The Wedding Dress Sewing Circle: A Novel

Cressida encourages Grace to mingle more, providing compliments to boost Grace’s self-esteem. Grace’s father, Ben, approaches them, and he and Cressida fall into reminiscing about their youth. Cressida reveals that Jack, the man Ben fought beside in the war—and who features in his nightmares—was Cressida’s fiancé. Grace is surprised by Ben’s lighthearted, laughing manner while talking to Cressida, as it is so different from his norm.

Grace leaves them to chat and mingles, her dress and the alcohol helping her feel as if she belongs at a party like this. She notices Violet and Hugh watching her; Hugh approaches and asks to speak to her, his manner altered from yesterday’s dismissive one. He apologizes for how he spoke to her, but Grace is angered both by his seeming expectation that she will accept his apology and by Cressida’s earlier revelation that Hugh is repossessing the village hall. She confronts him about it, telling him she thought he was more compassionate than his father. He suggests that the hall wasn’t used much anyway, but Grace tells him about all of the events and programs at the hall, most of which are supporting the war effort. He is surprised. When she says he isn’t as considerate as she thought, he is angry, saying she has changed from the free-spirited girl he knew. Grace loses her temper and tells him that of course she changed: Her mother died and her best friend—Hugh—abandoned her, so she had to grow up quickly. She accuses him of not growing up, and he brusquely excuses himself.

Cressida escorts Violet to the station so she can head to training to be a driver for the war effort. Violet is upset about having to go through training since she hates exerting effort, but Cressida shares how effort and learning new skills help one to get ahead in life. She asks Violet to promise her to put in the effort at training.

Violet runs into two clearly lower-class women getting on the train, Becky and Lena; Violet finds Lena obnoxious and looks down on Becky. On arriving at the training area, she discovers that the training group normally reserved for upper-class women has been folded into the group for other women, meaning Violet will spend her time with all the lower-class women she looks down on.

They all endure medical inspections, and the sergeant conducting lice inspections, clearly disliking Violet’s attitude, claims Violet has lice and sends her to the group waiting for decontamination. Violet discovers that decontamination involves shearing off her beautiful hair, and she cries as the rest of the women endure the same treatment.

That night, as Violet cries in bed, Becky comes to comfort her, also crying. Lena, who is crying too, joins them, and soon a small group of women huddles together, comforting one another over their new, difficult situation away from home. Violet realizes that she has indeed always found fault with nearly everything in her life, and she finds a newfound respect for Becky as the woman comforts her.

Cressida joins the Aldhurst branch of the Air Raid Precautions (ARP), glad to lend her support to the organization that helped save and comfort her and her neighbors during the London bombings. Most members of the meeting, including her, knit for the war effort, and she recognizes how short-sighted and arrogant she was to think that knitting was beneath her. She also considers the Utility Clothes fashion show competition, having been reminded by Muriel’s letter, and she decides to participate, tempted by the challenge it presents. She learns the ARP basics and catches up as the rest of the group conducts their regular meeting, and then she joins Mrs. Bisgood on her rounds of the village to learn the ropes of making sure every resident follows the after-dark rules to prevent being spotted and targeted by German bombers. On the walk, Mrs. Bisgood and Cressida reflect on the directions their lives have gone, and Mrs. Bisgood notes how Cressida has become a villager again, suggesting that Cressida design and sew from the village rather than rushing back to London. Cressida explains that her work helps her cope and has become her life. They bond over the strategies they have both used to avoid being pitied by others for having lost their partners. As Mrs. Bisgood takes the first shift sleeping, Cressida listens to the radio and its updates on occupied nations, realizing how lucky they are in England to still be free, despite all their hardships.

Grace and Lottie chat about Lottie’s brand-new engagement to Lord Flynn, whom she has been seeing in secret. She gushes about how passionate he is when they kiss; when Grace admits she and Lawrence haven’t even kissed, Lottie insists that Grace let Lawrence kiss her so she can know if they’re right together. Grace can’t admit to Lottie that Lawrence has not tried to kiss her, making her wonder if he—or anyone—wants her. She bustles off to parish visits to avoid further conversation.

