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The Red Dress
It's a dress in a million . . . - Hand-made in sleek, scarlet satin, it's a dress for seduction. Its journey begins with Carolyn, who plans to wear it at her silver wedding party to remind Oliver that he's the luckiest man he knows. But by the time Carolyn collects it from the seamstress her world has been shaken. She opts instead for the safety of black, and gives the red dress to a friend . . . So the dress' journey continues; the repository of hopes, dreams, fantasies and aspirations.
- GenresFiction
186 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2006
33 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
May 4, 2014
I read the first part of this book, but found that I just couldn't get into it. I found that the author used 'literary' type words when less pompous words would have sufficed quite well. Why use 'uxorious' to describe the husband of the character, when 'devoted' would've been quite descriptive enough. Or 'extant' when talking about the fact that neither had parents living. Wouldn't it have been just as easy to say 'their parents were no longer alive' or something similar? I don't like reading a book that I have to continue looking up the descriptions of words, and my vocabulary is quite broad. I read for fun and enjoyment, not to spend the bulk of my time looking up words. When I realised that I was avoiding reading as I wasn't enjoying the book that I was reading, I decided it was time to shelve it and move on to something different!
February 21, 2024
A wonderful kaleidoscope of images and traditions of Irish Boston from 1930's through the 1960's, focusing on the lives of several women cross generations in one family. Nostalgic, but also an interesting story line, following the settlement of Irish immigrants in Southie and Dorchester and later the dispersal as they assimilated to nearby suburbia and to other areas in the US. Characters endearing, but human and flawed. Emphasis on family values and influence of Catholic church, good and bad. Great insert photos of places remembered and loved. A must read for
Irish Bostonians.
Irish Bostonians.
October 22, 2017
Het boek leest makkelijk weg en het verhaal heeft wel wat weg van 4 vrienden 1 spijkerbroek. omdat de verhaallijnen zo los staan en alleen de jurk gemeen hebben blijven de personages nogal vlak
December 27, 2014
It is a handmade red dress, a dress of glamour with a statement to make, commissioned for a special occasion by Carolyn, who is the person we follow in the first chapter. The dress then ravels through other peoples lives, in each one it is part of emotional upheaval, desire, stretching their boundaries.
In many respects this was at least a three star novel, possibly even a four star for some readers. It is very well written, nicely conceived and arranged and the proofing and editing is exceptionally good (thank goodness there are still good editors and proof-readers out there).
The reason I gave it a paltry two stars is a personal thing; I do not often read short stories unless it is a genera I really like (often sci-fi) or stories that are 'fillers' to a series. Charlene Harris's Sookie Stackhouse series is a case in point, the stories are not great but they fill you in on events that happen between the main novels. You read them because you want to know back-story.
In general I find short stories a different reading experience to a novel. Perhaps like a difference in drinking style, a short story is like sipping a drink while a novel is like quaffing or gulping and I guess I am just a natural quaffer. I would very rarely read a short story that was merely a character sketch, however good a character sketch it was.
The Red Dress purports to be a novel. "...cleverly plotted suspense thriller...", "...the complexities of the plot, handling it's development with impeccable timing" claim the cover!
In this, I think her publishers do her a major disservice because it fools the browsing reader into thinking it will be a novel whereas it is really only a collection of short stories.
The short stories are good, Harrison has the nice talent of sketching a character fast and well, making you feel you know them and portraying a well fleshed out picture of the stage on which the character acts. The excuse for calling it a novel is that the same red dress appears in each of the four story/chapters. The same dress appears, certainly! However since it appears without any real link between the previous story and the present, without any continuity beyond finding the dress in a op-shop I really do not feel there is any excuse for calling this a continuous story, or a novel. There is no attempt to link the chapters at all except the first and last, a fairly understated, trivial link at best.
So, it does not read like "a tale" or a novel and I do not much care for pure fiction short stories, I read too fast to make them engrossing. I feel cheated by the publicist (Or whoever) who lied to me and called it a novel instead of a compilation of four, pretty good stories. Plus this is the third time in the last year I have been cheated in an identical way - is this the new 'thing' calling short stories novels with no justification? If so stop it, for goodness sake.
Two stars are for the good writing, negative three for the annoying deception.
In many respects this was at least a three star novel, possibly even a four star for some readers. It is very well written, nicely conceived and arranged and the proofing and editing is exceptionally good (thank goodness there are still good editors and proof-readers out there).
The reason I gave it a paltry two stars is a personal thing; I do not often read short stories unless it is a genera I really like (often sci-fi) or stories that are 'fillers' to a series. Charlene Harris's Sookie Stackhouse series is a case in point, the stories are not great but they fill you in on events that happen between the main novels. You read them because you want to know back-story.
In general I find short stories a different reading experience to a novel. Perhaps like a difference in drinking style, a short story is like sipping a drink while a novel is like quaffing or gulping and I guess I am just a natural quaffer. I would very rarely read a short story that was merely a character sketch, however good a character sketch it was.
The Red Dress purports to be a novel. "...cleverly plotted suspense thriller...", "...the complexities of the plot, handling it's development with impeccable timing" claim the cover!
In this, I think her publishers do her a major disservice because it fools the browsing reader into thinking it will be a novel whereas it is really only a collection of short stories.
The short stories are good, Harrison has the nice talent of sketching a character fast and well, making you feel you know them and portraying a well fleshed out picture of the stage on which the character acts. The excuse for calling it a novel is that the same red dress appears in each of the four story/chapters. The same dress appears, certainly! However since it appears without any real link between the previous story and the present, without any continuity beyond finding the dress in a op-shop I really do not feel there is any excuse for calling this a continuous story, or a novel. There is no attempt to link the chapters at all except the first and last, a fairly understated, trivial link at best.
So, it does not read like "a tale" or a novel and I do not much care for pure fiction short stories, I read too fast to make them engrossing. I feel cheated by the publicist (Or whoever) who lied to me and called it a novel instead of a compilation of four, pretty good stories. Plus this is the third time in the last year I have been cheated in an identical way - is this the new 'thing' calling short stories novels with no justification? If so stop it, for goodness sake.
Two stars are for the good writing, negative three for the annoying deception.
April 9, 2013
It was good book with more than one layer, and that is what i like in a book: complicated and chapter by chapter it gets more clear. The only thing with this book is that it didn't feel finished, and you end up with: "okay, but..."
I liked the multiple main characters that you follow in the book and that you get to know them and that they are some how linked with eachother. You see them grow and blossom and that makes you want to read further and further, what makes it hard to put down your book.
If you like books that make you think, this is the book for you!
I liked the multiple main characters that you follow in the book and that you get to know them and that they are some how linked with eachother. You see them grow and blossom and that makes you want to read further and further, what makes it hard to put down your book.
If you like books that make you think, this is the book for you!
April 27, 2012
Think Sister of the Travelling Pants (where clothing is the connecting thread) only between British adult (except for 1 teenager) strangers who never meet but share vivid experiences with a single dress. This started strong but slowly went downhill. The dress went from a married woman to a courthouse wedding to a woman who discovers she's gay and a cross dresser. It ends with a theater director's viewpoint.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 18, 2016
This book was a bit gimmicky, and, in place quite predictable, but it was still a rather fun diversion.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews