date of May 31, 2022.

Author Jennifer Ryan of "The Chilbury Ladies' Choir" has brought readers another wonderful story about women in WWII Great Britain.

Clothing is a big part of our identities as women, and many little girls have dreamed of a white wedding. What if, when the time came war stole that dream? In this historical fiction novel, clothes rationing brings together women of all classes in a local sewing circle. Here, they collaborate to mend an old wedding dress for the local vicar's daughter. This act leads to a white wedding dress exchange, as the women learn to follow their hearts.

This story follows three women from the village of Aldhurst. Each of them is confronted with new possibilities because of the war. Cressida Westcott, an independent woman with no time for love, is forced to revisit her past. Violet Westcott is the spoiled niece, whose entire life revolves around marrying a title. Conscription service makes her see another side of life. Last is Grace Carlisle, the vicar's daughter, who always puts duty first. New purpose gives her the confidence to live the life she truly desires.

I enjoy Ms. Ryan's novels because she always manages to bring a fresh perspective to WWII material, while also showing women supporting other women in a meaningful way. Readers will learn the clever ways women managed to look their best during wartime. As well as the many ways war changed the outlook for women. Friendship and growth are major themes of the novel, and it is enjoyable to watch as each women is awakened to different opportunities. Of course, no great historical fiction book would be complete without romance, which is also a thread throughout the novel. While Ryan doesn't shy away from showing the realities of war, this read will leave you feeling uplifted. I recommend for lovers of historical fiction with strong female leads.

Source: ARC was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I have really enjoyed all of Ryan's books and this is no exception! This WWII novel focuses on women on the homefront in England and specifically clothes rationing. It was an enjoyable read and I also learned a lot about clothes rationing and fashion at that time.

I liked all the characters and loved seeing their growth throughout the novel. I loved how things played out for our characters in the end. I highly recommend for fans of historical fiction!

This book gave me so much Information about a side of WW2 that I had never thought about, and it done so in a way that kept engrossed in the tales of the 3 different women. They each had a different path that entertained then together and made the story a joy to read.