The dress shop on King Street A novel

Ashley Clark, 1986-

eAudio - 2020

Harper Albright has pinned all her hopes on a future in fashion design. But when it comes crashing down around her, she returns home to Fairhope, Alabama, and to Millie, the woman who first taught her to sew. As she rethinks her own future, secrets long hidden about Millie's past are brought to light. In 1946, Millie Middleton boarded a train and left Charleston to keep half of her heritage hidden. She carried with her two heirloom buttons and the dream of owning a dress store. She never expected to meet a charming train jumper who changed her life forever . . . and led her yet again to a heartbreaking choice about which heritage would define her future. Now, together, Harper and Millie return to Charleston and the man who may hold the... answers they seek . . . and a chance at the dress shop they've both dreamed of. But it's not until all appears lost that they see the unexpected ways to mend what frayed between the seams.

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Subjects
Published
[United States] : Recorded Books, Inc 2020.
Language
English
Corporate Author
hoopla digital
Main Author
Ashley Clark, 1986- (author)
Corporate Author
hoopla digital (-)
Other Authors
Lynnette R. Freeman (narrator)
Edition
Unabridged
Online Access
Instantly available on hoopla.
Cover image
Physical Description
1 online resource (1 audio file (12hr., 49 min.)) : digital
Format
Mode of access: World Wide Web.
ISBN
9781705003039
Access
AVAILABLE FOR USE ONLY BY IOWA CITY AND RESIDENTS OF THE CONTRACTING GOVERNMENTS OF JOHNSON COUNTY, UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS, HILLS, AND LONE TREE (IA).
Contents unavailable.
Review by Booklist Review

Millie Middleton may be only 16 years old, but she already knows one way she can become a seamstress and establish her own dress shop is by hiding half of who she really is. After a tragic reminder of how violently hostile their 1946 world is to biracial children, Millie's African American mother sends Millie away from Charleston, South Carolina, in the hope that in a new place Millie will be able to pass as white and fulfill her dreams. But the decision leaves Millie questioning her identity, which sets off a chain of events with generational consequences. Clark opens her new Heirloom Secrets series against the backdrop of discrimination against interracial families and follows a family history anchored to an embroidered satchel and its contents. Alternating between 1946 and the present, with Clark's narrative strength most evident in the historical setting, this tale traces the consequences of personal decisions through the textile arts, with Millie standing as a bridge between the two eras.

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

Clark makes a moving debut with the launch of a series centered on Millie Middleton, the child of an Italian father and African American mother born in Jim Crow--era Charleston, S.C. After her father was murdered by racists and her mother realized Millie could pass for white, Millie was sent away to start a life where no one would know her heritage. As a teenager, Millie meets handsome freight-hopper Franklin Pinckney while stowing away on a train, and the pair disembark in Fairhope, Ala., where they find lodging with a widowed innkeeper in exchange for work. The story jumps time periods frequently, filling in Millie's backstory while introducing Harper and Peter in modern-day leaps: Peter knows Millie, who is now nearly 80, as a friend of his late mother; Millie has taught her neighbor Harper to sew. After Millie and Harper discover their shared desire to open a dress shop, Peter offers them a building he is renovating. While faith elements are subtle, Millie often turns to God for fortitude when facing the difficult circumstances of her past and the obstacles to finally getting her dreams off the ground. Those who enjoy inspirational time-slip stories will want to check this out. (Dec.)

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