The Dressmaker

Tess doesn't want to be a maid in France anymore, in fact, she never did. Her father tricked her into being a maid by telling her that she would be working as a dressmaker instead. That was her one true dream at 12 when she was forced instead to be a maid. But that's all over for her now. She knows that the Titanic is docked in her city about ready to leave. She also knows that she can find a way to be on it, even if she has to be a maid as long as the crossing to America will take. She's very lucky to meet Lucile Duff Gordon just as Lucile realizes that her maid will not be coming onto the Titanic with her. Lucile is a very famous clothing designer. Tess can't believe her luck. But she quickly realizes that Lucile is not as kind as she seems at first. She likes things exactly so, and she's not above bribery or mental cruelty to get things her own way. Of course, neither of them realize that the Titanic is ill fated within just a few days of their embarking on it. Tess and Lucile must live forever with the memories of that night and the memories of just what it took for both of them to survive the journey. Tess quickly realizes that something is not quite right with Lucile's story, but she wants to be able to learn from this amazing woman, and telling even the little bit that she knows or suspects will jeopardize her future. Will Tess be strong enough to withstand Lucile's strong personality, or will greediness and ease win her affections?

I really enjoyed the story of this. It's told from the point of view of Tess, she's a lady's maid on the ill fated Titanic. I love that she was able to survive, I was really surprised how little time the voyage and sinking actually took in the book, most of the book is spent with Tess trying to decide how she feels about Lucile vs an honest seaman that she met on the Titanic who tells a very different story about what happened in their life boat. The plot of this book was great. There were quite a few mild swear words, but beyond that it was pretty clean. I enjoyed reading a bit more about how the life on the Titanic would have been and about the sinking.

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