Every so often I will be posting about books that haven’t come out yet but that I am eagerly anticipating. One example is The Dress Shop of Dreams by Menna Van Praag. This book looks absolutetly delightful! So mark your calendars for December and get ready for a magical tale.
In the bestselling tradition of Alice Hoffman, critically-acclaimed author Menna van Praag makes her exciting Ballantine debut with this whimsical tale of buried secrets, hidden passions, and the undeniable power of love.
Etta Sparks’s cozy dress shop, tucked away at the end of a winding Cambridge road, is a magical place – anyone who steps inside the little blue door to glimpse the glorious silks and jewel-hued velvets can see they are someplace special. But only Etta knows the dresses she sells are actually magic – a few stitches from her needle and each gown imbues the wearer with the confidence to achieve whatever they set their mind too. The only two people the dresses don’t seem to work on are Etta, still nursing a heart broken 40 years ago, and her granddaughter Cora, who dedicated her life to science after her brilliant inventor parents died in a mysterious fire and doesn’t have time for things like magic or love. Determined to help Cora find happiness, Etta sews her magic stitch onto the shirt of Walter, the shy young man who works at the bookstore next door and has been in love with Cora for years. When she does, Etta sets in motion a surprising series of events, uncovering a lifetime of secrets that will change her granddaughter’s mind about love—and maybe even bring back something Etta thought she had lost forever.
THE DRESS SHOP OF DREAMS by Menna Van Praag
Release Date: December 2014
Publisher: Ballantine Books