On the way to visit an injured estate employee named Mr. Farlow, Grace runs into Hugh. He apologizes, sharing that he knows now Grace was right about the village hall and about his father. When Grace chides him for not knowing Mr. Farlow, he asks to join her on the visit, sharing that he wants to learn more about what is actually going on in the village. Mr. Farlow is even more blunt about Hugh’s father than Grace was, sharing how little the man cared and how he used his employees. Hugh talks to the man about finding a position better suited for his age and condition and makes tea for the three of them. He joins Grace on the rest of her parish visits, and at the end, he expresses gratitude. Many of the villagers made it clear how little they liked Hugh’s family because of his father’s behavior, but Hugh is glad to know what the villagers actually need and what he should do now. Grace encourages him, sharing that small actions like listening and allowing the villagers to retain use of the hall will go a long way in rebuilding trust. They part ways after agreeing to be friends again, and when Hugh waves back at Grace from further down the lane, she feels as if she is watching her best friend as he once was.

After a few weeks of training, Violet is beginning to see that she isn’t much different from the lower-class women she looked down on. Lena points out that Violet is quite clever, and they discuss why men want stupid women. Lena muses that given how much Violet hates being told what to do in training, it seems odd that she would be okay with a husband telling her what to do. The thought sticks, and Violet decides to lean into her newly discovered cleverness. She finishes training with top marks in mechanics.

Violet is allowed to live at home on duty at a nearby manor. She finds the Sewing Circle women in the village hall on her way home from the station, and she stops in to say hello. She apologizes to the women for not being a great leader, and she asks to become a regular member of the club, learning to sew and helping out. Like Hugh, she realizes she shouldn’t hold herself apart from the villagers and that she must be part of the village to understand how to help it. Walking home with Cressida, she admits that she no longer wants to wait for men like her father or brother to make things happen for her. She wants to make things happen in her own life, and she will start by being a top-notch army driver.

Cressida and the rest of the Sewing Circle women chat as they clean up after their successful jumble sale, where they sold used clothing and other materials. It is Cressida’s turn for ARP duty that night with Ben, so she leaves to meet him for their rounds of the village. They have picked up their friendship again during her weeks in Aldhurst. On their walk, she references the bombing of her home, but she quickly changes the subject.

Ben and Cressida suddenly hear a plane coming from London, but they cannot yet tell if it is a British or German one. As it comes closer, Ben recognizes it as a German one; it drops its remaining bombs before beginning its Atlantic crossing. The sounds of the bombing take Cressida back to the night of the London bombing, and she screams as Ben covers her. The bombs drop in a nearby field, narrowly missing the village. Cressida and Ben return to the office to contact the authorities and file reports about the incident, but Ben notes Cressida struggling in the aftermath and encourages her to share what happened the night of the bombing. She talks about seeing a dog carrying a child’s toy in its mouth and about how she is only alive because it was a neighbor who was bombed first, not her. They each talk of their own nightmares and experiences before Cressida tries to sleep while Ben works on the reports. She finds herself sobbing, and Ben joins her on the bed, wrapping his arms around her for comfort. They hold one another into the night.

Grace and Hugh repair a broken shelf together while Grace watches one of the villager’s children, giving the woman some time to take care of other things and get a break from the chaos. Hugh has been joining Grace on parish visits and helping her with some of her duties, and Grace feels herself returning little by little to the light-hearted girl she once was. The two share a moment together as Hugh helps her off the ladder, and Grace remembers their kiss so many years ago.

Lawrence interrupts them with his early arrival, but he does not seem to notice that anything is happening between Grace and Hugh. He puts a damper on things by chiding Grace for taking on too much; he removes a man’s cap from her head, which she put to amuse the children. Grace feels uncomfortable, imagining Hugh wondering why she is with Lawrence; she used to think there was “something more” to Lawrence beyond his religious duties, but now she isn’t sure.

Hugh leaves, and she and Lawrence gather the children to return them to their mother earlier than promised since Lawrence is becoming impatient. Lawrence mildly chides Grace for taking on tasks that are not part of her normal duties and responsibilities. As Grace begins cooking their meal at her father’s house, he dismisses her interest in fashion and sewing as frivolous, pointing out that such things would not be seemly for a vicar’s wife. Grace is upset, but Lawrence tells her to put her faith in God, and she feels comforted in the role she has accepted as the future wife of a vicar.