Mystified by the significance of the box’s contents, Heather flies to London hoping to uncover the secrets behind the fabric and why her grandmother never spoke of this period in her life. The box also houses a photo of her beloved Nan posing with Miriam, who is now a famous textile artist. Heather discovers that the delicate embroidery features similar motifs to the ones that graced Queen Elizabeth’s gown. Their stories are intertwined with that of Toronto journalist Heather Mackenzie, who, 69 years later, is bequeathed by her grandmother a box containing a swatch of intricately embroidered fabric. Although they soon become roommates and inseparable friends, both women are emotionally guarded and reluctant to share their personal histories. Britain is still rebuilding and many believe the wedding to be a sign of renewal.Īnn, whose brother died during the Blitz, works on the gown’s elaborate stitched detailing alongside Miriam Dassin, a young French immigrant and Holocaust survivor. Speculation over the design is rampant, in particular because fabric rations are still enforced, even for royalty. The era-flipping, postwar novel starts in 1947, when Ann Hughes, a trained embroiderer with the real-life London fashion house Hartnell, is assigned to the top-secret team behind Princess Elizabeth’s wedding dress and veil.

In Jennifer Robson’s fifth novel, the Toronto author and academic imagines a story in which greed and anticipation over Princess Elizabeth’s dress design leads to a horrifying personal betrayal. This isn’t the only recent context in which royal nuptials have inspired false rumours. Their concern was over a flurry of bets for two particular designers, which suggested there might be leaks coming from within Kensington Palace. George’s Chapel, finally revealing her Givenchy wedding gown, British bookies twice halted their betting pools over which couturier had received the coveted commission. Months before Meghan Markle, the future Duchess of Sussex, walked down the aisle at St.

The gown novel