The Secret Glass

by Beryl Bainbridge

A quiet English dressmaker turns to violence to protect the one bright spot in her life during the height of World War II

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction, British Literature, Novels, World War II, Literature

152 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1973

About the author

Dame Beryl Margaret Bainbridge DBE was an English writer from Liverpool. She was primarily known for her works of psychological fiction, often set among the English working classes. Bainbridge won the Whitbread Award twice and was nominated for the Booker Prize five times. In 2008, The Times newspaper named Bainbridge among their list of "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945".

Reviews

[Hugh · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the first of five Bainbridge novels to be shortlisted for the Booker, and is quite similar in character to the following year's The Bottle Factory Outing.

Once again we appear to be in a gently nostalgic comedy, this time set in Second World War Liverpool among a household where 17-year old Rita lives with her two aunts Nellie and Margo (one a spinster, the other widowed by the previous war). The plot follows Rita's relationship with a young American soldier with whom she has very little in common, but on which she builds her young dreams.

Like The Bottle Factory Outing, this book takes a much darker turn towards the end, with a dramatic event that changes the whole character of the story.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two sisters, Nellie and Marge, live together with their brother's daughter, Rita. Jack, the brother, is a widower and a local butcher. He feels Rita's upbringing is more convenient with Nellie and Marge. Rita is growing up. She is trying to become a young woman, but her family cramp her development as they are frightened by the implications.

Bainbridge writes dialogue with wonderful ease and prose that is spare and intriguing. The complex relationships between characters with hidden desires and resentments are explored in this story. The atmosphere is combative, stifling, competitive and narrow-minded. They are an undemonstrative, awkward family and communication is stilted and often misunderstood. Each character is looking for an escape.

This was gripping and clever! Bainbridge writes a domestic scene where bleakness is mixed with dark, wry humour.

[Jo · Rating 2 out of 5]

This worked out to be quite a disappointment, but as I didn't spend a great amount of money on it, I won't let that worry me. This book was mediocre, and I say mediocre purely because I didn't enjoy the plot, and I didn't warm towards any of the characters. In fact, they were distinctly unlikeable.

There was no charm to be discovered within these pages, and the overall atmosphere was depressing. I expected that from reading the blurb, but as all of the characters were fleshed out to be unreservedly unpleasant, I just found myself not caring about their fates.

The writing was of a reasonable quality, and to be honest, I read this quickly, but i'm not quite sure this book was worthy of an award, though.

[Laura Leaney · Rating 5 out of 5]

I ordered this book after reading Beryl Bainbridge's obituary in the newspaper. Such accolades! I felt like a dolt for never having read any of her work, so I chose "The Dressmaker" to begin.

This slim novel is a testament to the power of the mundane. The book, nominated for the Booker prize, focuses on a small family in England during World War II: two old sisters and one brother, and the motherless child of that brother, Rita. The sisters, Auntie Nellie (the dressmaker of title) and Auntie Margot are in a constant sniping battle for control, but just when the reader thinks that Nellie is the cruel one, the tables are turned and Margot becomes the bitch.

The lives of all of them are narrow, relatively joyless, proscribed by a provincial, religious upbringing that prevents any of them from "feeling the wind" and living. Sex is something of a joke. Rita, one of the most frustratingly ignorant, repressed, cabbage-brained young women I've ever come across in literature, falls in love with one of the despised "yanks." I use the term "love" loosely, because Rita, 17, has no idea that what she's feeling isn't love, but Bainbridge does, and her brilliant writing reveals the despairing grasping nature of youthful romantic inexperience. It's so hideous.

I don't know how the author did it, but although next to nothing happens for the majority of the book, I was gripped by the power of the story. Bainbridge steps back and lets the characters do all the work. One example should do, to give a taste. At one point, Rita's "yank," Ira, who obviously cares nothing for Rita, makes a surprise appearance at her house during the afternoon. Auntie Marge, a woman in her fifties who likes the "lime-light" answers the door:

"I rang Rita at work," he told her. "She said you were sick."
"I'm not. I've got a--" She stopped because she didn't want to admit anything. He was looking at her opening the packet of cigarettes.
"Just a chill," she told him. "I'm off out now to me work. Did you want to see Rita?"
She knew he didn't. He knew damn well Rita was at work. She was scandalised, and yet there was a little bubble of excitement in her, getting bigger and bigger at the thought.

