The Memory Dress is a compelling story of fashion design, community activism, friendship, found family, and dementia.

The Memory Dress by Jade Beer

Genre/Categories/Setting: Historical (and contemporary) Fiction, Dementia, Alzheimer’s, Friendship, Fashion, England

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My Summary of The Memory Dress

Thanks #NetGalley @BerkleyPub #BerkleyBuddyReads for a complimentary e ARC of #TheMemoryDress upon my request. All opinions are my own.

Jayne works part-time at a floral shop and is a dog walker. She is a private person and keeps to herself. During one of her dog-walking duties, she meets Madeline, an older woman who lives below her in the apartment community. It’s quickly apparent to Jayne that all is not OK with Madeline. she appears confused and her apartment is dusty, messy, and neglected. Jayne begins to worry about whether Madeline is eating enough and about the whereabouts of her often-mentioned husband, William. As Jayne becomes more concerned, she reaches out to her neighbors for advice and help. As the neighbors develop a plan, we are immersed into a past timeline that reveals Madeline’s past and explains the gorgeous blue gown that Madeline has thrown over a chair in the bedroom.

My Thoughts:

Dual Timelines (1988 & Present Day)

In The Memory Dress, we have two timelines that explain Madeline’s past (1988) as the neighbors develop an intervention plan in the present. These timelines come together dramatically in the end. Both timelines are interesting and compelling. Some readers categorize this as historical fiction; however, forty years ago is debatable. It might barely qualify as hisfic.

Multi-Layered With Many Themes

I enjoy a multi-layered story which leads to the consideration of many different themes:

• Neighbors helping neighbors
• Taking the initiative even if it’s out of your comfort zone
• Compassion for strangers
• Work-life balance
• Demanding careers
• Forgiveness/Reconciliation
• Dementia/Alzheimer’s
• Long-term care for the elderly
• Friendship
• Found family
• Character growth (present day)

Dementia

At first glance, you might think this book is a romance or about fashion. Surprisingly, dementia is the focus of the story in the present-day timeline. The title, the blub on the cover, and the cover photo didn’t prepare me for this heavy and important topic. Many older people suffer from some form of dementia and often they do not have adequate support. In The Memory Dress, a small community rallies around Madeline to ensure her safety and organize a support system.

Fashion

Fans of fashion, dress design, and Princess Diana will enjoy these aspects of the story. Understanding the demands, skills, dedication, and rigor involved is informative and interesting.

As a side note, it strikes me that the cover doesn’t truly reflect the story’s content. The dress doesn’t seem to match Princess Diana’s style and it doesn’t match the dresses described in the story. Maybe if I googled them, I would notice a stronger connection. When I think of a memory associated with a dress, I think of a special date or occasion. In this story, the dress is used as a memory aid for Madeline and a clue for her friends as they seek to understand her past. The overall nostalgic cover, title, and blurb lead me to believe this might be a romance. When, in actuality, the story focuses on a woman’s career and dementia with small sides of romance. I don’t usually remark on covers, but I wish this special story had a less generic cover. Maybe you will have an entirely different reaction after reading the story!

Content Consideration: Dementia/Alzheimer’s, parent/child estrangement

Recommending The Memory Dress

Fans of well-written, engaging, and multi-layered women’s fiction with thoughtful themes might enjoy The Memory Dress.

Related: You might also enjoy The Last Dress From Paris by the same author.

My Rating: 4 Stars

Meet the Author of The Memory Dress, Jade Beer

Hello, The Palace Dressmaker (or The Memory Dress as it is known in the USA) may be my most glamorous novel yet. Its opening scene takes place at Christie’s auction house in New York in 1997 during the sale of Princess Diana’s dresses. Eighty dresses were listed to sell that evening but only 79 did. One of them is missing and it is what happened to this missing dress that is the central mystery of my novel and the love story that unfolds over thirty years across its pages. I hope you will enjoy the tour through some of the famous dresses in Diana’s wardrobe. I certainly enjoyed retracing where these beautiful gowns were worn in order to write it.

As for me, after decades working in glossy magazines in London, I now live in Cheltenham with my two daughters and my husband. It’s where we used to spend romantic weekends plotting our future together, long before the girls came along, and is now where I write my books.

Women have always fascinated me. I’ve been lucky enough to work with some incredibly talented women throughout my career as a journalist and editor – ones who juggle the most all-encompassing careers with family and friendships and everything else that life throws at them. It’s why women of all ages and the friendships they form always feature largely in my books.

The need to present one version of yourself to the world, while keeping the grittier, less polished reality under wraps, is a thread that runs strongly through my novels too. In my former job as the editor of Conde Nast Brides, I shared my working life with editors of some of the glossiest magazines in the world – Vogue, Tatler, Glamour – and I had the enormous privilege of travelling the world and sitting front row at beautiful fashion shows and working with the world’s leading florists, cake makers and stylists. But I also took a daily peek into the lives of young women who were experiencing one of the most intense times of their lives – planning their wedding days. This, above everything else, was the fascinating bit. Hearing their thoughts, fears, worries and ambitions for the future. This powerful cocktail of glamour and reality is there, I hope, on the pages of all my books.

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QOTD:

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