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Little Black Dress
Two sisters whose lives seemed forever intertwined are torn apart when a magical little black dress gives each one a glimpse of an unavoidable future.
Antonia Ashton has worked hard to build a thriving career and a committed relationship, but she realizes her life has gone off-track. Forced to return home to Blue Hills when her mother, Evie, suffers a massive stroke, Toni finds the old Victorian where she grew up as crammed full of secrets as it is with clutter. Now she must put her mother’s house in order—and uncover long-buried truths about Evie and her aunt, Anna, who vanished fifty years earlier on the eve of her wedding. By shedding light on the past, Toni illuminates her own mistakes and learns the most unexpected things about love, magic, and a little black dress with the power to break hearts...and mend them.
"A lovely and entertaining journey into the magical side of things."--Sarah Addison Allen
“I'll read anything by Susan McBride.”
—Charlaine Harris
“An enchanting escape into a magical world.” —M. J. Rose
Antonia Ashton has worked hard to build a thriving career and a committed relationship, but she realizes her life has gone off-track. Forced to return home to Blue Hills when her mother, Evie, suffers a massive stroke, Toni finds the old Victorian where she grew up as crammed full of secrets as it is with clutter. Now she must put her mother’s house in order—and uncover long-buried truths about Evie and her aunt, Anna, who vanished fifty years earlier on the eve of her wedding. By shedding light on the past, Toni illuminates her own mistakes and learns the most unexpected things about love, magic, and a little black dress with the power to break hearts...and mend them.
"A lovely and entertaining journey into the magical side of things."--Sarah Addison Allen
“I'll read anything by Susan McBride.”
—Charlaine Harris
“An enchanting escape into a magical world.” —M. J. Rose
320 pages, Paperback
First published August 23, 2011
32 people are currently reading
1880 people want to read
About the author
Susan McBride
24 books497 followersSusan McBride is the USA Today Bestselling author of Blue Blood and five more award-winning Debutante Dropout Mysteries from HarperCollins, including The Good Girl's Guide To Murder, The Lone Star Lonely Hearts Club, Night Of The Living Deb, Too Pretty To Die, and Say Yes to the Death. Susan has a second bestselling series with HC/Avon, the River Road Mysteries, that include To Helen Back, Mad as Helen, and Not a Chance in Helen. A fourth installment, Come Helen High Water, will be released in 2017.
Walk Into Silence, a thriller featuring Texas police detective Jo Larsen, was named a Kindle First pick for November 2016 and was the #1 paid Kindle bestseller in the US and UK (and #3 in Australia!). Walk a Crooked Line, the second Jo Larsen book, will be released in July 2018 by Thomas & Mercer.
Susan's young adult thriller, Very Bad Things, was released by Random House in 2014. In addition to her mysteries, she has penned three well-received women's fiction titles from HarperCollins: The Truth About Love & Lightning, Little Black Dress, and The Cougar Club. Foreign editions of Susan's books have been published in France, Turkey, Croatia, Lithuania, and Bulgaria.
Susan has one nonfiction title: In the Pink: How I Met the Perfect (Younger) Man, Survived Breast Cancer, and Found True Happiness After 40, which tells her tale of becoming an "accidental Cougar" and marrying a younger man, her cancer diagnosis at age 42, and finding herself pregnant at 47.
She has authored several YA non-mystery novels for Delacorte about debutantes in Houston: The Debs (2008) and Love, Lies, And Texas Dips (2009). Gloves Off, the third book, will be out sometime in the future.
In January of 2012, Susan was named one of St. Louis's "Most Dynamic People of the Year" by the Ladue News. In April of 2012, she was given the "Survivor of the Year" Award by the St. Louis affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure. As Susan likes to say, "Life is never boring."
Walk Into Silence, a thriller featuring Texas police detective Jo Larsen, was named a Kindle First pick for November 2016 and was the #1 paid Kindle bestseller in the US and UK (and #3 in Australia!). Walk a Crooked Line, the second Jo Larsen book, will be released in July 2018 by Thomas & Mercer.
Susan's young adult thriller, Very Bad Things, was released by Random House in 2014. In addition to her mysteries, she has penned three well-received women's fiction titles from HarperCollins: The Truth About Love & Lightning, Little Black Dress, and The Cougar Club. Foreign editions of Susan's books have been published in France, Turkey, Croatia, Lithuania, and Bulgaria.
Susan has one nonfiction title: In the Pink: How I Met the Perfect (Younger) Man, Survived Breast Cancer, and Found True Happiness After 40, which tells her tale of becoming an "accidental Cougar" and marrying a younger man, her cancer diagnosis at age 42, and finding herself pregnant at 47.
She has authored several YA non-mystery novels for Delacorte about debutantes in Houston: The Debs (2008) and Love, Lies, And Texas Dips (2009). Gloves Off, the third book, will be out sometime in the future.
In January of 2012, Susan was named one of St. Louis's "Most Dynamic People of the Year" by the Ladue News. In April of 2012, she was given the "Survivor of the Year" Award by the St. Louis affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure. As Susan likes to say, "Life is never boring."
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 205 reviews
January 3, 2018
Отдавна исках да си припомня тази книга и все не й идваше времето.
И така та до днес.
Напълно се пренесох в света на героите и техните не леки съдби.
Изпълнени с мистерия, драми и малко магия.
Допълнена с ледено вино и любов.
Освен всичко останало , авторката помага на всички тях да израснат и помъдреят .
И разбира се да простят един на друг.
03.05.2014
Неочаквано много приятна книга.
И така та до днес.
Напълно се пренесох в света на героите и техните не леки съдби.
Изпълнени с мистерия, драми и малко магия.
Допълнена с ледено вино и любов.
Освен всичко останало , авторката помага на всички тях да израснат и помъдреят .
И разбира се да простят един на друг.
03.05.2014
Неочаквано много приятна книга.
April 20, 2018
Degisik bir konusu vardi.Severek okudum.Yazarin diger kitaplarini da okuyacagim.
June 8, 2011
My latest book about two sisters, one daughter, and a magical black dress that changes all their lives forever. It has a bit of history, plenty of mystery, family relationships, and lots of emotion. I hope you'll read and enjoy when LBD is released on August 23, 2011!
October 5, 2011
Busy with life, Toni has everything her heart could desire. A successful growing business, a home of her own and a wonderful man who may pop the question any day. Her only regrets in life revolve around her mother and the separation that exists between them. In many ways the sudden stroke her mother Evie suffers is both a blessing and a curse. Leaving behind everything she loves, Toni returns to her parents home and winery to help her mother heal. The discovery of a magical black dress was the last thing she imagined she’d find.
A lovely surprise. Susan McBride’s novel Little Black Dress was more than I could have imagined. I’m not sure exactly what I was expecting, but magical realism was certainly not on the list. What a pleasant surprise! Not only was the little black dress that could see into the future magical, but McBride’s writing was as well. Little Black Dress was a story that had me quickly engrossed in what turned out to be one of my favorite reads this year.
