Wednesday, September 11, 2013

The Funeral Dress: Review and Giveaway

A few weeks ago, Penguin Books got in touch with me and asked if I would like to review the just-released book 'The Funeral Dress' by Susan Gregg Gilmore. After I picked myself up off the floor at the surprise of being contacted for such a thing, I read through the summary and told them quite emphatically "Yes!!!" You may think my first love is sewing (and you'd be justified in that thought), but my very first true love is reading. I can skip sewing for a few days, but I cannot turn off the bedside light without reading a few chapters. Anyhoodle, here is the official publisher's description:

"Emmalee Bullard and her new baby are on their own. Or so she thinks, until Leona Lane, the older seamstress who sat by her side at the local shirt factory where both women worked as collar makers, insists Emmalee come and live with her.  Just as Emmalee prepares to escape her hardscrabble life in Red Chert holler, Leona dies tragically.  Grief-stricken, Emmalee decides she’ll make Leona’s burying dress, but there are plenty of people who don't think the unmarried Emmalee should design a dress for a Christian woman - or care for a child on her own. But with every stitch, Emmalee struggles to do what is right for her daughter and to honor Leona the best way she can, finding unlikely support among an indomitable group of seamstresses and the town’s funeral director. In a moving tale exploring Southern spirit and camaraderie among working women, a young mother will compel a town to become a community."


I'm not going to keep you in suspense--I loved this book. I often find myself sharing a book with the preface "It's kind of boring for a little while and then it's really good." This book was not like that at all. I was into it from the very first page, and had to force myself to put the book down and go to sleep each night. The characters are realistic, and you can see the verbal picture she paints of the backwoods areas of Tennessee quite clearly.  There were a few parts within where I thought I might actually cry, she writes the scene so vividly.

The characters are written so that you feel as though you know them (and hate the ones you're supposed to hate and love the others). There's Leona, Emmalee's sewing-machine neighbor at the shirt factory, who has that "I'm a nice person but don't let word get out" kind of quality about her, and her husband Curtis who sounds like the nicest man in the world. Their story is both heart-breaking and beautiful. There's Nolan, Emmalee's father, who's a real piece of...that. Every once in a while you feel a bit of hope regarding him, but you feel just as stricken by his actions as Emmalee must have. There are her aunt and uncle, who think Emmalee should give her baby to them, and the other seamstresses who rally around her in support.

This book of course mentions sewing (many of the women take in sewing on the side after sewing for hours upon hours all day--not sure I could do that) but it's almost as though it's a metaphor for the stitches that bind the indomitable spirit of the women together. When Emmalee gets the job as a collar maker, she is told her expected quota will be 150 dozen collars per day. That's 1800 collars. I felt anxious reading that and imagining how hard one must work to achieve that. But that's the thing with these women--they do it because they have to, they don't complain, and they do it year after year after year. It's mind-boggling when you consider how today many people don't like to do anything for longer than eleven minutes (that's the length of time between commercial breaks) because they get bored. There's a lesson in there somewhere....

I liked that this book wasn't crazy predictable. Just when I think things had to get better, here came another left-field zinger to make me say "Are you freakin' kidding me?" or something akin to that. I was sorry when this ended. I truly was. As for the style of the book--the author doesn't write this in a totally linear fashion. She goes back and forth between past and present, effectively telling two stories at the same time, building character after character as she goes. You learn the town's and the people's past and present, all coming together at the end nice and neat (some people don't like that in a story, but I prefer the happy ending).

Sound like something you'd like to read? Hopefully so, because Penguin is graciously giving away a copy of this book to one of you. All you have to do is leave a comment below telling me the name of a book you liked--it can be your favorite, the most recent one, fiction or non-fiction, one you hated (that could be interesting), one you've read with your kids, and so on... I'll leave this giveaway open until Tuesday September 17th at 11:59 P.M. ET. I'll draw a random winner and let you know who it is on Wednesday. Good luck!!

I was not financially compensated for this post. I received the book at no charge in exchange for an honest review. The opinions are completely my own based on my own experience. For my complete disclosure policy, click here.

14 comments:

  1. That book looks great! One book that I read recently that I adored was "the Perks of Being a Wallflower". So powerful!

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  2. Reading is my first love too, though I haven't read much since having kids. I remember really enjoying 'Northanger Abbey' by Jane Austen (as well as all of the other books written by her) =)

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  3. I recently read Gap Creek and really enjoyed it. There were alot of hardships, but the people had that same 'do what needs to be done' attitude which does seem to be lacking today.Thanks for the opportunity to win.

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  4. At the moment I'm loving the Phryne Fisher books by Kerry Greenwood and the Daisy Dalrymple books by Carola Dunn. Apparently I'm stuck in 1920's crime fiction ;o)

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  5. Bethany,
    I feel just like you. I love, love, love a good book. And, I can't get my hands around having a kindle or any other type of electronic book. I love the feel of the book in my hand, the smell of the pages when you first open a new book, and the act of turning each page to get to the next. An electronic book just won't do that for me. I have loved reading since I was a little kid (couldn't wait for the Scholastic book fair lists to come out so I could get as many as my parents would let me!!).
    A book I read a while ago, but absolutely loved, is The Crimson Petal and the White by Michel Faber. It took him many, many years to write this very large book (700+ pages), but every one of them is well worth it. I will read it again (have read it twice already).
    Thanks for sharing information about another great book. Will add it to my booklist of ones to consider. (And sorry, didn't mean to write a book myself in this post!)

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  6. I love to read, always have & always will. My favorite book is Gone With The Wind. I am reading it now for the 5th time. I read lots of other books in between, but always keep GWTW open and handy. I absolutely love reading electronic books, you can have multiple books with you at all times. This book sounds incredibly interesting. I love your review of the book. Will definitely add it to my list of books to read.

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  7. The best book I read this year was The Age of Miracles - what would happen if the earth's rotation slowed? It was written from the perspective of a 12 year old girl & what she witnesses as her friends and family have to deal with changes to the environment & personal relationships.

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  8. Reading was my first love too. I learnt to read at the age of 3 and haven't stopped since - I used to walk to school reading and my parents worried I'd get run over! I love so many books and so many kinds of books that this is a tough one. If you're after recommendations I'd say The 19th Wife, A Mountain of Crumbs and A Thousand Splendid Suns for a start. I'm currently reading The Collaborators by Reginald Hill, set in occupied France during WWII. It's one of those books that I struggle to put down so I can sleep...

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  9. I am currently half way through Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand. It is excellent so far. Any book written by Jane Austen is also a favorite.

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  10. I love to read also. I remember that my mother belonged to the Doubleday Book Club and always had wonderful books! My father built a bookshelf next to the fireplace to hold them all! I remember reading "The Godfather" in 7th or 8th grade, boy did I feel grown up!

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  11. Jesus Mo and Cheese PUffs is the most recent book that I read and enjoyed!

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  12. This sounds great. I will definitely add it to my reading list. Thanks for the giveaway.

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  13. This sounds like a lovely book. The synopsis reminded me of a couple of Elvi Rhodes books I have read many times over, 'Opal' and 'The Bright One', both books I would highly recommend :)

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  14. I love reading---just about anything will do. Right now I am into the Sue Grafton series --- A thru W.

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