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055: Jennifer Robson
Whether you're a tea-and-scones-nibbling Royal Watcher or just a fan of well written and researched historical fiction, you will love Jennifer Robson's latest novel, The Gown. In this interview, Jennifer and I talked about the significance of Queen (then Princess) Elizabeth's wedding to Philip Mountbatten, Duke of Edinburgh, in 1947.
While Elizabeth and some members of the royal family make cameos in this book, The Gown weaves together the story of two women who find themselves working on the most incredible bridal trousseau of its time. They are hand-embroidering Elizabeth's gown, train, and all its accoutrements as designed by royal dresser Norman Hartnell. Jennifer discusses her research process and explains that synchronicity led her to one of the real-life Hartnell employees who , Betty Foster, and the most gratifying working relationships of her career.
London, 1947: Besieged by the harshest winter in living memory, burdened by onerous shortages and rationing, the people of postwar Britain are enduring lives of quiet desperation despite their nation’s recent victory. Among them are Ann Hughes and Miriam Dassin, embroiderers at the famed Mayfair fashion house of Norman Hartnell. Together they forge an unlikely friendship, but their nascent hopes for a brighter future are tested when they are chosen for a once-in-a-lifetime honor: taking part in the creation of Princess Elizabeth’s wedding gown.
Toronto, 2016: More than half a century later, Heather Mackenzie seeks to unravel the mystery of a set of embroidered flowers, a legacy from her late grandmother. How did her beloved Nan, a woman who never spoke of her old life in Britain, come to possess the priceless embroideries that so closely resemble the motifs on the stunning gown worn by Queen Elizabeth II at her wedding almost seventy years before? And what was her Nan’s connection to the celebrated textile artist and holocaust survivor Miriam Dassin?
With The Gown, Jennifer Robson takes us inside the workrooms where one of the most famous wedding gowns in history was created. Balancing behind-the-scenes details with a sweeping portrait of a society left reeling by the calamitous costs of victory, she introduces readers to three unforgettable heroines, their points of view alternating and intersecting throughout its pages, whose lives are woven together by the pain of survival, the bonds of friendship, and the redemptive power of love.
Jennifer Robson is the USA Today and #1 Toronto Globe & Mail bestselling author of Somewhere in France, After the War is Over and Moonlight Over Paris. She holds a doctorate from Saint Antony’s College, University of Oxford. She lives in Toronto with her husband and young children.
Jennifer Robson Author Website
February 27th – Literary Atlanta Live – B. A. Shapiro, author of The Collector’s Apprentice, and Tim Johnston, author of The Current, at Margaret Mitchell House
February 27th – Jennifer Robson, author of The Gown, in conversation with Mary Kay Andrews at FoxTale Book Shoppe
March 1st - Irshad Manji, author of Don't Label Me, in conversation with Rose Scott at the Carter Presidential Library
March 4th - Rescheduled Event - Sara Bliss, author of Take the Leap: Change Your Career, Change Your Life, at Manuel’s Tavern
March 4th – Max Blau, author of “Lightning Struck” in The Bitter Southerner, at the Decatur Library Auditorium
Upcoming Live Literary Atlanta Events and Workshops
February 27th – Literary Atlanta Live – B. A. Shapiro, author of The Collector’s Apprentice, and Tim Johnston, author of The Current, at Margaret Mitchell House
March 16th – Alison Law and Karin Pendley Koser present “Analog to Digital: How to Craft Stories for Audio and Video” at the Decatur Writers Studio
April 6th – Alison Law presents “Brand Yourself Like a Bestseller: How to Establish Your Reputation as a Working Writer (Even Before Your Work Has Been Published)” and “Social Media Tips and Tools for Writers” at the 22nd Annual Blue Ridge Writers’ Conference
April 9th – Writers at the Wrecking Bar Presents Jessica Handler, author of The Magnetic Girl
The Gown by Jennifer Robson
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By Alison LawWhether you're a tea-and-scones-nibbling Royal Watcher or just a fan of well written and researched historical fiction, you will love Jennifer Robson's latest novel, The Gown. In this interview, Jennifer and I talked about the significance of Queen (then Princess) Elizabeth's wedding to Philip Mountbatten, Duke of Edinburgh, in 1947.
