Review of 'The Winter Dress' by Lauren Chater

PUBLISHER’S DESCRIPTION of The Winter Dress: Simon & Schuster

Jo Baaker, a textiles historian and Dutch ex-pat is drawn back to the island where she was born to investigate the provenance of a 17th century silk dress. Retrieved by local divers from a sunken shipwreck, the dress offers tantalising clues about the way people lived and died during Holland's famous Golden Age.

Jo's research leads her to Anna Tesseltje, a poor Amsterdam laundress turned ladies’ companion who served the enigmatic artist Catharina van Shurman. The two women were said to share a powerful bond, so why did Anna abandon Catharina at the height of her misfortune?

Jo is convinced the truth lies hidden between the folds of this extraordinary dress. But as she delves deeper into Anna’s history, troubling details about her own past begin to emerge.

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MY REVIEW OF LAUREN CHATER’S THE WINTER DRESS

It is amazing how Lauren Chater has taken such slim threads of fact and spun them into a memorable spellbinding story: an exquisite imagining of what might have been. As character Jo Baaker (a textiles historian) states, “it was those cracks within the past that let in the light of possibility, small tears in the fabric of the past.” This is a perfect description or definition of what historical fiction is at its best. 

The Winter Dress is a stunning dual timeline novel of a perfect dance between past and present. The transition is effortless as we move back and forth between Jo’s world and Anna’s. It is a seamless journey that keeps us watching our present day characters as they search for the truth while the 17th century ones play it out. What is the origin of this relic? This unique dress draws us into its mystery and invites us to peer beneath the cloudy surface of the past. 

It is evident that Lauren has done her research thoroughly. The 17th century characters are engaging and believable. They act as one would expect from historical references. Their dialogue and vocabulary are appropriate, too, but easy enough for the modern mind to understand. 

The setting is wild and enchanting littered with seals, seabirds and waterways. Through Lauren’s lovely descriptions of the land and seascape and its people, I feel as though I have visited present day Texel. Equally, I was transported back to the 1650’s where I could smell the long burning candles, feel the rough wooden floors and cold stone walls, and imagine what it could have been like to pass through these shadowy halls of history. 

One of the themes of this novel is endurance. Particularly for women fighting hard for a rightful place in society. Jo, Anna and Catharina, have their challenges. Their lives are filled with ample conflicts: relating to faith, society, the heart, family and friends. These hefty battles expose the short falls of human ideals, structures and relationships. But they also highlight the courage and strength these women possess in being able to overcome the odds.

Zeroing in on companionship, we explore the powerful bond between Anna Tesseltje and artist Catharina van Shurman. We are given a sympathetic view of Anna who once was a poor laundress (the descriptions of her previous life and loss are provided with exquisite detail). Then through a strange twist of fate, she becomes a companion to the talented artist Catharina, known as the 10th Muse. It is an engrossing journey that takes us into the folds and fears of the challenges faced by 17th century women. 

For Jo, in the modern thread, The Winter Dress is a return to roots where memories, long shelved but not forgotten, are resurrected. The call back to her childhood island – to be part of the interpretation and discovery team of the winter dress, stirs up a lot of memories. Once she lands on Texel, she tries to understand and remember her parents and the life she had on the Dutch island. But while attempting to get reacquainted with her own past life, she undertakes the important mission of confirming who the dress belongs to and the story behind it. We feel her frustration as she keeps running into interference from various sources—one of which is unexpected. Needless to say, our curiosity never falters for we are provided a steady trail of clues to keep us thinking. 

Mixed with the family dramas, is the wonder and power of the winter dress. It provides something special for each of our timeline leads. For Anna, it provides a means of  transformation: “a comforting omen, a message of hope from her departed mother.” While wearing her mother’s dress, she is a more confident woman. This dress also empowers our modern day character, Jo, in another way. By working on this project, it is her chance to show the world what she can do: to gain recognition. It also offers personal freedom from the ghosts of the past. And for the present provides wonderful connections that certainly add new colour to her life.

Lauren has given us much food for thought. The story explores both the professional academic and the amateur historian: the importance of history keeping (and the handling of artefacts) and why Jo is so passionate about getting the facts right, to find the rightful owner/wearer of the winter dress and to oversee the proper care of such a valuable legacy. We acquire useful information on the process taken when centuries-old sunken ships are discovered and what happens to the goods found on them. We learn how they must be handled but also the damage modern methods can cause if someone does not know what they are doing. Such as: a centuries old fine silk garment being hosed down by ‘chemically infused tap water’ and hung ‘on a wire coat hanger to dry’. 

Lauren, also, provides invigorating details of the diving experience itself, into that underwater world of hidden treasures both manmade and natural. So much lies below the surface that is both beautiful and terrifying. Which leads me to my next point: the ever important theme of nature’s healing presence in our lives (in this case the sea) and how it can help us find ourselves again when we become disconnected. Sometimes we have to get lost in its depths to revive our inner voice. Transporting us to the edge of our comfort zone may magnify our fears but also help us tackle the deadly whispers that haunt us in the night. It helps to burn away the dross, the garb that clutters and clothes our shame and disappointments. It is a naked journey we must take into the unknown sometimes but it washes our mind, clarifies our true purpose and provides healing where we need it most.

As this mysterious dress long submerged in the sea surfaces, and its many colours and design details come into view, so does the life of its wearer/owner. Along with Jo’s past life. The textured history of her parents and their unusual relationship spills across the pages of the modern thread giving us an idea of the world that has shaped this ambitious textile historian. In many ways, although worlds and years apart, Jo and Anna share similar experiences and losses which have shaped each of their lives. 

This novel will grip your heart and never let go. It is filled with language as rich as the ornamental dress, stitched together with classical threads of literature and culture. Without tears and fading—art comes alive on the page through Lauren’s impressive gift of words. Both past and present timelines flow from the caring hand of a meticulous author. 

The Winter Dress is an incredibly moving, passionate and powerful statement of endurance, friendship, survival and healing, that triumphs over sadness, loss, betrayal and hardship. I highly recommend this shimmering imaginative story. It contains special offerings you won’t want to miss. It is as special as the winter dress that has inspired it. 5 Perfect Stars. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

 Many thanks to Lauren Chater and Simon & Schuster for a review copy. The novel is available now at all your favourite bookshops.