The ending blew my mind. And because I do not want to give away some of the more shocking aspects, all occurring within the last 15 pages, I can't say more. The pay off is huge.

[Hanneke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beryl Bainbridge showed her superior writing skills in this short novel about three women living their joyless lives in a repressed working class environment in Liverpool during WW-II. Their aim in life is to be looked upon as proper women, leading the proper little lives which they are expected to live. Give no offense, give no reason to be talked about, work hard, polish the furniture and be frugal. They succeed in even destroying a daring little action of the youngest one, so she can feel too how hopeless her ambition is to change her stifling existence. You will hardly read a more depressing novel ever but it is, if anything, educational to be reminded how repressed women were at the time.

[George · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very well written, concise, memorable, haunting story set in Liverpool in 1944. This historical fiction, character based novel, is about the lives of 17 year old Rita, her two aunts, Nellie and Margo, who Rita lives with, and her father Jack, who is a butcher and lives close by. Rita’s mother died a number of years ago. Rita works in factory, Nellie is a dressmaker. Rita is emotionally naive and a loner. She meets and falls in love with an American GI. Rita’s first experience of being in love.

The author provides good concise descriptions of life in wartime Liverpool. There is an unexpected plot twist at the end. A very worthwhile read.

Here is an example of the author’s writing style:
When aunt Margo saw Rita’s American GI for the first time, Margo thought:
‘But as soon as she saw the boy’s eyes, blue and incurious, she knew what sort of man he was.....He was empty inside, he used no charm, he wasn’t out to please;......Nothing touched him......At no time while he was among them, answering their questions in his flat laconic way, did she receive the impression that he was stirred by any chord of memory - no longing for mum or dad, for home or country, the things he had left behind.’ (Pages 131, Abacus edition)

Shortlisted for the 1973 Booker Prize.

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stunted emotions, stunted lives. Bleak. If this book were a painting it would be all gray with a thin slash of red. The characters and the story suck you in and, bleak though it may be, it is worth it to read it all. Outstanding.

[Laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a strange book by modern day readers standards. A short novel at under two hundred pages, there is little that can be said in terms of the synopsis as its pretty clear cut from the first letter. I understand the author was the recipient of the Man Booker Prize of 1973, which is to be commended, however I felt disconnected from the characters almost instantly when I began to read this book.

The writing tone is old fashioned, which is to be expected. I admit to picking up this book on a whim from my library's World War Two collection. Being a fan of historical fiction, and having read some amazing books of the genre, perhaps I expected too much.

Readable, but quite dull and without much sustenance to captivate the modern day reader. Disappointing.

[Stacey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beryl Bainbridge's ability to use language sparingly while revealing so much about each character is really amazing. Like the setting of Liverpool during the Blitz, this story is dark and claustrophobic. Yet wondering what revelation would come next made the book a page turner.

[Khris Sellin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Set in Liverpool during the Blitz, this is the story of 17-year-old Rita, who lives with her two aunts, Nellie (the eponymous dressmaker) and Margo. Her widowed father, whom she refers to as Uncle Jack, lives nearby but keeps his emotional distance. Right from the beginning, Bainbridge pulls you into the bleak, hopeless lives of this dysfunctional family. Rita longs for love and latches onto an American GI, Ira, who doesn't return her affection, but she is blinded by love. Her aunts don't trust him, and they try to help her move on from him, in their own way...
Despite the gray and depressing circumstances of the book, I actually laughed out loud a few times. Bainbridge had a gift for dialogue.