Within the pages of Little Black Dress are the stories of two completely different women, Evie and Toni. Evie, the mother of Toni, came from a home that had been ripped apart by the sudden decisions of her sister Anna after a fate filled encounter with the little black dress. From that point on Evie’s every decision was haunted not only by what her sister had done, but her own choice to slip into the dress the told her future. Toni’s encounter was much much different, but had an effect nonetheless. What was wonderful about each was the varying interpretations of the visions they were able to see, one gained comfort another strength and another ambivalence. It was interesting to consider what exactly I’d do if put in their shoes. I’d definitely be tempted to take a sneak peak into the future, but knowing that I wouldn’t be able to change the path I’m not sure I’d eagerly jump into the dress. What about you?
Another aspect of the story I thoroughly enjoyed were the varying love stories. The story is told in alternating viewpoints, one from Evie when she was in her early twenties and the other from Toni in the present time. Normally I find switching narrators a bit off-putting and initially I did have a hard time placing everyone in the story, but once I got into the novel I couldn’t help but want to read both Evie and Toni’s stories. Evie’s relationship with her husband was divine, perfectly written for the time period she grew up in and he was certainly a keeper. Toni on the other hand had a relationship that would best be described as lukewarm. Her and Greg were a couple I hoped wouldn’t last and when Hunter entered the picture I hoped it would be for a very good reason. I certainly wasn’t disappointed!
Susan McBride’s novel Little Black Dress is one that readers of magical realism will love. Fans of Adena Halpern, Cecelia Ahern, Sarah Addison Allen and more will absolutely fall in love with the little black dress that tells the future and has readers wondering how it will come to pass. This was a complete surprise for me. I’m not sure what I expected having not read any of McBride’s other novels, but if Little Black Dress is any indication of what she’s already written I’ll definitely be picking them all up in the very near future! Slip into the world Susan McBride creates in Little Black Dress and expect to never want to leave, an absolute must read!
Originally reviewed and copyrighted at my site, Chick Lit Reviews.
A lovely surprise. Susan McBride’s novel Little Black Dress was more than I could have imagined. I’m not sure exactly what I was expecting, but magical realism was certainly not on the list. What a pleasant surprise! Not only was the little black dress that could see into the future magical, but McBride’s writing was as well. Little Black Dress was a story that had me quickly engrossed in what turned out to be one of my favorite reads this year.
Within the pages of Little Black Dress are the stories of two completely different women, Evie and Toni. Evie, the mother of Toni, came from a home that had been ripped apart by the sudden decisions of her sister Anna after a fate filled encounter with the little black dress. From that point on Evie’s every decision was haunted not only by what her sister had done, but her own choice to slip into the dress the told her future. Toni’s encounter was much much different, but had an effect nonetheless. What was wonderful about each was the varying interpretations of the visions they were able to see, one gained comfort another strength and another ambivalence. It was interesting to consider what exactly I’d do if put in their shoes. I’d definitely be tempted to take a sneak peak into the future, but knowing that I wouldn’t be able to change the path I’m not sure I’d eagerly jump into the dress. What about you?
Another aspect of the story I thoroughly enjoyed were the varying love stories. The story is told in alternating viewpoints, one from Evie when she was in her early twenties and the other from Toni in the present time. Normally I find switching narrators a bit off-putting and initially I did have a hard time placing everyone in the story, but once I got into the novel I couldn’t help but want to read both Evie and Toni’s stories. Evie’s relationship with her husband was divine, perfectly written for the time period she grew up in and he was certainly a keeper. Toni on the other hand had a relationship that would best be described as lukewarm. Her and Greg were a couple I hoped wouldn’t last and when Hunter entered the picture I hoped it would be for a very good reason. I certainly wasn’t disappointed!
Susan McBride’s novel Little Black Dress is one that readers of magical realism will love. Fans of Adena Halpern, Cecelia Ahern, Sarah Addison Allen and more will absolutely fall in love with the little black dress that tells the future and has readers wondering how it will come to pass. This was a complete surprise for me. I’m not sure what I expected having not read any of McBride’s other novels, but if Little Black Dress is any indication of what she’s already written I’ll definitely be picking them all up in the very near future! Slip into the world Susan McBride creates in Little Black Dress and expect to never want to leave, an absolute must read!
Originally reviewed and copyrighted at my site, Chick Lit Reviews.
July 10, 2011
LITTLE BLACK DRESS by Susan McBride
08/11 - HarperCollins Publishers - Paperback, 320 pages
Do you have to believe in magic for it to happen?
This story is told in two distinctive parts from two unique points of view. You have Evie telling the life and times of her rocky relationship with her sister Anna. We follow this progression in the time frame of the 1950’s and read the lives of these two sisters and how events and decisions made by one can direct the life of the other. While Evie is steady and calm there is Anna who wants to run away and live her life to the fullest anywhere but in the small town, they are stuck in.
The other story is told from the perspective of Evie’s daughter Antonia, a wedding planner trying to find her happily ever after while creating one for everyone else. Her life is not perfect but she has tried to make it good and living away from her mother has made it bearable or so she tells herself.
Everyone is brought together when Evie has a stroke. The last person Toni is worried about is herself so she rushes home to find her mother holding on to find her way back. Toni discovers while staying in her mother’s house the past that will not go away and the present that is knocking on the door, literally.
All of these events, people, and happenings are brought together by a little black dress that changed everything from the moment of its purchase. When each of the women wear it they see visions of their lives and a chance to grab the happiness they each want but are afraid to obtain. Relationships are such a tight rope to walk regardless of whom they are with and when you throw in something that change the path you are walking will you take it or stay the course?
You do not have to believe in magic or the power of a little black dress to like this book it stands alone on the characters. You may figure out details faster than they are written but this is more about the power of life and less about secrets and life.
08/11 - HarperCollins Publishers - Paperback, 320 pages
Do you have to believe in magic for it to happen?
This story is told in two distinctive parts from two unique points of view. You have Evie telling the life and times of her rocky relationship with her sister Anna. We follow this progression in the time frame of the 1950’s and read the lives of these two sisters and how events and decisions made by one can direct the life of the other. While Evie is steady and calm there is Anna who wants to run away and live her life to the fullest anywhere but in the small town, they are stuck in.
The other story is told from the perspective of Evie’s daughter Antonia, a wedding planner trying to find her happily ever after while creating one for everyone else. Her life is not perfect but she has tried to make it good and living away from her mother has made it bearable or so she tells herself.
Everyone is brought together when Evie has a stroke. The last person Toni is worried about is herself so she rushes home to find her mother holding on to find her way back. Toni discovers while staying in her mother’s house the past that will not go away and the present that is knocking on the door, literally.
All of these events, people, and happenings are brought together by a little black dress that changed everything from the moment of its purchase. When each of the women wear it they see visions of their lives and a chance to grab the happiness they each want but are afraid to obtain. Relationships are such a tight rope to walk regardless of whom they are with and when you throw in something that change the path you are walking will you take it or stay the course?
You do not have to believe in magic or the power of a little black dress to like this book it stands alone on the characters. You may figure out details faster than they are written but this is more about the power of life and less about secrets and life.
August 18, 2011
This is a very engrossing read. I found myself wishing I had a dress like this, that conformed to whatever figure I have, that sewed itself up immaculately, and told the future.. but is know the future really such a good thing?
It can affect different people differently as we see here in this novel following the lives of two sisters and a daughter. Evie is the reasonable and smart older sister. She is the "good girl." When her younger sister, Anna, dons a little black future telling dress and just up and destroys everyone's lives by running off the night before her wedding, Evie struggles to hold her crumbling family together to no avail. And Anna never comes back... not right away at least and when she does, not for the right reasons.