While Elizabeth and some members of the royal family make cameos in this book, The Gown weaves together the story of two women who find themselves working on the most incredible bridal trousseau of its time. They are hand-embroidering Elizabeth's gown, train, and all its accoutrements as designed by royal dresser Norman Hartnell. Jennifer discusses her research process and explains that synchronicity led her to one of the real-life Hartnell employees who , Betty Foster, and the most gratifying working relationships of her career.
London, 1947: Besieged by the harshest winter in living memory, burdened by onerous shortages and rationing, the people of postwar Britain are enduring lives of quiet desperation despite their nation’s recent victory. Among them are Ann Hughes and Miriam Dassin, embroiderers at the famed Mayfair fashion house of Norman Hartnell. Together they forge an unlikely friendship, but their nascent hopes for a brighter future are tested when they are chosen for a once-in-a-lifetime honor: taking part in the creation of Princess Elizabeth’s wedding gown.
Toronto, 2016: More than half a century later, Heather Mackenzie seeks to unravel the mystery of a set of embroidered flowers, a legacy from her late grandmother. How did her beloved Nan, a woman who never spoke of her old life in Britain, come to possess the priceless embroideries that so closely resemble the motifs on the stunning gown worn by Queen Elizabeth II at her wedding almost seventy years before? And what was her Nan’s connection to the celebrated textile artist and holocaust survivor Miriam Dassin?
With The Gown, Jennifer Robson takes us inside the workrooms where one of the most famous wedding gowns in history was created. Balancing behind-the-scenes details with a sweeping portrait of a society left reeling by the calamitous costs of victory, she introduces readers to three unforgettable heroines, their points of view alternating and intersecting throughout its pages, whose lives are woven together by the pain of survival, the bonds of friendship, and the redemptive power of love.
Jennifer Robson is the USA Today and #1 Toronto Globe & Mail bestselling author of Somewhere in France, After the War is Over and Moonlight Over Paris. She holds a doctorate from Saint Antony’s College, University of Oxford. She lives in Toronto with her husband and young children.
Jennifer Robson Author Website
February 27th – Literary Atlanta Live – B. A. Shapiro, author of The Collector’s Apprentice, and Tim Johnston, author of The Current, at Margaret Mitchell House
February 27th – Jennifer Robson, author of The Gown, in conversation with Mary Kay Andrews at FoxTale Book Shoppe
March 1st - Irshad Manji, author of Don't Label Me, in conversation with Rose Scott at the Carter Presidential Library
March 4th - Rescheduled Event - Sara Bliss, author of Take the Leap: Change Your Career, Change Your Life, at Manuel’s Tavern
March 4th – Max Blau, author of “Lightning Struck” in The Bitter Southerner, at the Decatur Library Auditorium
Upcoming Live Literary Atlanta Events and Workshops
February 27th – Literary Atlanta Live – B. A. Shapiro, author of The Collector’s Apprentice, and Tim Johnston, author of The Current, at Margaret Mitchell House
March 16th – Alison Law and Karin Pendley Koser present “Analog to Digital: How to Craft Stories for Audio and Video” at the Decatur Writers Studio
April 6th – Alison Law presents “Brand Yourself Like a Bestseller: How to Establish Your Reputation as a Working Writer (Even Before Your Work Has Been Published)” and “Social Media Tips and Tools for Writers” at the 22nd Annual Blue Ridge Writers’ Conference
April 9th – Writers at the Wrecking Bar Presents Jessica Handler, author of The Magnetic Girl
The Gown by Jennifer Robson