[Adri ✨ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sam početak knjige me je potpuno zbunio i malo sam se izgubila u vrtlogu likova te sam se našla u rebusu tokom prvih par poglavlja dok nisam pohvatala sve konce, ko je ko i ko je kome šta. Dve sestre, Neli i Mardž, i njihova bratanica Rita (koja je prešla da živi sa njima nakon majčine smrti, a po želji svog oca Džeka) žive najskromnijim mogućim životom.
Nakon mozganja me je obuzelo jedno sumorno raspoloženje i čelo mi se zgužvalo od saosećanja sa likovima. Život jedne sedamnaestogodišnjakinje u Liverpulu tokom Drugog svetskog rata nije bio nimalo sladak. Nisi gladna, ali nisi ni sita. Ne smrzavaš se, ali ti nije baš ni toplo. Ne ideš gola i bosa, ali to što imaš nije dovoljno da se dopadneš onom kome želiš. Kada Riti srce ukrade jedan Amerikanac smešten u vojnoj bazi ona će, kao i svaka tinejdžerka, izgubiti glavu i misliti da je neuzvraćena ljubav najveća moguća kazna. Naizgled bezazlene teme kriju mnoge mračne tajne, slojeve disfunkcije jedne porodice i iza svega se valja mnogo kompleksnija i ozbiljnija priča.
Zaista sam znala da se bliži oluja. Svaka stranica je bila kao jedna kap kiše koja sluti nevreme. I nisam pogrešila samo nisam ni pretpostavljala na koji način će doći do kulminacije. Nakon poslednje rečenice mi je sve bilo jasno. A onda sam se vratila na početak...
Ogromna preporuka od mene i to baš za čitanje ove nedelje koja nas časti vremenom koje se slaže sa atmosferom "Krojačice" kao ruka i rukavica.

[Stewart · Rating 4 out of 5]

Readers, this is an excellent novel, shortlisted for the Booker Prize, for Grown Ups. Don't be misled by the book cover, which implies a bittersweet wartime love story. And don't be misled by some blurbs describing this book as a "gothic psychological thriller" into thinking it's that, either. It's a spare, blackly humorous, desperately sad tale, deliciously written. It's my first encounter with Beryl Bainbridge - oh, my. If she'd been a poet, she'd be talked about in the same breath as Anne Sexton.

[Marko K. · Rating 3 out of 5]

''Krojačica'' je kratak roman koji može da se pročita za dva dana. Zapravo, tako je i najbolje da se pročita kako bi se iz romana izvukao maksimum. Priča je smeštena u Liverpul za vreme Drugog svetskog rata, a prati jedno domaćinstvo koje uključuje dve sestre, Neli i Mardž, njihovog brata Džeka i njegovu sedamnaestogodišnju ćerku Ritu. Pošto Džek nakon smrti supruge nije mogao sam da brine o ćerki, prepustio je taj zadatak svojim sestrama, pa ga Rita zbog toga zove Ujka Džek iako zna da joj je to biološki otac. Neli je krojačica, šije haljine bogatim devojkama iz Liverpula, dok je Mardž sestra koja se više bavi ''kućnim'' pitanjima, a zaplet započinje kada Rita na jednoj zabavi upoznaje američkog vojnika Ajru u koga se zaljubljuje i sa kim počinje da šeta i odlazi u bioskop.

Osim teme zaljubljenosti u nekoga koga porodica ne odobrava, jedna od glavnih tema jeste dualitet dve sestre. Neli i Mardž, iako deluju kao pravi drim tim kada je reč o vođenju domaćinstva, su dve potpuno drugačije osobe. Neli je rezervisana, ona koja brine o obavezama; Mardž je divlja i hrabrija - ona je sama bila udata za vojnika koji je preminuo. Neli je ta koja zarađuje za porodicu, Mardž je ta koja se čini da ima više razumevanja prema novoj generaciji, i kroz ceo roman svedočimo borbi za moć - koja sestra je jača, a koja je opasnija? Na kraju krajeva, koja na bolji način vaspitava sedamnaestogodišnju Ritu, verovatno jednu od najnaivnijih ženskih likova u književnosti. Iako će vam likovi dve sestre biti zaista interesantni jer su same po sebi fascinantni likovi, Ritin lik vas vrlo lako može iznervirati na svakoj drugoj strani.

Ovo je jedan fin roman, a posle poslednje strane morate opet pročitati nulto poglavlje. Daleko od toga da je savršen, ali drži pažnju i skroz lepo prenosi atmosferu jedne takve porodice. Ima to nešto bartonovsko u sebi, ali kao da mu fali ono malo da bi mu zasijao sav potencijal. Sve u svemu, not great, not terrible - jedno skroz fino štivo za dan na plaži.