Anna and the black dress don't do so well together and she, on top of being selfish, self centered,and irresponsible, goes a bit batty and becomes manipulative and sly as well. At least, this is what I thought. Evie also experiences the magic of the dress, but reacts in an entirely different way.
And there's Antonia... Antonia is 46 and still not married and waiting for Greg to pop the question, but the little black dress and the future it tells may show her something different. If it does, will she react like Anna or Evie? The sad thing is, Antonia must make some hefty decisions, experience the magic of the dress, and learn her family's secrets while Evie lies in a coma.
Conclusion: Very well written, really sucked me into the story, so much so that I found myself wanting to rush into the pages and b**ch slap Anna to the moon. The book goes back and forth from Evie in the past (50s, 60s) to Antonia in the present and pulls this off perfectly, without missing a beat or confusing the reader.
Quibble: I would have liked a more drawn out romance and just plain more of the romance between Antonia and... I'm-not-saying. He sounded like a hottie.
It can affect different people differently as we see here in this novel following the lives of two sisters and a daughter. Evie is the reasonable and smart older sister. She is the "good girl." When her younger sister, Anna, dons a little black future telling dress and just up and destroys everyone's lives by running off the night before her wedding, Evie struggles to hold her crumbling family together to no avail. And Anna never comes back... not right away at least and when she does, not for the right reasons.
Anna and the black dress don't do so well together and she, on top of being selfish, self centered,and irresponsible, goes a bit batty and becomes manipulative and sly as well. At least, this is what I thought. Evie also experiences the magic of the dress, but reacts in an entirely different way.
And there's Antonia... Antonia is 46 and still not married and waiting for Greg to pop the question, but the little black dress and the future it tells may show her something different. If it does, will she react like Anna or Evie? The sad thing is, Antonia must make some hefty decisions, experience the magic of the dress, and learn her family's secrets while Evie lies in a coma.
Conclusion: Very well written, really sucked me into the story, so much so that I found myself wanting to rush into the pages and b**ch slap Anna to the moon. The book goes back and forth from Evie in the past (50s, 60s) to Antonia in the present and pulls this off perfectly, without missing a beat or confusing the reader.
Quibble: I would have liked a more drawn out romance and just plain more of the romance between Antonia and... I'm-not-saying. He sounded like a hottie.
August 5, 2018
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and stayed up too late reading it. I especially liked the setting in parts of St. Louis and the Ste. Genevieve areas in Missouri. It had a perfect amount of mystery and intrigue.
August 21, 2011
“I watched her as she moved, saw the way the dress sparkled…….I thought it was evil at first, what the dress had done to us.” Page 286
A little black dress with plans?
Interesting......but don't we all have a little black dress somewhere? I bet we do, but not sure anyone has a little black dress with plans....well no one except Anna Evans and her sister Toni.
And what fascinating plans they were....they were plans that affected the Evans women from one generation to the next. Its plans were both good and bad, and the dress never gave up.
I really enjoyed this book....fantastic storyline and also great chapter set up...each character had her own chapter and went from past to present with stories of the ties, the secrets, and the fate each of the Evans women shared with the little black dress. The twists and turns just made the book so good……you even get a hint of mystery.
It was a fun, clever read. The ending, and especially the very last line is SUPERB. 5/5
A little black dress with plans?
Interesting......but don't we all have a little black dress somewhere? I bet we do, but not sure anyone has a little black dress with plans....well no one except Anna Evans and her sister Toni.
And what fascinating plans they were....they were plans that affected the Evans women from one generation to the next. Its plans were both good and bad, and the dress never gave up.
I really enjoyed this book....fantastic storyline and also great chapter set up...each character had her own chapter and went from past to present with stories of the ties, the secrets, and the fate each of the Evans women shared with the little black dress. The twists and turns just made the book so good……you even get a hint of mystery.
It was a fun, clever read. The ending, and especially the very last line is SUPERB. 5/5
October 6, 2011
WOW! I would love to have a piece of clothing (of course a dress, I'm so girl) that is magic. However there are advantages and disadvantages to knowing your future. Only if magic was real.
I recommend this book to anyone, of course to all women who have that "black dress" or need to get that black dress (which is me)! How fun, secretive, mysterious, sad, full of love and heart warming, it must be to go back in time, learn more about your family, and put many pieces of your family history back together. And of course it all have a happy ending. Bravo to Susan McBride. I can't wait to read Cougar Club and her next novel :)
I recommend this book to anyone, of course to all women who have that "black dress" or need to get that black dress (which is me)! How fun, secretive, mysterious, sad, full of love and heart warming, it must be to go back in time, learn more about your family, and put many pieces of your family history back together. And of course it all have a happy ending. Bravo to Susan McBride. I can't wait to read Cougar Club and her next novel :)
July 17, 2011
I really enjoyed this book and thought the characters were mostly well developed. The plot was a bit predictable at times. The viewpoint of the chapters alternates between Evie in the past and her daughter Toni in the present, and this flowed well. I think it would be an interesting book to discuss at a book club because most people can relate to family dysfunction to some degree. This quote will stay with me: "Sometimes you just have to accept the magic that comes into your life and leave it be."
November 13, 2011
This book really met my expectations for magic realism that was light, but not fluffy. Told in alternate chapters by a mother and a daughter, this story comes around full circle from the past into the present. Full of secrets and family drama, this book was made even better by the Missouri wine country setting.
P.S. Thanks to the author for creating a main character that is in her forties : )
P.S. Thanks to the author for creating a main character that is in her forties : )
August 27, 2013
I got this book from a referral on Facebook. When I got it I had no clue it was set in Ste Genevieve, MO so I was pleasantly surprised. It was slow starting for me, and I am so glad I kept reading. It is one of my favorite books this year. I highly recommend it to anyone who has a sister, aunt, mother or family!
February 26, 2020
Необичаен сюжет, вълшебна черна рокля. Романтична и интересно написана книга.
February 4, 2017
This was an interesting book about a little black dress with mysterious and magical powers of foreseeing the future, both bad and good.
Once again, you are all probably tired of hearing this, it is a story about relationships, my favorite kind of book. The dysfunctional relationship between two sisters and the splintered relationship between a mother and daughter.
As the story opens 71 year old Evie suffers a massive stroke, medically induced coma type stroke. Her 46 year old daughter, Antonia, comes home to be by her mother's bedside and await her fate.
The story is told from the view point of both Evie and Toni .... Evie tells of the past growing up with her sister, Anna, and the night that fractured her family beyond repair. Toni tells what is presently happening as she lives In her childhood home and hopes for her mother's recovery.
Toni and her mother have a distance type relationship! Toni left home to pursue her dreams and make her own life away from the small town she grew up in. When her father dies she comes home briefly but feels her mother is such a strong woman that her continued presence is not necessary. Toni believes Evie's life will settle back into a rhythm, not knowing that Evie is completely lost without Jon.
There is so much simmering under the surface of this book .... lies, mysteries, manipulation, unresolved feelings and at the heart of it all is the little black dress that Anna bought one afternoon from a gypsy. The little black dress that enticed Anna to travel the world. The little black dress that brought Evie and her husband, Jon, together. The little black dress that caused so much heartache and pain when Antonia was born. The little black dress that ripped a family apart and caused Anna to live the majority of her life in seclusion with a broken mind.
