A dress with a history; four women with a connection. The Wedding Dress by Rachel Hauck intertwines the lives of four women living in the south and the one dress that seems to have magic all on its own. Charlotte, a woman who runs a successful bridal shop has been jilted; Emily, a young woman with dreams and ideas in 1912 becomes engaged to one while hoping for another; Hillary, a war bride of the late 60’s; and Mary Grace is a woman without options for a pretty wedding in 1939, when a miracle happens. The dress is special, made for a special bride, and the way it passes down through time, never yellowing or aging, creates a story that is magical and heartwarming. The story of these four women intertwine to create a sweet story.
While the premise of this book had me anxious to read it, I found myself getting annoyed at the way some of the women thought throughout the story. Especially Charlotte, the main heroine, and Emily. I am not someone who enjoys characters that come across as helpless and naive to a fault. I don’t want a character that feels it’s too much work to have a bit of a mystery, and doesn’t want to solve it. While I may have these faults sometimes, I don’t want to read about it. I started out the story wishing Charlotte would meet her true match, and I felt that how she worked through her engagement, being jilted, then ending up with her wedding, a disappointment. I didn’t realize when I requested the book that it was a Christian based story. Usually I turn away from such stories due to how Christ is represented. There was some amazing aspects of God and Jesus, but like most Christian books I’ve read, I was left wanting. I would recommend this to my Christian friends, but I myself would only give it 3 stars out of 5. That’s fairly high, but it was sweet. Just not my usual favorite style.
Signing off
~Kate