[Karin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Liverpool 1944, Rita, who lives with her aunts, Nellie and Margo but also sees her father, Jack, is 17 and ready for love, although perhaps not brilliant about how to pursue her budding relationship with her new suitor. Her maiden aunt, Nellie, and her widowed aunt, Margo, have very different opinions and ideas about this new relationship, and it is fair to say that Nellie, the dressmaker, is not quite mentally sound. One can see that immediately in her passionate attachment to her late parents' furniture.

This is an interesting book, to say the least, and not something that follows a strictly predictable line, and it is quite well written. No, I didn't love it, but there is a time when I would have liked it a great deal more but I seem to be much choosier now than I used to be. Beryl Bainbridge is definitely an author I think people ought to read at least one book by.

[Deborah · Rating 3 out of 5]

After reading several novels by Bainbridge, I've come to the conclusion that I will never be a huge fan. I didn't outright dislike them; they just didn't do much for me. Aside from a few moments, this one was pretty milquetoast until the very end, when something unexpected occurs--and then it just stops with no satisfying conclusion. I guess the point she is making is simply to show how insular this particular family is. Nellie, the dressmaker of the title though perhaps not the main character, is in a love/hate relationship with his sister, Margo. The two share their home with "our Rita," the seventeen-year old daughter of their brother, Jack. When his wife died, Jack sold his house, gave Rita into the care of his sisters, and moved into a flat above a butcher shop. He is still extremely involved in all of their lives, but Rita, who knows he is her father, calls him "Uncle Jack," probably just to go along with "Auntie Nellie" and "Auntie Margo." Nellie is the reserved, responsible one; Margo is the daring and sometimes wild one. She had been married to a soldier who came back from the trenches suffering from the effects of gas attacks. It was Nellie, however, who nursed him until his death.

Set in the aftermath of World War II, the story revolves around young Rita falling in love with an American GI named Ira. As teenage girls still do, Rita initially hides her beau from her family, using the ploy that she is visiting her friend Cissie--whom the aunts have never met. If you like reading about the sappiness of teenagers in love, this part of the story should appeal to you, because Rita is one of the sappiest. There are the usual dreams of marrying Ira and flying off to live in the US. And a lot of worrying about whether or not Ira will call, show up for a scheduled rendezvous, write her a letter, doesn't talk enough, wants too much, wants too little. It becomes clear early on that this is an ill-suited pair and a one-sided romance. The remainder of the novel, as one would expect, focuses on what happens when a neighbor tells Nellie that Rita has been stepping out with an American soldier and when Ira decides that she is way too young (i.e., immature) for him. And as I said above, there is an unexpected and rather unresolved conclusion.

Good writing, fleshed out if stereotypical characters, but nothing to get excited about.

[Lesley Cullen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Character based story set during the war, teeters along on the high heels of young and the flat shoes of ageing. Not a fun read, but the family pulls you into their lives and keeps you reading till the end. I really enjoyed it.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beryl Bainbridge was shortlisted for the Booker Prize five times but never won. Perhaps it's because she wrote about everyday people leading somewhat narrow lives, but in any case, this first encounter for me will have me coming back for more.

The Dressmaker is set near the end of World War II in Liverpool, where three women form a household filled with tradition, and some closely held secrets thrown in for good measure. They are Nellie, the dressmaker of the title, her sister Margo, and Rita, their ward and the daughter of their brother Jack. Rita's mother died when she was young, and Jack, a butcher, was in over his head and only too happy to have Nellie and Margo raise his daughter.

The plot centers around Rita's desperate desire for someone to love. She centers her affections on an American soldier, Ira, whom everyone (and certainly the reader) can see is not worth her investment, but Rita painfully persists in her attempts to woo him.

The novel seems to hardly move at all, and yet you are easily swept through the day to day of their lives, as Rita envies her stylish friend Valerie, who is preparing to wed an American of her own. It culminates with an awkward visit to their home by Ira, who is captivated by Margo, who you realize is a natural drama queen and is filled with her own thwarted sexual longings.

This will lead to a big twist at the end of the book (no spoiler alerts needed), and even though it gives the whole short novel a Hitchcockian feel, it never violates the essential character of the main people in the book.

Heartily recommend.