This dress that has marked the lives of three woman will ultimately bring them back together.
Once again, you are all probably tired of hearing this, it is a story about relationships, my favorite kind of book. The dysfunctional relationship between two sisters and the splintered relationship between a mother and daughter.
As the story opens 71 year old Evie suffers a massive stroke, medically induced coma type stroke. Her 46 year old daughter, Antonia, comes home to be by her mother's bedside and await her fate.
The story is told from the view point of both Evie and Toni .... Evie tells of the past growing up with her sister, Anna, and the night that fractured her family beyond repair. Toni tells what is presently happening as she lives In her childhood home and hopes for her mother's recovery.
Toni and her mother have a distance type relationship! Toni left home to pursue her dreams and make her own life away from the small town she grew up in. When her father dies she comes home briefly but feels her mother is such a strong woman that her continued presence is not necessary. Toni believes Evie's life will settle back into a rhythm, not knowing that Evie is completely lost without Jon.
There is so much simmering under the surface of this book .... lies, mysteries, manipulation, unresolved feelings and at the heart of it all is the little black dress that Anna bought one afternoon from a gypsy. The little black dress that enticed Anna to travel the world. The little black dress that brought Evie and her husband, Jon, together. The little black dress that caused so much heartache and pain when Antonia was born. The little black dress that ripped a family apart and caused Anna to live the majority of her life in seclusion with a broken mind.
This dress that has marked the lives of three woman will ultimately bring them back together.
February 13, 2022
3.5 stars. I liked this book for what it was! This is the story of a mother and daughter duo who are somewhat estranged. The mom has a dress that shows you the future when you wear it. She puts it on and sees herself in a hospital bed with her daughter and estranged sister by her bed then her world goes black. The book is told in alternating perspectives between the mom and the daughter. The daughter is present day as she comes back to take care of her mom. The mom's perspective is all in the past since she's in a comatose state. We learn a lot about why the sisters are estranged and the women's past. I found both timelines interesting, but I love medical dramas so I was especially drawn to the current timeline. The daughter has sort of a love triangle and it was just a great story for the most part! I really liked the discussion of knowing the future-- is it really a good thing or are we better off not knowing?
SPOILERS AHEAD:
The mom and sister are very different. The mom struggled with fertility and staying pregnant. The sister was really flighty. So the daughter is actually the sisters. However, the sister tries to kill the baby right after birth because she sees a vision of her marrying the son of the guy she was "betrothed" to. The mom rescues her and they go on with life. The daughter does indeed marry that guy instead of the guy she was engaged to before.
SPOILERS AHEAD:
The mom and sister are very different. The mom struggled with fertility and staying pregnant. The sister was really flighty. So the daughter is actually the sisters. However, the sister tries to kill the baby right after birth because she sees a vision of her marrying the son of the guy she was "betrothed" to. The mom rescues her and they go on with life. The daughter does indeed marry that guy instead of the guy she was engaged to before.
October 11, 2024
Picked this one up at the airport library to have as a vacation read and I completed it within the day of my travels plus a lazy next morning…. Needless to say it was such a fun and charming easy read. A mother and daughter duo to make you smile and tear up and laugh. The back and forth chapters switching narrator create a past/present day storytelling that was enticing and endearing. Great book club book !
June 19, 2018
Very interesting book. When I started reading this book, I wasn’t sure whether I would like this book or not, but towards the end it was hard to put it down. This book had a lot emotions, from me bawling my eyes out, to laughing and smiling at the cute moments. Would recommend this book to my friends.
August 23, 2011
As Coco Chanel once famously stated “every girl needs their little black dress” . Well Susan McBride’s new novel Little Black Dress follows this premise but takes it one step further. What if that wonderful little black dress didn’t just make you look and feel amazing it did much more? How much more? Well it showed whoever wore the dress what their future holds. Would Coco Chanel still be telling us all we need our little black dresses if they all did this?
Antonia (also known as Toni), is a successful business women with her own thriving business and a relationship that seems to be going well. Life seems to be running along smoothly for Antonia, until her mother, Evie, suffers a stroke, forcing Antonia to return to her home of Blue Hills. Antonia, with the help of her mother’s housekeeper, stumbles across more secrets than she ever dreamed existed in her childhood home. Antonia vows to uncover these secrets and understand her mother’s life, before it is too late, including the story of her aunt Anna who disappeared fifty years ago the night before her wedding. Will Antonia be able to handle the secrets she reveals or are they just better left in the past? Antonia will not only learn about her family, and a little black dress that just may be magical, but she will also learn some home truths about herself too.
I can’t believe that I am admitting to this but I have never read any of Susan McBride’s previous work, although I have heard many great things about The Cougar Club. Well let me tell you that’s about to change, from now on I will be searching out everything written by Susan. After reading Little Black Dress I can’t wait to read more from her. I loved Little Black Dress from the first page to the last, with the concept of fate, the path your life takes and a little magic thrown in, being fresh and new in relation to many topics that chick lit authors tend to focus on. I fell in love with Evie and Toni almost straight away, and as the novel progressed I found myself hoping that Evie would recover in such a way that sometimes I forgot she was she just a character rather than a real person. I wanted to be friends with both of these ladies, even though they were both older than I am, I felt that I could relate to them in many ways. I particularly liked the way in which both the present and past stories are told in relation to each other, switching from one chapter being in the past to the next being in the present. The story flowed easily without losing track of what was going on with each character at any one time.
I am a firm realist and don’t tend to enjoy novels or movies with magical elements in them as I do not find them realistic to life. Some people enjoy novels about magical elements, finding that they transport them off to a different world, however I prefer my novels to have some realism to them. And while Little Black Dress is very relatable in many senses I found that I did not enjoy a large amount of the magical elements in this book. I feel that if more information was given as to where the dress came from before it came to be in the shop I would have enjoyed reading about it more. I would also have liked to have heard more of Anna’s story, where she was while she was gone and what she was thinking and feeling.
Overall I loved this book and would defiantly recommend it, even to those of you who don’t usually like magic mixed in with your chick lit (that would be me before reading the novel). Little Black dress is a sentimental look into family relationships and in particular that special bond between mother and daughter. This novel is filled with hope, magic and love, told with Susan McBride’s sparkling wit. This novel will leave you feeling like a child again, asking yourself the question, does magic truly exist?
Georgina
http://chicklitaholic.blogspot.com
Antonia (also known as Toni), is a successful business women with her own thriving business and a relationship that seems to be going well. Life seems to be running along smoothly for Antonia, until her mother, Evie, suffers a stroke, forcing Antonia to return to her home of Blue Hills. Antonia, with the help of her mother’s housekeeper, stumbles across more secrets than she ever dreamed existed in her childhood home. Antonia vows to uncover these secrets and understand her mother’s life, before it is too late, including the story of her aunt Anna who disappeared fifty years ago the night before her wedding. Will Antonia be able to handle the secrets she reveals or are they just better left in the past? Antonia will not only learn about her family, and a little black dress that just may be magical, but she will also learn some home truths about herself too.
