Review: The Dress Shop of Dreams by Menna van Praag (audio)

Title: The Dress Shop of Dreams   

Author: Menna van Praag      

Narrator: Jennifer Carr   

Published: Recorded Books  

Length: 9 hours, 10 minutes  

Source: Personal copy via Audible  

For fans of Alice Hoffman, Sarah Addison Allen, and Adriana Trigiani, The Dress Shop of Dreams is a captivating novel of enduring hopes, second chances, and the life-changing magic of true love.

Since
her parents’ mysterious deaths many years ago, scientist Cora Sparks
has spent her days in the safety of her university lab or at her
grandmother Etta’s dress shop. Tucked away on a winding Cambridge
street, Etta’s charming tiny store appears quite ordinary to passersby,
but the colorfully vibrant racks of beaded silks, delicate laces, and
jewel-toned velvets hold bewitching secrets: With just a few stitches
from Etta’s needle, these gorgeous gowns have the power to free a
woman’s deepest desires.

Etta’s dearest wish is to work her magic
on her granddaughter. Cora’s studious, unromantic eye has overlooked
Walt, the shy bookseller who has been in love with her forever.
Determined not to allow Cora to miss her chance at happiness, Etta sews a
tiny stitch into Walt’s collar, hoping to give him the courage to
confess his feelings to Cora. But magic spells—like true love—can go
awry. After Walt is spurred into action, Etta realizes she’s set in
motion a series of astonishing events that will transform Cora’s life in
extraordinary and unexpected ways.

My thoughts: This is the first book I’ve read by Menna van Praag and I was excited when I heard it was going to be one of the She Reads ‘Books of Winter’ selections. As soon as I read the description of the book, I knew it was something I would enjoy and I knew I would enjoy it on audio – and I was right on both counts!

I fell in love with Cora and her dress shop. It just seemed like such a magical place to be and then the bookshop – how could I not love this story with two fun places all in one book! The stories of the characters that we follow in this book at first seem a bit disjointed and I wondered how it fit together, but eventually it all makes sense – why we are getting everyone’s backstory.

There’s also a bit of a mystery in this book and I think that it pairs nicely with all the romance. Etta has always been convinced that Cora’s parents’ death was not an accident. This has Cora traveling to the place of her childhood home and digging into her past. This is where we meet the detective and find out about his life and more specifically, the state of his marriage, thus tying in one of the romances. As I mentioned earlier, the four romances seem disjointed, but in the end, are in some way all connected.

I enjoyed all the character’s stories, but the one I had the hardest time identifying with was that of Milly’s story. I can’t even pinpoint why – maybe because the man she was with I knew was destined to be with someone else? Or maybe because she just didn’t ring true? I’m not really sure, but there was just something about her that didn’t feel right. Everyone else I was totally invested in and rooting for but sadly, not her.

There’s just something magical about this book – it’s a charming, fun, romantic story, with that hint of mystery thrown in and just a little bit of magic that really create a nice tale. I am definitely going to be picking up Menna’s other books very soon as I definitely enjoyed her writing style.

Audio Thoughts: This is the first time I’ve listened to Jennifer Carr narrate a book and I thought she did a great job with this story. She was able to give each character their own unique voice and I had no problems following along, knowing who was speaking at any given time. I look forward to seeing what else she has narrated.

The Dress Shop of Dreams by Menna van Praag is one of the She Reads “Books of Winter” reading selection picks. 

 

Head over to the She Reads website to read reviews and related posts of this book, as well as posts related to the other “Books of Winter” selections. And don’t forget, there’s a giveaway going on over at there until the end of January!!!