[Lewis Woolston · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's something about Beryl Bainbridge that i can't quite put my finger on.
I can't decide if she was a genius who never got her proper recognition or a middling writer who was praised beyond what she deserved.
This is the second book of hers i've read and i'm not sure where she stands exactly.
The story is simple and the writing punchy. Liverpool 1944, a young girl is seeing an American soldier and living with her stuffy aunts. Tension builds, an unflattering portrait of English working class life and mentality is presented, a girl makes foolish choices while the older folk live repressed and miserable lives.
This is definitely not a bad book, it is probably a good book, i'd stop short of calling it a great book though.
I want to read more Beryl Bainbridge before i make up my mind about her. There is definitely something about her.

[Realini Ionescu · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Dressmaker by Beryl Bainbridge

10 out of 10





The Guardian has a very accurate take on this novel and it states that Beryl Bainbridge belongs to a golden era when novels were short and (nearly) perfect, as opposed to a modern age when they are getting much thicker (tomorrow, the under signed will post a note on the roman fleuve American Gods, which goes on for more than six hundred pages) without necessarily adding much in rewards for the readers – this is not a quote from the chronicle…anyway, the same Guardian has a few books by Beryl Bainbridge on the 1,000 Novels Everyone Must Read list https://www.theguardian.com/books/200...



Yours truly has been impressed by the formidable Master Georgie http://realini.blogspot.com/2020/04/m... which as far as I can remember has a peculiar, intriguing ending – just as The Dressmaker has and the under signed was thinking to mention what happens in the last chapter of this novel and then see if he gets any retribution for it, which would be both joyful – meaning that someone has reached past the first few lines – and somewhat embarrassing...it had happened only a few times, when including details from the ending a reproach appeared at the end of the note, but otherwise it feels that nothing will happen if I did it again…there is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so – Hamlet – it would be inetersting if you complain…

In 2014 though, I have read The Bottle Factory Outing – or at least some adaptation for the BBC - http://realini.blogspot.com/2014/03/t... and was rather disappointed in it, in spite of it being listed with the aforementioned 1,000 Novels Everyone Must Read…which means that there is an uneasy ‘relationship’ between this superficial, rather fickle reader and the talented Beryl Bainbridge, whose equally acclaimed According to Queeney http://realini.blogspot.com/2020/04/a... has also failed to create an uproar under this roof.



The Dressmaker on the other hand recalls Master Georgie in more than very outré, unexpected ending, for it has been an exquisite pleasure to read – it has been nominated for what is now the most important prize for a book written in English, the Booker Prize – and it has superb characters, beginning with Nellie, The Dressmaker, continuing with her sister Margo aka Marge, their niece, Rita, the brother, called uncle Jack, the American soldier Ira and ending with supporting personages, such Chuck and the neighbors, Valerie, her mother and the rest of the family.

The author has been inspired by the memory of what had happened to herself – she has had a misconstrued relationship with an American soldier – and the aunts in The Dressmaker represent altered – probably – portraits of her own relatives

Rita is seventeen years old and she has been raised by her aunts, especially Nellie would be tempted to say, given that her other aunt, Marge has always been more awkward, independent, trying to break loose and even hoping to find another home with a man – after her husband had died – well into mature age, only to have this plan shattered by the opposition of her brother, Jack, and the serious, conservative Dressmaker, her sister.



Jack would admit to his daughter, Rita, in a moment of genuine conversation, that he and Nellie have been always very different from Margo, who had opposed their mother’s tyranny – always asking why, when she was asked to do something – and grew to be different from the siblings, tense, probably repressed, desiring – perhaps with desperation in many days and nights – the company of a man – to the point indeed, where she is jealous of her own niece and when the teenager has trouble in her love story, the troubled, high strung adult is quite happy to feel revenged – after all, she will have found at that point that Rita has taken a quite pornographic book from her belongings, probably stolen the pearls – the readers know she did and buried them on an outing with her soldier – albeit this will not last for long.

Rita is invited by a quite attractive neighbor, Valerie, that has been involved in an affair with an American, Chuck, to a party, where she meets her own Yank, a young man called Ira – the allies do not have a good reputation with a large part of the British, many of them dislike the fact that they are paid much more, they have arrived late on the battle field, as they see it, though there are those who see things differently, point out that the individual men in uniform did not have a say in the political decision…the joke was ‘over paid, over stuffed and over here ‘something along these lines and this attitude affects uncle Jack in particular.