I can’t believe that I am admitting to this but I have never read any of Susan McBride’s previous work, although I have heard many great things about The Cougar Club. Well let me tell you that’s about to change, from now on I will be searching out everything written by Susan. After reading Little Black Dress I can’t wait to read more from her. I loved Little Black Dress from the first page to the last, with the concept of fate, the path your life takes and a little magic thrown in, being fresh and new in relation to many topics that chick lit authors tend to focus on. I fell in love with Evie and Toni almost straight away, and as the novel progressed I found myself hoping that Evie would recover in such a way that sometimes I forgot she was she just a character rather than a real person. I wanted to be friends with both of these ladies, even though they were both older than I am, I felt that I could relate to them in many ways. I particularly liked the way in which both the present and past stories are told in relation to each other, switching from one chapter being in the past to the next being in the present. The story flowed easily without losing track of what was going on with each character at any one time.
I am a firm realist and don’t tend to enjoy novels or movies with magical elements in them as I do not find them realistic to life. Some people enjoy novels about magical elements, finding that they transport them off to a different world, however I prefer my novels to have some realism to them. And while Little Black Dress is very relatable in many senses I found that I did not enjoy a large amount of the magical elements in this book. I feel that if more information was given as to where the dress came from before it came to be in the shop I would have enjoyed reading about it more. I would also have liked to have heard more of Anna’s story, where she was while she was gone and what she was thinking and feeling.
Overall I loved this book and would defiantly recommend it, even to those of you who don’t usually like magic mixed in with your chick lit (that would be me before reading the novel). Little Black dress is a sentimental look into family relationships and in particular that special bond between mother and daughter. This novel is filled with hope, magic and love, told with Susan McBride’s sparkling wit. This novel will leave you feeling like a child again, asking yourself the question, does magic truly exist?
Georgina
http://chicklitaholic.blogspot.com
November 21, 2011
This is the story of two sisters, one daughter and one amazing magical little black dress. Each is affected by the dress in a different way. It seems to be industructable, and fits anyone who puts it on no matter their size, and the magic happens when the dress is on, the person sees bits and pieces of their future as it should be.
Two sisters, one leaves their home on the day of her wedding leaving her groom at the alter and the family forever broken and hurt by that. They have no idea where she has gone to or why. The only thing she has left behind was the little black dress she bought from a gypsy to wear to her dinner the night before the wedding.
Antonia, the daughter comes home when her mother is in a coma after suffering from a stroke. As she puts her Mothers house in order she finds she must also put her own life in order. She finds the little black dress which has some how shown up again, and it also shows to her bits of her future.
This story was so unusual, not like anything I've read in a long while and I loved it. I couldn't put the book down until I finished it and then I still wanted more. I really loved this book and look forward to more by this author.
Here is the information that I found on Good Reads which also appears on the back of the book:
Two sisters whose lives seemed forever intertwined are torn apart when a magical little black dress gives each one a glimpse of an unavoidable future.
Antonia Ashton has worked hard to build a thriving career and a committed relationship, but she realizes her life has gone off-track. Forced to return home to Blue Hills when her mother, Evie, suffers a massive stroke, Toni finds the old Victorian where she grew up as crammed full of secrets as it is with clutter. Now she must put her mother’s house in order—and uncover long-buried truths about Evie and her aunt, Anna, who vanished fifty years earlier on the eve of her wedding. By shedding light on the past, Toni illuminates her own mistakes and learns the most unexpected things about love, magic, and a little black dress with the power to break hearts...and mend them.
"A lovely and entertaining journey into the magical side of things."--Sarah Addison Allen
“I'll read anything by Susan McBride.”
—Charlaine Harris
“An enchanting escape into a magical world.” —M. J. Rose
Two sisters, one leaves their home on the day of her wedding leaving her groom at the alter and the family forever broken and hurt by that. They have no idea where she has gone to or why. The only thing she has left behind was the little black dress she bought from a gypsy to wear to her dinner the night before the wedding.
Antonia, the daughter comes home when her mother is in a coma after suffering from a stroke. As she puts her Mothers house in order she finds she must also put her own life in order. She finds the little black dress which has some how shown up again, and it also shows to her bits of her future.
This story was so unusual, not like anything I've read in a long while and I loved it. I couldn't put the book down until I finished it and then I still wanted more. I really loved this book and look forward to more by this author.
Here is the information that I found on Good Reads which also appears on the back of the book:
Two sisters whose lives seemed forever intertwined are torn apart when a magical little black dress gives each one a glimpse of an unavoidable future.
Antonia Ashton has worked hard to build a thriving career and a committed relationship, but she realizes her life has gone off-track. Forced to return home to Blue Hills when her mother, Evie, suffers a massive stroke, Toni finds the old Victorian where she grew up as crammed full of secrets as it is with clutter. Now she must put her mother’s house in order—and uncover long-buried truths about Evie and her aunt, Anna, who vanished fifty years earlier on the eve of her wedding. By shedding light on the past, Toni illuminates her own mistakes and learns the most unexpected things about love, magic, and a little black dress with the power to break hearts...and mend them.
"A lovely and entertaining journey into the magical side of things."--Sarah Addison Allen
“I'll read anything by Susan McBride.”
—Charlaine Harris
“An enchanting escape into a magical world.” —M. J. Rose
August 17, 2011
Some of the hardest reviews to write are those for novels that I love. Yes, this was a hard one. I was hooked from the very beginning. Little Black Dress has dual protagonists: Antonia, a success business woman in her early 40s who did all she could to escape her small town life, and Evie, Antonia’s mother, a woman loyal to the memory of her family but distant from them.
The novel begins with Evie having a stroke and being put into a medically induced coma. Toni comes to her bedside, full of regret and wishing for a relationship that never existed. And so begins their story, told in the present through Toni and the past through Evie.
This novel is incredibly poignant. I loved Evie’s journey. I thoroughly enjoyed how simply it was told, in her voice. Her chapters were the ones I couldn’t wait to read, the ones I loved the most, the ones that brought me to tears. Actually I really liked everything about Evie. She did her best to raise Antonia in a way that cultivated her freedom. She had the romance of a lifetime with her husband Jon. She was fiercely loyal to her mother and father, to their memory and their family business. So many times I wished I could have sat done for a cup of tea with Miss Evie, to ask her questions and hear her stories.
One of the reasons I was so pleased with the story is that it had a bit of the jean magic found in Anne Brashares’ Sisterhood novels. I love the idea of a piece of clothing that fits everyone equally and has the power to foretell the future or make the wearer incredibly propitious. I also loved that family and history was at the core of Little Black Dress.
Not all of it was peaches. Anna’s story (Evie’s vanishing sister) didn’t quite gel for me. I still don’t quite understand her journey. There is one thing that doesn’t fit into the Anna we meet. However if I’m being honest, I chose not to understand because I thought her journey was heartbreaking and sad.
I really enjoyed this novel. Enjoyed doesn’t express it enough. This is the kind of novel I wanted under my pillow at night so when I slept, I’d dream about Evie and that magical little black dress. Heck it made me wish for a charmed little black dress of my own.
The novel begins with Evie having a stroke and being put into a medically induced coma. Toni comes to her bedside, full of regret and wishing for a relationship that never existed. And so begins their story, told in the present through Toni and the past through Evie.
This novel is incredibly poignant. I loved Evie’s journey. I thoroughly enjoyed how simply it was told, in her voice. Her chapters were the ones I couldn’t wait to read, the ones I loved the most, the ones that brought me to tears. Actually I really liked everything about Evie. She did her best to raise Antonia in a way that cultivated her freedom. She had the romance of a lifetime with her husband Jon. She was fiercely loyal to her mother and father, to their memory and their family business. So many times I wished I could have sat done for a cup of tea with Miss Evie, to ask her questions and hear her stories.
