The Midnight Dress

Starred review from September 9, 2013
It’s the mid-1980s when lonely 15-year-old Rose Lovell and her recovering alcoholic father wash up in a tiny Australian beach town. Against her better judgment, she allows herself to be befriended by exuberant, beautiful Pearl Kelly, who sweeps Rose up into various whims and projects. The procurement of a dress for the upcoming Harvest Parade brings Rose to Edie Baker, locally considered to be a witch. As Edie teaches a reluctant Rose to sew a gorgeous midnight blue dress to wear in the parade, she recounts tales from her past that become the backdrop for both the deepening of Rose and Pearl’s friendship and its eventual dissolution. Not unlike an expert seamstress herself, Foxlee (The Anatomy of Wings) skillfully weaves multiple stories throughout this novel, including eerie, reader-directed chapter openers that portend future tragedy for the girls. The casual beauty of the language (“She leans forward. There’s a sudden applause of rain on the roof”) and the complex storytelling style create a haunting, atmospheric novel about friendship, betrayal, and loss. Ages 14–up. Agent: Catherine Drayton, Inkwell Management.

Starred review from September 1, 2013
A literary mystery with a Down Under flair. Like Foxlee's debut (The Anatomy of Wings, 2009), this is set in the Australian countryside in the 1980s and is peppered with Australian terms that may be unfamiliar to American readers (caravan, petrol) and references to historical moments that may not register (Chernobyl). But the assured and powerful writing will carry readers beyond any momentary stumbling blocks. Rose Lovell and her father are drifters. When they alight in Leonora, Rose finds herself drawn into friendship with the ebullient, sparkling Pearl and preparations for the annual Harvest Parade, which leads her to odd, old Edie Baker, a seamstress and storyteller who provides angry Rose with unconditional support. Each chapter begins with the end of the story: A girl has disappeared after the parade, a girl who might be Rose or might be Pearl, undercutting the poignant but hopeful story with the anticipation of something terrible. This is, in the end, a story about the tensions of love and anger, between parents and children, between boys and girls and men and women, and about the tension between being alone and being accepted. Fans of Kate Atkinson's Jackson Brodie mysteries will be delighted to find similarly smart, intricate storytelling loaded with genuinely teen concerns. Atmospheric, lyric and unexpected. (Mystery. 13 & up)

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October 1, 2013

Gr 8 Up- Rose Lovell, 15, lives with her father in a trailer, moving from place to place along the coast in Queensland, Australia. Since her mother's death when she was four, Rose's father has become an unreliable and unpredictable alcoholic, although when he lands a job in a town called Paradise, they seem to settle in for awhile. Rose enrolls in the local high school and meets Pearl Kelly, who's pretty and popular, but Rose would sooner trust a rock than another human being, and her judgment is not far off in this case. The natural world is Rose's metier, and she revels in the sea, the mountains, and the forest, all of which are beautifully described. Independent by circumstance and by choice, she meets Edie Baker, another outsider. She is the last of a long line of dressmakers-and rumored to cast spells. When Rose needs something to wear to be in the town's Harvest Parade, Edie teaches her that every stitch is a memory, helping her learn not only the discipline of the sewing art, but the value of their friendship as well. The finished dress, a masterpiece, stirs Pearl's jealousy, and after the parade she convinces Rose to trade gowns. As midnight approaches, the dress becomes the catalyst for a terrrible accident-or were there indications of tragedy all along? That's the mystery the local detective has to untangle, though readers may want to reread the beginning of each chapter's italic "clues" to reach a satisfying conclusion.-Georgia Christgau, Middle College High School, Long Island City, NY

Copyright 2013 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 15, 2013
Grades 10-1 I just want a dark dress. Maybe black. I like dark things. This is what 16-year-old Rose Lovell tells Edie Baker, the reclusive dressmaker her new classmates have practically dared her to visit. Like Edie, Rose has a mysterious, transient past, and she has come to embody Edie's memory of her own potent years on the road. But for stoic Rose, a dazzling new friend and confidant, Pearl, has given meaning and stability to her new life in Leonora, the coastal Australian town where she has just arrived with her unstable, nomadic father. As Pearl and Rose prepare with Edie's help for the town's harvest festival, they test the limits of their burgeoning friendship, stir up old secrets, and are entwined in a tragedy that leaves the town questioning Edie's past and the girls' futures. Though the novel is at times weighed down by multiple story layers, Foxlee (The Anatomy of Wings, 2009) depicts the depths of affection and the threat of loss and creates a mystical, macabre work that won't be quickly forgotten.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)