The bond between Rita and Ira is weak, she is increasingly infatuated – if this is love would be another question, perhaps it is just the hormones, the need for recognition, a feeling of insecurity, the lack of self-esteem and trust in her looks – which objectively speaking – for as much as we can do that with a fictional character, based as it can be on the real Beryl Bainbridge – do not look overwhelming – with a soldier that appears to be more interested in sensual, carnal relations and feels the girl might be too young and unwilling to offer him the pleasures he is really willing to have, from her or perhaps from…her aunt, Margo

It is not absolutely clear to the under signed – and if you know the book, or read it sometime later and know what really happened, please share it with me – if indeed, at the critical moment, the climax of the book there is no other kind of climax, a sexual orgasm, and the rapprochement between aunt Marge and the ruthless foreigner is not culminating into a quite unbelievable coitus that will set fire to the whole story, which maybe entitles Wikipedia to list this as a ‘gothic novel ‘in its page that has just a few lines and could be wrong…I mean, is this a gothic story?



Rita is trying hard to cope with the challenge of ‘courting’ as they call it, and from the moment she meets the American at Valerie’s party and walks with him into a…wardrobe, the teenager will have trouble communicating with the man who repairs boilers and machinery on the base, does not call when he says he will, tries to get carnal, is rejected, but then the girl is ready to submit to almost anything to keep a fellow that is an…analphabet – when trying to deliver a second letter by means of asking Valerie to give the envelope to her fiancée, Chuck, she has to face the shameful information that her ‘friend’ has had to have the first message read to him, because he cannot read or write…

[Jean-Luke · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Nellie put a match to the fire so that Mrs Lyons wouldn’t catch her death. She grudged every morsel of coal burned in summer time, but she couldn’t afford to lose her customers. Even so, the room took some time to warm, and it wasn’t till Mrs Lyons had left that the benefit could be felt. Nellie made a pot of tea before getting ready for bed, spooning the sugar into Marge’s cup and hiding the basin before Marge could help herself. The aunts put on their flannel nightgowns over their clothes and then undressed, poking up the fire to make a blaze before removing their corsets. The girl sat withdrawn on the sofa, stroking the spine of the cat, while the two women grunted and twisted on the hearth rug, struggling to undo the numerous hooks that confined them, until, panting and triumphant, they tore free the great pink garments and dropped them to the floor, where they lay like cricket pads, still holding the shape of their owners, and the little dangling suspenders sparkling in the firelight. Dull then after such exertions, mesmerised by the heat of the fire, the aunts stood rubbing the flannel nightgowns to and fro across their stomachs, breathing slow and deep. After a while they sat down on either side of the fender and removed their stockings. Out on the woollen rug, lastly, came their strange yellow feet, the toes curled inwards against the warmth.”

[Doreen · Rating 4 out of 5]

The blurb on the back of this book is very misleading: you'd think that Nellie was dead set against Ira and Rita's relationship from the beginning, when it's really the histrionic, selfish Margo who's sure he "has to go." Nellie is the practical Dressmaker of the title, and she's the one who reacts decisively at the end of the book. It's actually a very good depiction of a push-pull relationship: the 17 year-old Rita wants romance and a future together, while the older boy just wants sex. It's pretty clear from the get-go that Rita is setting herself up for disappointment.

The best thing, I thought, about this book is that after reading it, you're compelled to go back and read over (at least) the first chapter again. I quite enjoyed it, and even sympathized with Nellie who, with Valerie, display the most sense of the book, not that that's saying much.

[Rob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Booker shortlisted, this fourth novel from Beryl Bainbridge does represent her maturing craft. Wartime Liverpool provides an excellent backcloth and I was reminded of Colm Toibin's much later Brooklyn as well as the films of Terence Davies - both must clearly have been influenced by Bainbridge.

It's a cleverly plotted tale for which the only bum note is a pretty outlandish ending - events which are hinted at in an opening chapter that appears out of time sequence, a device the author deployed in her previous book, Harriet Said . There are occasional jabs of darkness including one character's admiration for Hitler's dress sense and a sense that Bainbridge is looking on as a 1970s sophisticate, tampering with her simple character's lives.

