The Dress Maker, A literature class creative response.

Heres a review of "The Dress Maker" written by Beryl Bainbridge

Repressed lives in war time England, May 26, 2000
Reviewer: A reader
Beryl Bainbridge's "The Dressmaker" (a Booker Prize nominee) is a quietly haunting tale of repressed lives in war time England. A young girl living with her two aunts falls in love with an American soldier with a secret and less than honourable designs. The outcome of this one-sided love affair (conducted mainly in Rita's head) is a foregone conclusion and possibly the least important aspect of the novel. Bainbridge's interest lies in the exploration of small town provincial lives. Aunt Nellie's obsession with family heirlooms and being the faithful custodian of her late mother's furniture and other treasures is both touching and sad. Sad, because these objects have become a substitute for living. Aunt Margo - the younger widowed aunt - inhabits the novel's moral centre. Taut and crackling with repressed desire and emotion, she deeply resents the family pressure that forced her to give up a second chance at conjugal bliss. Her feelings towards Rita's doomed affair with Ira are certainly ambivalent. She acts out of genuine concern for Rita but there is a strong element of sexual envy as well. Bainbridge's writing is confident and authentic. Clearly, she understands the lives she's writing about. Readers may find the going slow. For that reason, it will not appeal to all, but for its genre (reminds me a little of Penelope Fitzgerald's "The Bookshop"), "The Dressmaker" is a triump and a worthy read.

My daughter wrote the following as a senior year student.

The Dressmaker - Lit Class Creative Response


Don't stand so close to the window
Somebody out there might see
Then the word on the wire
Would be just like Ash Wednesday bush fire
Kiss me quick, kiss me warm
Put your dress on and hurry back home
And don't stand so close to the window
Somebody out there might see
And you're not supposed to be here with me
The walls have ears and the darkness eyes don't you see?