January 6, 2014
This haunting story alternates between the present—in which local police in a smalltown Australia try to solve the murder of a girl whose body was found in a midnight-blue dress—and the past, which details the circumstances leading up to the crime. In those earlier events, 15-year-old Rose comes to town with her shiftless drifter father and becomes fast friends with a girl named Pearl. Seeing that Rose cannot afford a new dress for a town event, Pearl suggests she visit eccentric Edie for help sewing one—thus the midnight-blue dress is born, setting into motion a tragic chain of events. Narrator Mackenzie-Smith is Australian and thus ably provides authentic accents for the characters. She lends Edie a distinct voice, but doesn’t clearly differentiate Rose, Pearl, and their schoolmates—and this can be confusing to listeners. Mackenzie-Smith’s narration is clean and clear, if somewhat uniform, and the murder mystery and significance of the dress will keep listeners engaged until the very end. Ages 14-up. A Knopf hardcover.

January 1, 2014
After arriving in Australian beach town Leonora, self-contained, morose Rose is befriended by outgoing Pearl. Pearl tells Rose about the annual harvest festival and urges her to start thinking about a gown. Enter the enigmatic Edie Baker, an old dressmaker. There are many story lines within Foxlee's complex novel; they coalesce into a dreamlike, eerie whole told in mesmerizing, sensuous prose.

(Copyright 2014 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

Starred review from January 1, 2014
Self-contained, morose fifteen-year-old Rose and her alcoholic father arrive in Australian beach town Leonora, and it seems like they may actually stay put for a spell, for once. Rose enrolls in school and is immediately befriended by Pearl, who's very different--outgoing, luminously pretty, an optimistic dreamer. Pearl tells Rose about the annual harvest festival and urges her to start thinking about a gown to wear. Enter the enigmatic Edie Baker, an old dressmaker in a keepsake-overrun house who's rumored to be a witch. Edie agrees to help Rose make her dress, and a hesitant friendship blossoms from Edie's storytelling sessions disguised as sewing lessons. Though ostensibly the tale of a magical midnight-blue dress, there are many story lines within Foxlee's complex novel: Pearl and Rose's close but strained friendship; the girls' tip-toeing into their own sexual relationships; Edie Baker's sad history; the powerful lure of the neighboring mountain, described vividly and mystically; Rose's relationship with her impenetrable father and Pearl's tireless search for her own one-night-stand dad; and also, importantly, the narration (in italics opening each chapter) of the investigation into the tragedy that befalls one of the girls. Though the layers are many, they coalesce into a dreamlike, eerie whole told in mesmerizing, sensuous prose. katrina hedeen

(Copyright 2014 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

January 1, 2014
Self-contained, morose fifteen-year-old Rose and her alcoholic father arrive in Australian beach town Leonora, and it seems like they may actually stay put for a spell, for once. Rose enrolls in school and is immediately befriended by Pearl, who's very different--outgoing, luminously pretty, an optimistic dreamer. Pearl tells Rose about the annual harvest festival and urges her to start thinking about a gown to wear. Enter the enigmatic Edie Baker, an old dressmaker in a keepsake-overrun house who's rumored to be a witch. Edie agrees to help Rose make her dress, and a hesitant friendship blossoms from Edie's storytelling sessions disguised as sewing lessons. Though ostensibly the tale of a magical midnight-blue dress, there are many story lines within Foxlee's complex novel: Pearl and Rose's close but strained friendship; the girls' tip-toeing into their own sexual relationships; Edie Baker's sad history; the powerful lure of the neighboring mountain, described vividly and mystically; Rose's relationship with her impenetrable father and Pearl's tireless search for her own one-night-stand dad; and also, importantly, the narration (in italics opening each chapter) of the investigation into the tragedy that befalls one of the girls. Though the layers are many, they coalesce into a dreamlike, eerie whole told in mesmerizing, sensuous prose. katrina hedeen

(Copyright 2014 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

December 13, 2012

This suspense novel took me by surprise—not just the ending but how enjoyable it was! This is the second novel from Karen Foxlee, who won several awards for her debut The Anatomy of Wings. The Midnight Dress is the story of a misfit teenager, Rose Lovell, whose mother has died and whose father drinks too much and moves around Australia with reckless abandon. Father and daughter move to a place called ‘Paradise’, where Rose forms a friendship with popular, pretty Pearl Kelly, who just wants to leave her small town. The story starts out with a disappearance that leaves the reader wondering what exactly has happened. It’s not clear who has gone missing and how each of the characters are involved. This is a beautifully crafted story that builds in tension to the final page. It starts out as a quiet read, but it sneaks up on you and leaves quite an impression. Foxlee has described the places and the people immensely well. I would recommend this novel for suspense readers and those looking for something well written. (Read the interview here.)

Melanie Barton is senior category manager at Bookworld.com.au