[Leah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story had a Hitchcockian feel about it; it was apparent to me from the first page that I was going to read the story of a untimely death, and by the end of the second chapter knew who was going to be killed and by whom. reading the book was like a lesson in building suspense, how much do you reveal and how much is kept hidden until the chilling conclusion. the dark images in Ms. Bainbridge's prose keeps the reader primed throughout. Makes me want to read some of her other books.

[zespri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having recently discovered this author, I'm pulling her work from the stack at our Public Library.

Once again, it's the dialogue of the very ordinary characters that I find so appealing. It is just downright quirky and hilarious. And then...a subtle dark twist pops up and I'm left thinking, "clever, very clever!"

[Lucy Quinn · Rating 2 out of 5]

The only thing that saved this book was the plot twist ending. That’s it.

[Gerda · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well written book, the stifling atmosphere in the family of four really hits you. I didn't particularly care for any of the characters, I sometimes wanted to kick their behind to let go of things and get on.

The beginning of the book is the end. And the end had a, for me, unexpected turn of events. Very good. It made me read the first chapter again with a different mindset.

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set in Liverpool during WW2, this is the tale of three siblings and one daughter, Rita. The siblings, Nellie, Jack and Marge are the product of a repressive working class upbringing and Rita calls them all Auntie or Uncle, although 'Uncle Jack' is in fact her father, widowed soon after Rita's birth. The stultifying character of the siblings' childhood is carried over into this generation with Nellie obsessively carrying on as her mother would have wished, polishing furniture and worrying about what the neighbours might think. Marge, who had been married before has relationships with men, but these are actively discouraged by Jack and Nellie, and Rita is a pale, seventeen year old, uninformed about the ways of the world and men-all mention of sex is hidden away and avoided and Rita is completely unprepared for the life ahead. Enter 'the Yanks', 'overpaid, oversexed and over here' and poor, pale Rita who has idealistic dreams meets Ira. What follows is a story of yearned for, spurned love and I was carried along with it, enjoying the build-up until the rather shocking end. The book is well-written with touches of humour amongst the grimness, greyness and deprivation of wartime England.
Note to self: must read more Beryl Bainbridge!

[Paula Maguire · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was getting really fed up reading dubious choices from the bookgroups so I promised that I'd treat myself to a personal choice(from my ever growing list) and this did not disappoint.
Set during the war, Rita a 17 year old who lives with her two aunts - one maiden Nellie - the dressmaker in question and one a widow Margo/Madge - Her father, Uncle Jack, left her with them when her mother died. Unfortunatley for her, Nellie is boss and has Edwardian ideas and values about how to bring children up so the repreession, the puts downs to Marge, the search for respectibility. Anyway she starts to date a Yank, Ira, the father's description of his prejudice is so real it lives on the pate. - She dates him in secret but it is obvious her love is unrequited - eventually he comes home for tea and the aunts immediatly recognise that. It was fantastic the way if was described - how they knew by his demenour - and how he didnt try (too casual) that they knew he wasnt serious about Rita - It brought me straight back to bringing Walter Scott back to Peter and Sues wedding and how all my family must have known and watched my infatuation turn into the misery of rejection. There's a very surprising ending and poor Ira gets it ... in the neck.

[Sibyl · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've got no reservations at all about the brilliance of the author.

But I do have a slight preference for those novels of hers which are based around major historical events.

The world of 'The Dressmaker' is claustrophobic. The experience of reading it is like watching film noir. Occasionally I was reminded of Sarah Waters' 'The Night Watch.' The bleaks ugliness of Liverpool during the Blitz is wonderfully done.

And the way the book's structured is extraordinarily clever. Perhaps the pessimism which underlies this book explains why I admired the novel, but struggled with it too. (My mother refuses to read books unless they have a happy ending. This is far too limiting an approach - but perhaps I've inherited a little of it..)

[minnie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beryl Bainbridge is a genius, I really loved this short book set in wartime Liverpool.The story involves Rita a naive young girl living with her too aunts Margo and Nellie, when Rita meets Ira, a GI how will these repressed aunts take to him.Bainbridge not only creates realistic, unpleasant characters, but the cold, depressing atmosphere of their house is so vivid.I always imagined wartime Liverpool would be an exciting place of music and entertainment, not for the main characters in this book its not.