One of the reasons I was so pleased with the story is that it had a bit of the jean magic found in Anne Brashares’ Sisterhood novels. I love the idea of a piece of clothing that fits everyone equally and has the power to foretell the future or make the wearer incredibly propitious. I also loved that family and history was at the core of Little Black Dress.
Not all of it was peaches. Anna’s story (Evie’s vanishing sister) didn’t quite gel for me. I still don’t quite understand her journey. There is one thing that doesn’t fit into the Anna we meet. However if I’m being honest, I chose not to understand because I thought her journey was heartbreaking and sad.
I really enjoyed this novel. Enjoyed doesn’t express it enough. This is the kind of novel I wanted under my pillow at night so when I slept, I’d dream about Evie and that magical little black dress. Heck it made me wish for a charmed little black dress of my own.
August 21, 2011
Antonia Ashton has it all: a thriving business in the city of St. Louis, a promising relationship, and some distance from the small town where she grew up. But one night, things go awry when she discovers that her relationship is not what she thought it was.
Back in Blue Hills, Missouri, Evie Ashton, Antonia's mother, is frantically searching for something in her old, dusty attic. She has had flashes of visions and dreams of her long lost sister Anna, and is determined to somehow reconnect with her. But something happens in the attic that day, and it changes the lives of both Evie and Antonia.
Moments in the lives of these women converge when Evie's stroke puts her in the hospital and sends Antonia back to help out. But Antonia discovers that, not only must she sort through her mother's clutter to put her house in order, she must also uncover the secrets that upended this family many years ago.
Over the pages of "Little Black Dress: A Novel," we learn of a strange and somewhat magical dress that Anna purchased the night before her wedding, and how whatever she saw when she wore it sent her running. We also see how the dress has affected Evie, and now Antonia.
What is the secret of this dress, and what magical elements does it possess? How does it change lives?
Even if you don't believe in magic, you will find this story captivating as it spotlights the interior world of three wonderfully drawn characters. I enjoyed the way Evie's story continued throughout the book, alternating in chapters with Antonia, even though she is in a coma in a hospital bed. It's as if we're seeing flashbacks, or perhaps we're just seeing her back story. As different as the mother and daughter are, the commonalities stood out in stark relief as we learned of their dreams, their hopes, and how the past shaped each of them.
With each chapter, we come closer to learning what actually happened between Anna and Evie, and even though I guessed the secret long before it was revealed (which is why I deducted one star), there were pieces of it that totally surprised me in the end. Four stars for this wonderful story.
Back in Blue Hills, Missouri, Evie Ashton, Antonia's mother, is frantically searching for something in her old, dusty attic. She has had flashes of visions and dreams of her long lost sister Anna, and is determined to somehow reconnect with her. But something happens in the attic that day, and it changes the lives of both Evie and Antonia.
Moments in the lives of these women converge when Evie's stroke puts her in the hospital and sends Antonia back to help out. But Antonia discovers that, not only must she sort through her mother's clutter to put her house in order, she must also uncover the secrets that upended this family many years ago.
Over the pages of "Little Black Dress: A Novel," we learn of a strange and somewhat magical dress that Anna purchased the night before her wedding, and how whatever she saw when she wore it sent her running. We also see how the dress has affected Evie, and now Antonia.
What is the secret of this dress, and what magical elements does it possess? How does it change lives?
Even if you don't believe in magic, you will find this story captivating as it spotlights the interior world of three wonderfully drawn characters. I enjoyed the way Evie's story continued throughout the book, alternating in chapters with Antonia, even though she is in a coma in a hospital bed. It's as if we're seeing flashbacks, or perhaps we're just seeing her back story. As different as the mother and daughter are, the commonalities stood out in stark relief as we learned of their dreams, their hopes, and how the past shaped each of them.
With each chapter, we come closer to learning what actually happened between Anna and Evie, and even though I guessed the secret long before it was revealed (which is why I deducted one star), there were pieces of it that totally surprised me in the end. Four stars for this wonderful story.
July 18, 2012
Originally Reviewed at Novel Escapes
Little Black Dress was a great little book with a mysterious little black dress! This story about family secrets captured my attention and I loved the slow reveal over the course of the novel.
I thought the alternating narrative suited this story and kept me intrigued as it passed back and forth from mother to daughter while unravelling their family secrets. There were aspects that I found predictable, which was unfortunate, and took away from the novel somewhat for me (I’d read something similar recently). In the end though, I still enjoyed watching Toni uncover the truth about her family and all the characters coming to terms with their past and look forward to their futures.
And speaking of the future, how about that little black dress? Would you want a glimpse of the future if the opportunity presented itself or would you prefer not to know? This mystical dress sends each woman down different paths in their lives, bringing them together at various points and veering away from each other at others. I still have no idea what I would do, but suspect I would follow along Evie’s line and keep it hidden, digging it out as a last resort.
I enjoyed all the characters, thought they were well developed and even though I didn’t necessarily agree with all their choices, they were always explained and based on their characters they seemed plausible. I enjoyed Evie’s story just as much as her contemporary daughter and became immersed in the description of her era from the courtship with her husband to the family dynamics and history of the vineyard.
The ending surprised me, but it was a pleasant surprise and I won’t divulge much other than to say it was probably the only real unexpected part of the novel for me and it didn’t seem out of place or unnatural to the story. I quite liked it actually.
Be sure to pick up Little Black Dress if you’re looking for a great family saga spanning generations with a bit of a mystical edge. I look forward to more from Susan McBride!
Little Black Dress was a great little book with a mysterious little black dress! This story about family secrets captured my attention and I loved the slow reveal over the course of the novel.
I thought the alternating narrative suited this story and kept me intrigued as it passed back and forth from mother to daughter while unravelling their family secrets. There were aspects that I found predictable, which was unfortunate, and took away from the novel somewhat for me (I’d read something similar recently). In the end though, I still enjoyed watching Toni uncover the truth about her family and all the characters coming to terms with their past and look forward to their futures.
And speaking of the future, how about that little black dress? Would you want a glimpse of the future if the opportunity presented itself or would you prefer not to know? This mystical dress sends each woman down different paths in their lives, bringing them together at various points and veering away from each other at others. I still have no idea what I would do, but suspect I would follow along Evie’s line and keep it hidden, digging it out as a last resort.
I enjoyed all the characters, thought they were well developed and even though I didn’t necessarily agree with all their choices, they were always explained and based on their characters they seemed plausible. I enjoyed Evie’s story just as much as her contemporary daughter and became immersed in the description of her era from the courtship with her husband to the family dynamics and history of the vineyard.
The ending surprised me, but it was a pleasant surprise and I won’t divulge much other than to say it was probably the only real unexpected part of the novel for me and it didn’t seem out of place or unnatural to the story. I quite liked it actually.
Be sure to pick up Little Black Dress if you’re looking for a great family saga spanning generations with a bit of a mystical edge. I look forward to more from Susan McBride!
August 14, 2012
usan McBride wrote a perfectly charming romance with a touch of magic. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. I loved the concept of a dress with a magical spell.
