The Dress Shop of Dreams by Menna van Praag

Narrated by Jennifer Carr

There could not have been a better narrator for this magical little audiobook than Jennifer Carr. She cast her own spell on this enchanting story with her lovely voice and crisp British accent. Her narration was a perfect combination of age appropriate and gender realistic for each character.

Cora Sparks is a pragmatic scientist. At 25 years old, she has never been in love, and has never wanted to be. Following in the footsteps of her parents, her life revolves entirely around her work in the field of scientific research. She has not time nor patience for any nonsense that might get in the way of her research mission. Her heart was closed to love when her parents died mysteriously when she was a little girl. Her grandmother, Etta, has taken care of her since she was orphaned twenty years prior and they share a deep connection and much love for each other, although they could not be more different. Etta is mysterious, whimsical, and openhearted. She owns a quaint little dress shop in Cambridge, England. Her charming store appears quite ordinary to passersby, but the dresses in her shop hold secrets. There is more to Etta’s dresses than just fabric and thread.

Long ago, in order to spare Cora from all the hurt and pain that was waiting for her after the death of her parents, Etta used her magic to ensure that Cora would not be able to feel the sadness. Etta sees now that this was a mistake as it has made Cora unable to be vulnerable, which makes her unable to fall in love. Etta wants Cora to finally see that her best friend Walt is deeply in love with her. Walt, a local bookshop owner, has quietly loved Cora from a distance all of her life. More than anything, Etta wants her granddaughter to have her chance at love and happiness with Walt.

Etta stitches together a plan to cast a harmless little spell on her granddaughter, but events don’t weave together as seamlessly as Etta planned. Suddenly Cora’s life is filled with unexpected changes and uncovered secrets through which she must navigate on her own to find her way.

In addition to Cora and Walt’s story, The Dress Shop of Dreams featured several other parallel storylines. The characters were all connected, but each storyline could have potentially been its own novel. The author was able to link all of the characters intricately together without overwhelming the reader. I found myself wanting to know more about these individual stories. The characters were well developed, and the author did a wonderful job of keeping each storyline distinct and rich. Menna van Praag writes beautifully. Her words flow like poetry without being stuffy or pretentious.

Jennifer Carr really brought this story to life for me. She did an amazing job of managing so many voices in a way that was unique to each character. Her narrating performance was spot on, and that is a difficult job when so many characters and subplots are woven into a story.

This book has a bit of everything – mystery, romance, and light magical realism. Although the story takes place in modern day Cambridge, there is a touch of nostalgia on every page. The mystery portion of the story was a bit too easily solved, but it was easy for me to overlook that since the author handled the supernatural elements of her book with such delicate ease.

The ending was intriguing and perfectly complete. With one final sentence, Menna van Praag, along with narrator Jennifer Carr, really did make The Dress Shop of Dreams dreamy for me. I highly recommend this book to anyone wanting a light, enchanting, escape from reality.

Lisa

Narration:  A+

Book Content:  A

Steam Factor:  You can play it out loud (with the exception of a little swearing)

Violence:  None

Genre:  General Fiction

Publisher:  Recorded Books

The Dress Shop of Dreams was provided to AudioGals by Recorded Books for review.