Book review stop! Today I’m delighted to be the host for The Dressmaker’s Parcels, a historical novel by S. Stagni.
First thing first, let me thank the author and Reedsy for providing me with an e-copy of this book. Much obliged *hat tip*
MEET THE BOOK
What turning point makes you decide to risk your life to bring about change?
Emma Mendes was a girl from an upper-class Venetian family; she led a comfortable life. She was the eldest daughter of one of the few professional couples in 1930s Venice and planned to become a lawyer like her mother. Then, in 1938, Fascist Italy passed racial laws discriminating against Jews, and her world changed dramatically. Her family’s immediate reaction was to adjust and do whatever they could to keep as much of their lifestyle as possible. Emma’s future prospects significantly changed. She could not continue her education, so she was apprenticed to a dressmaker.
In September 1943, Nazi Germany included Italian Jews in the Final Solution; the family must leave Venice to survive. Emma and her mother decide to join the Resistance. Their ability to keep calm and stay in control sees them through many tense moments. Emma unexpectedly meets a young Jewish man who will become her husband. When the Allied army reaches the Veneto region, the Mendes family returns to Venice, starts rebuilding their lives, and finds out who did not make it.
298 pages
Historical
Perpetuum Mobile Limited
Publication date: 27/04/2023
Purchase links
READ MY REVIEW
Cover: Pretty! I really like it.
I’m really sorry to say that The Dressmaker’s Parcels doesn’t live up to the hype.
The premise intrigued me from the get-go, and yes, the story itself is engaging. Reading about a family’s struggle to survive amid the chaos of a lost war, while the fascist regime crumbles under everyone’s eyes, feels like a punch in the gut. Just what I’d expect from a book featuring a Jewish family during WWII.
Rachele is the real main character here. Her intelligence and wits help her first with her job—she’s a lawyer—and then with the escape plan. I also appreciate the cast of characters that support her, as it’s plain they’ve been crafted with care. Each of them is vibrant, even at the beginning of their arc.
The dual timeline is a well-established narrative device, and Stagni uses it to introduce the Mendes-Modiano nicely enough, while the point of view is third and omniscient. A risky choice, but it’s done in a smart way, paying attention to the rhythm of the story.
Let me repeat myself: the plot is not an issue here. The actual writing is. If we only look at the technical aspects of The Dressmaker’s Parcels, well; this book is peppered with grammar mistakes, repetitions of both concepts and words, and odd structures. I even found a mistake in one of the Italian parts, ‘maturità’ written with an apostrophe rather than an accent. It’s something a good editor should have picked up from the early drafts, that’s what I mean.
Another problem of The Dressmaker’s Parcels has to do with the dialogues. They read too clunky, often bordering on monologues, and therefore they don’t sound realistic. Pairing that with an all-tell-no-show prose just doesn’t do it for me, I’m sorry.
2.5 stars on GR.
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