The story is told by two characters, Evie, the mother and Toni, the daughter.
Toni is having dinner with her longtime boyfriend. She thinks he is about to pop the question but instead he gives her a key to his apartment. Disillusioned, she doesn’t have time to give him an answer when her phone rings. Her mother is in the hospital. She rushes out and finds her mother has had a stroke and is in a coma.
Each chapter alternates between Evie and Toni. Evie is remembering her past and her sister Anna while in the coma. Toni keeps herself busy sorting out her mother’s life after she becomes aware that her mother may not have been coping so well since her father’s death as she waits for her mother to wake up.
The story is about a little black dress that Anna bought before her own wedding from a fortune teller. The dress foretold Anna’s future and because of the vision, she cancelled her wedding. It caused hard feelings between her family and the groom’s family who both owned local vineyards. Anna disappeared leaving her family heartbroken.
Evie eventually tried on the dress and saw a vision of her future husband while Toni also gets her chance. Though the women are all different sizes and shapes, the dress adapts to their bodies and makes them all look more desirable.
Toni learns about her mother and aunt’s past and also what she needs to do to be happy. Characters were well rounded with flaws that made them seem more real. I loved the magical aspect of the story and how sometimes things don’t work out the way we want them to but in the end that was what had to be.
Would recommend this book to anyone who likes a little romance spiced up with magic.
Virginia
The story is told by two characters, Evie, the mother and Toni, the daughter.
Toni is having dinner with her longtime boyfriend. She thinks he is about to pop the question but instead he gives her a key to his apartment. Disillusioned, she doesn’t have time to give him an answer when her phone rings. Her mother is in the hospital. She rushes out and finds her mother has had a stroke and is in a coma.
Each chapter alternates between Evie and Toni. Evie is remembering her past and her sister Anna while in the coma. Toni keeps herself busy sorting out her mother’s life after she becomes aware that her mother may not have been coping so well since her father’s death as she waits for her mother to wake up.
The story is about a little black dress that Anna bought before her own wedding from a fortune teller. The dress foretold Anna’s future and because of the vision, she cancelled her wedding. It caused hard feelings between her family and the groom’s family who both owned local vineyards. Anna disappeared leaving her family heartbroken.
Evie eventually tried on the dress and saw a vision of her future husband while Toni also gets her chance. Though the women are all different sizes and shapes, the dress adapts to their bodies and makes them all look more desirable.
Toni learns about her mother and aunt’s past and also what she needs to do to be happy. Characters were well rounded with flaws that made them seem more real. I loved the magical aspect of the story and how sometimes things don’t work out the way we want them to but in the end that was what had to be.
Would recommend this book to anyone who likes a little romance spiced up with magic.
Virginia
Read
September 27, 2011Little Black Dress by Susan McBride is one of those charming but forgettable woman’s lit stories. Revolving around a mysterious black dress and its impact on three members of a family, the dress now falls into the hands of the next generation at a time of another family crisis. Secrets will be revealed, and everyone will find their happily ever after in predictable fashion.
This is not to say that Little Black Dress is a horrible novel that no one should read. It is charming in its own right, as such novels usually are. Antonia is a strong character, determined to forge her own path through life, even when it takes her away from her loved ones. She has a strained relationship with her mother, filled with unspoken needs and wants and harmed by years of secrets, just as Evie’s own relationship with her sister was damaged so many years ago.
Where Ms. McBride does excel is in the details. Whether she is describing the Mississippi River or a winery, the reader is transported to Blue Hills, Missouri with little effort. She acknowledges the improbable at the same time she is incorporating it into the story, i.e. a dress made out of silk spun by spiders that is indestructible. The jokes made about the origins of the dress do much to dispel one’s inability to believe.
Little Black Dress is at best a cute story. It is not going to change the world. It is not going to cause any epiphanies. Rather, it will allow the reader to spend an enjoyable afternoon getting to know Toni and Evie, and may even cause just one reader to pick up the phone and reach out to an estranged relative or friend. Every novel should result in such actions.
Acknowledgements: Thank you to Megan Traynor from William Morrow for my review copy!
This is not to say that Little Black Dress is a horrible novel that no one should read. It is charming in its own right, as such novels usually are. Antonia is a strong character, determined to forge her own path through life, even when it takes her away from her loved ones. She has a strained relationship with her mother, filled with unspoken needs and wants and harmed by years of secrets, just as Evie’s own relationship with her sister was damaged so many years ago.
Where Ms. McBride does excel is in the details. Whether she is describing the Mississippi River or a winery, the reader is transported to Blue Hills, Missouri with little effort. She acknowledges the improbable at the same time she is incorporating it into the story, i.e. a dress made out of silk spun by spiders that is indestructible. The jokes made about the origins of the dress do much to dispel one’s inability to believe.
Little Black Dress is at best a cute story. It is not going to change the world. It is not going to cause any epiphanies. Rather, it will allow the reader to spend an enjoyable afternoon getting to know Toni and Evie, and may even cause just one reader to pick up the phone and reach out to an estranged relative or friend. Every novel should result in such actions.
Acknowledgements: Thank you to Megan Traynor from William Morrow for my review copy!
September 5, 2011
Susan McBride is at her best in the little story about a staple in every woman’s closet: a little black dress.
The story centers around three women, Evie, her sister Anna, and Evie’s daughter Toni. The tale begins when an older Evie climbs out of bed and heads to the attic. She’s in search of something that she hasn’t seen in many, many years: the little black dress that tore her and Anna apart. She dons the dress, then has a massive stroke. Luckily the housekeeper finds her, but the damage is great. She is in a coma. The doctors are unsure of to what extent the damage may be, if and when Evie regains consciousness.
When readers first encounter Toni, she is in St. Louis, where she has built her life, a successful event planning business and was, or so she thought, on the verge of marrying her steady love, Greg. Instead if popping the question, Greg has other ideas and Toni isn’t sure how to react. A phone call from Blue Hills, sends Toni scurrying to be with her mother.
While Evie is comatose, readers are taken back to the story of her and her sister Anna. Anna is almost talked into a marriage that would make her father happy. On a shopping excursion to Ste. Genevieve, Anna purchases a little black dress for the rehearsal dinner. It’s the dress’s magic that shows Anna that she shouldn’t go through with the wedding. She is forced to leave her family home, never to return.
Meanwhile, readers can experience Toni’s life and the decisions she must make about Greg, their future, and the wine-making business her father left behind.
Readers should expect laughter and tears in the page-turner.
August 29, 2011
I won this book as a first reads giveaway on goodreads. First of all, there's no mistaking this book for what it is (chick lit) but it's very good chick lit so I'm giving it a 4 based on comparision to its literary peers.
This book alternates between the perspective of Antonia (Toni) and her mother Evie. They have a damaged relationship, complicated by the relationship between Evie and her sister, Anna. The three women in this family are all linked by a magical little black dress that reminded me strongly of the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants novel. The dress fits all three women perfectly and lets them have visions of their future and what will come to pass. Of course it was fantastical, but McBride did a good job with it and didn't over play the fantasy aspect of the book. I loved the relationships in this book as well as the story of this family, steeped in the history of their Missouri vineyard. I also liked that Toni isn't a young, virginal woman when she reunites with her mother and returns home but a middle aged woman who has lived her life fully and independently and knows exactly who she is.
