The Dressmaker of Dachau

by Mary Chamberlain

Paperback, 2015

Rating

(41 ratings; 3.4)

Genres

Publication

The Borough Press (2015), 336 pages

Description

Fiction. Literature. Historical Fiction. HTML:For readers of Amy Bloom, Sarah Waters, and Anthony Doerr, The Dressmaker�s War is the story of a brilliant English seamstress taken prisoner in Germany during World War II: about her perseverance, the choices she makes to stay alive, and the haunting aftermath of war. London, 1939. Ada Vaughan is a young working-class woman with an unusual skill for dressmaking who dreams of opening her own atelier. When she meets Stanislaus von Lieben, a Hungarian aristocrat, a new, better life seems to arrive. Stanislaus sweeps Ada off her feet and brings her to Paris. But when war breaks out and Stanislaus vanishes, Ada is abandoned and alone, trapped on an increasingly dangerous continent. Taken prisoner by the Germans, Ada does everything she can to survive. In the bleak horror of wartime Germany, Ada�s skill for creating beauty and glamour is the one thing that keeps her safe. But after the war, attempting to rebuild her life in London, Ada finds that no one is interested in the messy truths of what happened to women like her. And though Ada thought she had left the war behind, her past eventually comes to light, with devastating consequences. Gorgeously written and compulsively readable, The Dressmaker�s War introduces us to an unforgettable heroine�Ada Vaughan, a woman whose ambition for a better life ultimately comes at a heartbreaking cost. Praise for The Dressmaker�s War �Mary Chamberlain�s clear, bright prose is river-swift and Ada Vaughan is a character rich with beautiful, flawed humanity. This is a gripping story about limits and the haunting, brutal way they can be drawn and redrawn in war.��Priya Parmar, author of Vanessa and Her Sister �A thrilling story, brilliantly told�I couldn�t put it down. Ada Vaughan is a character to fall in love with: utterly real, flawed, and beguiling.��Saskia Sarginson, author of The Twins and Without You �I found myself completely swept up in this tale of love, ambition, and vanity.��Juliet West, author of Before the Fall �The Dressmaker�s War is a powerful and gripping tale of longings and dreams, and how a chance meeting that seems to offer the answers and more instead comes with devastating consequences. It�s a story about what a person will do and can do under force.��Cecilia Ekb�ck, author of Wolf Winter.… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member flourgirl49

Does one need to like the main character of a book in order to like the book itself? I find that this is generally true for me - however, this book is an exception. Ada Vaughan makes very poor decisions with her life - you can blame it on youth and naivety, but in the beginning you want to just

smack her upside the head and yell "get a clue, you ninny!" I thought the section where Ada is used as basically slave labor by the Germans while locked up and practically starved was very well written. Now, I thought, Ada will come out of this a strong woman, determined never to be taken advantage of again. Alas, once freed, she returns to some very stupid behavior and ultimately pays a big price. By the way, I wish the author had not written the prologue, as it gives away the end of the story right off the bat - would have been better left unsaid.

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LibraryThing member Suzannie1

i loved this book ,it showed the naivety of a young girl and how the cruelty of peopled uring the war , unlike anything i have read before .

LibraryThing member JanaRose1

Ada, a young dressmaker, falls for Stanislaus and travels with him to Paris. When the war breaks out, the two flee, until he abandons her. Ada travels to a convent, where the nuns take her in. However, the Nazi’s capture all of the English nuns and takes them to Germany to work. Ada is taken to a

house outside of a concentration camp, where she makes dresses for the Nazi officer’s wives and mistresses. After the war, Ada travels back to London, where her family disowns her for running off with Stanislaus. Ada finds work at a café and picking up men at night.

I’m not sure how I feel about this book. It was very well written. However, I found Ada very hard to like. She just made such poor decisions! I would definitely pick up another book by this author, just not another book about Ada.

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LibraryThing member nevans1972

An English seamstress is lured to Europe by a con man and enslaved by Nazis, only to end up on death row in her own country.

Ada Vaughan is preparing to met up with a hangman in a London prison. The remainder of the novel is a flashback in the late 1930's. Young Ada is a product of the London

working class where she apprentices to a couturier as a mannequin and dressmaker. She dreams of one day opening her own atelier. Count Stanislaus Von Lieben, a dashing admirer with a foreign accent and a foreign name at first encourages Ada's ambitions with compliments and lavish nights out and with a trip to Paris. Stanislaus turns colder and then as the Germans are on the march he takes her to Belgium where he abandons her. Narrowly escaping German bombardment Ada is taken in by nuns who disguise her as a nun. They are then removed by cattle car to Barvaria and the sisters are taken into service by the Nazis caring for the Aryan elderly. Ada who is pregnant by Stanislaus has now given birth to a son named Thomas who is taken away by a parish priest to be adopted.

Ada is now put to work in a household of Herr Wiess, commandant of Dachau. She is confined to one room and is starved, beaten and forced to do heavy labor and sew creating clothes for a growing circle of Frau Weiss' friends who repay her only with grudging respect.

After the Americans liberate Dachau Ada is returned to London where she is rejected by her mother and she strives to rebuild her life but fails to learn her lessons her harsh personal history has taught her.

This is a look at one woman's struggle during WW2 and how the cards where stacked against Ada from the very beginning. I would recommend this book to lovers of historical fiction as well as WW2. The novel was well written and enlightening.

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LibraryThing member pennsylady

Audio--- 9 discs read by Susan Dreuden
Excellent narration and character portrayal

Also released as The Dressmaker of Dachau

atelier
a workshop or studio, especially of an artist, artisan, or designer.
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modiste
ladies' tailor
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The following

quotations are taken from the publisher's description.

"1939. Eighteen-year-old Ada Vaughan, a beautiful and ambitious seamstress, has just started work for a modiste in Dover Street. A career in couture is hers for the taking – she has the skill and the drive – if only she can break free from the dreariness of family life in Lambeth."
Stanislaus, an Austrian aristocrat, sweeps Ada off her feet and brings her to Paris. When war breaks out, Stanislaus vanishes, and Ada is taken prisoner by the Germans."
"a story of heartbreak, survival and ambition, of the nature of truth, and the untold story of what happens to women during war."

This is a vivid description of"a brilliant English seamstress taken prisoner in Germany during World War II. "

I found this novel captivating, in the sense that I was compelled to read on.
All aspects of Ada personhood were challenged and damaged
by the war, except her extraordinary ability as a modiste.
The aftermath of the war presented a new set of confrontations
and continued with nostalgic hauntings mingled with her new
undertakings.

This book was an excellent, insightful read, albeit it painful and disturbing.

4.5 ★

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LibraryThing member Iambookish

The narrative in this book was intriguing and well written, but the main character was so ridiculous and ingenuous that it was hard to read this with a straight face.

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