A Novel, by Susan McBride, William Morrow, September 2011
* This book was provided by the publisher.
After ensuring everything's running smoothly at the Dimpleman's 25th anniversary party, event planner Toni Ashton hands the reins over to her assistant and hurries to meet her boyfriend at the most romantic restaurant in St. Louis. After dating two years, she thinks he's finally going to pop the question, and of course she'll say yes. She's 46 years old, has never married and doesn't plan to remain single one more day. Her excitement quickly fades when the small item in the palm of his hand turns out to be the key to his apartment. Before Toni can process a response, her cellphone rings and a nurse from Blue Hills Hospital says her mom is in a medically-induced coma after suffering a stroke that morning. Now the only thing Toni can focus on is getting to Blues Hills as fast as she can.
Evie Ashton looks back at her life and remembers the night that changed everything. Her younger sister, free-spirited, beautiful Anna, was getting married to Davis Cummings, the best looking boy in the county. Evie's mother and father were thrilled about the match, particularly since some of the acreage sold to the Cummings during the Great Depression would be brought back into Evie's family. The day of the rehearsal and dinner arrives, and Evie accompanies Anna to Ste. Genevieve to get away for a while. They step into a strange little shop where the mysterious owner entices Anna to buy a shimmering dress made from spider silk. What they think is a plain black dress turns out to be one that shares a vision of the future to whomever wears it. Anna decides to wear it that night...the night she runs away, leaving her family devastated.
Little Black Dress, by Susan McBride, the award-winning author of The Debutante Dropout Mysteries and The Cougar Club, is a powerful story of love, loss, lessons learned and a magical little black dress. Though not really a paranormal or cozy mystery, I had to recommend it, as the book is definitely a page-turner and one I couldn't put it down until I read the last word.
Ms. McBride creates a strong cast of characters and gives Evie, Anna and Toni their own achievements, failures, warring emotions and questionable decisions. Though different in appearance and outlook, each of the three needs the strength and love of family to feel whole. Together they realize that to survive and thrive in the present, you have to forgive the past.
The chapters alternate between Evie's story and Toni's, and the reader gets a glimpse of how mother and daughter reach that point in their lives. I'm not the most patient person and could only get through one-third of the book before I started reading just Evie's tale, and then Toni's, up to the point where they merged. From there, I finished the book as presented and closed it with a big smile on my face.
One suggestion, though. Be sure to have a full box of Kleenex or Puffs nearby. It's definitely a multi-tissue story.
IF YOU LIKE THIS, YOU MAY LIKE: Missing Pieces Mysteries by Joyce and Jim Lavene, Witchcraft Mysteries by Juliet Blackwell, Debutante Dropout Mysteries by Susan McBride, The Cougar Club by Susan McBride