My only criticism was the logistics of Evie narrating her life story when she's supposedly in a coma and the likelihood of a strong, independent woman like Toni dating such a douche like Greg. Other than that, McBride has created a captivating and endearing set of characters. I was happily surprised by how much I liked this book. Chick lit at its best!
This book alternates between the perspective of Antonia (Toni) and her mother Evie. They have a damaged relationship, complicated by the relationship between Evie and her sister, Anna. The three women in this family are all linked by a magical little black dress that reminded me strongly of the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants novel. The dress fits all three women perfectly and lets them have visions of their future and what will come to pass. Of course it was fantastical, but McBride did a good job with it and didn't over play the fantasy aspect of the book. I loved the relationships in this book as well as the story of this family, steeped in the history of their Missouri vineyard. I also liked that Toni isn't a young, virginal woman when she reunites with her mother and returns home but a middle aged woman who has lived her life fully and independently and knows exactly who she is.
My only criticism was the logistics of Evie narrating her life story when she's supposedly in a coma and the likelihood of a strong, independent woman like Toni dating such a douche like Greg. Other than that, McBride has created a captivating and endearing set of characters. I was happily surprised by how much I liked this book. Chick lit at its best!
November 9, 2011
I love me some books with a magical twist to them. And Little Black Dress by Susan McBride delivers just that in her latest, and spectacular, novel. Even though I appreciate a good paranormal twist in books, sometimes they can be hard to achieve. But McBride manages to pull it off, all while delivering an emotional story that had me cheering and crying at the end. The main character is Antonia Ashton, a workaholic who is forced to move home to Blue Hills after her mother, Evie, suffers a stroke. While going through her childhood home, Antonia stumbles upon secret after secret. Much of the hidden past has to do with her aunt Anna, who mysteriously vanished fifty years earlier the night before her wedding. Through the help of one little black dress, the three women learn lessons about family, love, and even magic.
I just adored this book. I didn’t want to put it down, I wanted it to keep going after I finished; just an all around great read. All three characters are complex and engaging, and I was invested immediately in their stories. The book changes from past to present, and kept giving readers a little taste of what happened between Evie and Anna and why Anna ran away and how that linked to Antonia in the present. I think chick lit readers would have a great time reading this book, and it sure makes you want your own magical LBD! This makes it on my Favorites List for 2011. Get your copy!
I just adored this book. I didn’t want to put it down, I wanted it to keep going after I finished; just an all around great read. All three characters are complex and engaging, and I was invested immediately in their stories. The book changes from past to present, and kept giving readers a little taste of what happened between Evie and Anna and why Anna ran away and how that linked to Antonia in the present. I think chick lit readers would have a great time reading this book, and it sure makes you want your own magical LBD! This makes it on my Favorites List for 2011. Get your copy!
June 4, 2012
I had not read any of Susan McBride's books before, but I have to say that I will be checking them out after reading this one.
Antonia (aka Toni) is a successful event planner with her own business. Her boyfriend seems on the verge of proposing, when her mother suffers a stroke. Toni heads back to her hometown to be at her mother's side.
While there, she finds the little black dress that her mother was wearing when she had the stroke. When she puts the dress on, she is amazed at how the dress fits her perfectly, even though her figure is quite different from her mother's. There is an energy that moves through the fabric, as if it were alive.
And so begins Toni's attempt to understand her mother and her mother's feud with Toni's aunt, as well as her journey to self-discovery.
I really enjoyed the way that the book flipped between Toni's story and her mother's story as well. It was a great way to explore the different generations of the family, without telling the story in chronological order (e.g. starting with Evie's life for the first part of the book and then moving on to Toni's life.)
The characters are engaging, and while Toni's character at first seems a bit severe and one-dimensional, you are soon drawn in and want to find out what happens to her.
Antonia (aka Toni) is a successful event planner with her own business. Her boyfriend seems on the verge of proposing, when her mother suffers a stroke. Toni heads back to her hometown to be at her mother's side.
While there, she finds the little black dress that her mother was wearing when she had the stroke. When she puts the dress on, she is amazed at how the dress fits her perfectly, even though her figure is quite different from her mother's. There is an energy that moves through the fabric, as if it were alive.
And so begins Toni's attempt to understand her mother and her mother's feud with Toni's aunt, as well as her journey to self-discovery.
I really enjoyed the way that the book flipped between Toni's story and her mother's story as well. It was a great way to explore the different generations of the family, without telling the story in chronological order (e.g. starting with Evie's life for the first part of the book and then moving on to Toni's life.)
The characters are engaging, and while Toni's character at first seems a bit severe and one-dimensional, you are soon drawn in and want to find out what happens to her.
July 16, 2011
Who would have thought that a little black dress could have so much hold and influence over women of multiple generations? As Antonia returns home when her mother has a devastating stroke, she begins to discover secrets about her mother's past and her mysteriously absent Aunt Anna. Central to that past is a beautiful, black silk dress with a magic all its own. When Toni wears the dress, she discovers its power for herself in ways she's not quite ready to accept, but she soon realizes the dress has a hold on everyone who wears it.
The story is told alternating narrations: a third-person narration of Toni's present day story and experiences and her mother's first-person account of her own story. The alternating narrations work here though.
I think this would make a terrific book club read with lots to discuss. A bit of magical realism, a woman coming to terms with her relationship with her mother and learning about the past and a bond of sisterhood that time can't erase make this a warm and compelling story.
The story is told alternating narrations: a third-person narration of Toni's present day story and experiences and her mother's first-person account of her own story. The alternating narrations work here though.
I think this would make a terrific book club read with lots to discuss. A bit of magical realism, a woman coming to terms with her relationship with her mother and learning about the past and a bond of sisterhood that time can't erase make this a warm and compelling story.
August 15, 2011
I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway. I'm so glad I did, I loved it!
Two sisters whose lives seemed forever intertwined are torn apart when a magical little black dress gives each one a glimpse of an unavoidable future.
Antonia Ashton has worked hard to build a thriving career and a committed relationship, but she realizes her life has gone off-track. Forced to return home to Blue Hills when her mother, Evie, suffers a massive stroke, Toni finds the old Victorian where she grew up as crammed full of secrets as it is with clutter. Now she must put her mother’s house in order—and uncover long-buried truths about Evie and her aunt, Anna, who vanished fifty years earlier on the eve of her wedding. By shedding light on the past, Toni illuminates her own mistakes and learns the most unexpected things about love, magic, and a little black dress with the power to break hearts...and mend them.
The story pulled me in right from the start and I couldn't put it down. I finished it in two days! I highly recommend it.
Two sisters whose lives seemed forever intertwined are torn apart when a magical little black dress gives each one a glimpse of an unavoidable future.
Antonia Ashton has worked hard to build a thriving career and a committed relationship, but she realizes her life has gone off-track. Forced to return home to Blue Hills when her mother, Evie, suffers a massive stroke, Toni finds the old Victorian where she grew up as crammed full of secrets as it is with clutter. Now she must put her mother’s house in order—and uncover long-buried truths about Evie and her aunt, Anna, who vanished fifty years earlier on the eve of her wedding. By shedding light on the past, Toni illuminates her own mistakes and learns the most unexpected things about love, magic, and a little black dress with the power to break hearts...and mend them.
The story pulled me in right from the start and I couldn't put it down. I finished it in two days! I highly recommend it.
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