The Emerald Dress

I loved this story. Set in Ireland and shifting between present day and 18th century, it tells the story of an emerald dress, and what it means for different classes of society. Being a seamstress myself, I was fascinated by all the processes of the embroideries, weaving and other methods going towards building the dress. The study of class was fascinating, and society’s rules absolutely stultifying.
The drama rollicked along, and totally surprised me - I didn’t see it coming. There are many layers in this novel and I was really absorbed in the history. One thing that did annoy me was never knowing the name of one of the characters... which meant I couldn’t get personally involved, but had to keep a distance. That was show more disappointing. Apart from that, this book was a pleasure. show less

I received this book from the Early Reviewers program. I did enjoy this book. The historical setting was well researched and the characters seemed true to the time. I liked the relationships between the various characters as well. However, I thought that the part set in contemporary time was a distraction. I felt that it either should have been left out entirely or fleshed out much more. I fund the contemporary characters to be interesting, but not e ugh time was devoted to them to develop them well. I think the book would be much better if the contemporary portion was expanded or left out entirely. The book was good, and I liked it, it was just the switching times that needs work.

Ms. Kearns provides a gripping novel filled with the possibilities of what ancestry databases give you snippets of - names and ledger entries. Kearns aptly enriches her characters (from the names and ledger entries) by giving them depth and believability. You feel Abigail's trials, frustration, duty to family, honor, and heartfelt empathy. You can envision the lives of the people in Dublin as Kearns describes it. No spoilers here. This novel comes to a somewhat expected ending and does not leave you hanging. The novel is beautifully written, has believable characters, enough details to imagine the setting, and is difficult to put down once you start reading it. I look forward to reading the next novel Ms. Kearns writes.

The Emerald Dress, a novel by Vivienne Kearns, begins in Los Angeles, CA in the present day. Most of the action in the book takes place through long flashbacks to Dublin, Ireland in 1719.

Vivienne Kearns presents a well-researched look at life in early 18th century Dublin. She describes the living conditions, societal boundaries, food, dress and manners through the story of Abigail Harton, Hugh Gavin and Dr. Monroe.

Abigail, a doctor’s daughter, face certain societal expectations and restrictions on her behavior but goes against them by using her embroidery talents to help her family financially. The love story that develops between Abigail, the weaver Hugh and Dr. Monroe revolves around these restrictions.

It’s an engaging story if show more somewhat overwrought at times. It brings the period to life and cleverly intertwines the past and the present. It took me a while to get into the book, there were probably too many characters and I found the ending rather tame after the action in the middle of the book. show less

Though I enjoyed the premise of this book, I did find the constant shifting of perspective to be a little distracting. That aside, I found Abigail and her story both interesting and relatable. The plot was somewhat slow to develop but did keep my attention and interest. Overall, a good book for those who enjoy historical fiction.

I really enjoyed this book. It had an engrossing story with compelling characters and a great plot that switched between the past and present that was really well done. Both main characters were likable and believable in their actions. And it even had a creepy side story that had a Shirley Jackson-esque vibe. I would look for other stories by this author.

Abigail does not know what to do. While she can support her fathers desire to work with the poor, he is bringing no money into the house and their family is near starvation. Abigail decides to take work secretly embroidering gowns for the wealthy. This will not only put food on the table but it may help her brother who has been very ill. Abigail does not mind the work, however she does not want it to be common knowledge as she is sure that her prospects of finding a husband will be diminished if anyone found out. Her prospects appear to change for the better when one of her fathers position partners takes an interest in her and her family. However, Abigail cannot decide if she is relieved at his attentions for the sake of her family or show more if she truly loves him. This was a great book and also had a contemporary story line running along with the historical period. Thank you Library thing and early review for the copy of this book. I thoroughly enjoyed it show less