Sandy M’s review of The Memory Dress by Jade Beer
Contemporary Fiction published by Berkley 5 Nov 24
I was intrigued by the title of this book, so I read the blurb and became that much more intrigued on several levels hinted at in the story. It’s my first book by Jade Beer, and it won’t be my last. From the heartbreaking issues of dementia to the days of Princess Diana’s hold over the world to the beautiful gowns her dressmakers lovingly created, this book takes you inside all of those areas with heart-wrenching emotions both exhilarating and tragic.
Jayne one day meets up with another tenant of their building and realizes Meredith needs a bit of help. Once she discovers how Meredith lives, which doesn’t bother the woman herself, and that her husband is missing, Jayne encourages other residents, as well as her boss, to get involved. Thus begins a travel down memory lane to solve several mysteries surrounding Meredith.
It’s obvious early on Meredith has memory problems, which Jayne deduces is the reason her apartment is structured and messy as it is whenever Jayne visits. Little by little Jayne and her cohorts figure out Meredith and her husband were the team who created the majority of Princess Diana’s dresses during her heyday. Meredith does have lucid moments when Jayne takes her to the places where Diana wore her iconic wardrobe, and while a few questions are answered during those moments, others also come to the fore. Ms. Beer does a wonderful job of twists and turns as the story moves along toward an ending that the reader hopes for but can never be. You can’t help but feel your heart break for Meredith each time her memories come and go.
I love the way Meredith’s new friends keep working to figure out her past and give her answers to those questions that appear day after day for her. And I love the memories, both enchanting and tragic, the story brought back for me as one who lived through the Diana years. My heart broke every time Jayne introduced herself to Meredith.
This is a wonderful story of friendship, no matter the time and quality of life.
Grade: A
Summary:
England, 2018: Jayne is quiet. She keeps to herself and has no grand expectations for her days. But after a chance encounter with her elderly neighbor, Meredith, Jayne is forced to reevaluate her determination to keep the world at a distance. Meredith’s dust-covered home is chaotic and neglected. And slowly, Jayne starts to grasp that Meredith herself is quite lost. She can’t seem to remember anything: what she last ate, when she last went out or saw her daughter, or even Jayne’s name, despite what are becoming frequent visits.
But most alarmingly, Meredith can’t remember where her husband is.
Unable to sit by and watch Meredith hurting, Jayne promises she’ll find William. But how can she when the biggest clue Jayne has is a mystery itself: a stunning couture gown with a note declaring it a personal gift to Meredith…from Princess Diana.
England, 1988: Meredith is always calm. You have to be when working for one of the most iconic women in the world. Just as the stitches she uses to create Princess Diana’s wardrobe are steady and stable, so is Meredith. Until she finds herself feeling off-kilter and untethered by an unexpected connection with someone in the workshop. As Meredith finds herself swept up in life and love for the first time, everything she’s ever dreamed about seems in reach…if only she can be brave enough to take it.
