The Memory Dress - Softcover

Beer, Jade

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0593436830 ISBN 13: 9780593436837

Verlag: Penguin Publishing Group, 2024

Inhaltsangabe

A missing husband and a dress once owned by Princess Diana set two very different women on paths of discovery that will change both their lives forever in this dazzling new novel from the author of The Last Dress from Paris.

England, 2018: Jayne is quiet. She keeps to herself and has no grand expectations for her days. But after a chance encounter with her  elderly neighbor, Meredith, Jayne is forced to reevaluate her determination to keep the world at a distance. Meredith's dust-covered home is chaotic and neglected. And slowly, Jayne starts to grasp that Meredith herself is quite lost. She can't seem to remember anything: what she last ate, when she last went out or saw her daughter, or even Jayne's name, despite what are becoming frequent visits. 

But most alarmingly, Meredith can't remember where her husband is.

Unable to sit by and watch Meredith hurting, Jayne promises she'll find William. But how can she when the biggest clue Jayne has is a mystery itself: a stunning couture gown with a note declaring it a personal gift to Meredith...from Princess Diana. 

England, 1988: Meredith is always calm. You have to be when working for one of the most iconic women in the world. Just as the stitches she uses to create Princess Diana’s wardrobe are steady and stable, so is Meredith. Until she finds herself feeling off-kilter and untethered by an unexpected connection with someone in the workshop. As Meredith finds herself swept up in life and love for the first time, everything she’s ever dreamed about seems in reach…if only she can be brave enough to take it.

Über diesen Titel

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Jade Beer is an award-winning editor, journalist, and novelist who has worked across the UK national press for more than twenty years. Most recently, she was the editor in chief of Condé Nast's Brides. She also writes for other leading titles, including the Sunday Times Style, The Telegraph, Glamour, Stella magazine, and is one of the Mail on Sunday’s regular fiction and nonfiction book reviewers. Jade splits her time between London and the Cotswolds, where she lives with her husband and two daughters.

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ONE

Meredith

London

1988

She's barely slept. Not last night and not much for the previous ten, the number of days since she was offered the job she will start this morning. But she knows adrenaline and coffee will power her through whatever lies ahead. Meredith's stomach flips. She takes a deep grounding breath and hopes with all her heart that they will be kind. That she will be able to add something, to answer any questions directed at her. But more than anything she hopes that she will love this job every bit as much as she's always dreamed she will.

She checks her bag for the final time, ensuring everything she needs for the day is there before she leaves her small apartment. She arrives early and circles the block several times. It may inconvenience others if she arrives too soon. They won't be ready for her and it will cause a disruption.

At eight a.m. on the dot she presses the doorbell and waits. Another deep breath, smoothing her hands down over her brown wool coat, which now feels lacking, given what she knows is created behind this door, which is at this very moment opening to reveal a man.

"Meredith?"

She nods, nervous anticipation not yet allowing her to smile or offer a good morning. She reaches out a hand to shake his but the tall man ushers her inside a cramped narrow hallway and misses it.

"You can hang your coat there"-he nods toward a rail that runs the length of the small space-"and ideally your bag. We try to keep as few personal belongings in the workroom as possible. No drinks, obviously. Staff room and the bathroom are one floor up." He nods skyward. "I'm Peter, the sample cutter."

"It's lovely to meet you, Peter. I'm really looking forward to getting started."

"That's great to hear because there is a mountain to do," Peter adds with all the weariness and none of the enthusiasm of first-day Meredith. "This is the workroom where you'll be based." He pushes open a door to another room that is again much smaller than Meredith anticipated. Everything she would expect to see is here-and nothing else. Everything is in its place, just as she likes it. There is very little color, no plants, no personal effects, no packed lunch waiting to be eaten later.

"It's all pretty self-explanatory. That's your seat." Peter nods toward the one vacant spot close to the window, not that there is much of a view through its frosted glass. It's one of the lower tables and, she can see, has enough space for her to neatly display all her own essentials. "I'll leave you to make your own introductions if you don't mind. I've got to get on."

"Absolutely, no problem at all." Meredith casts a broad smile around the room. She takes her time introducing herself, ensuring she makes eye contact with everyone, eleven of them in total, mostly women. Everyone nods, taking the briefest moment to acknowledge her, to assess how she will fit into their tightly ordered regime.

All except one.

A man in a pristine long white coat leaning over a high table, a small sharp pencil in his right hand. Meredith refuses to be ignored so she waits. She sees the faintest frown pinch at his eyebrows. He doesn't want to pause. Doesn't want to raise his head from the work he is doing, breaking his concentration, but understands that he should. His eyes move a fraction toward her. He senses her continued presence and eventually straightens. Surprisingly, his eyes are kind, not challenging. Shy perhaps, or unassuming, thinks Meredith, rather than rude.

"Hello, I'm Meredith," she says directly to him, then watches as his face remains motionless. He's going to ignore her. She can see his head start to dip back toward the white shapes in front of him on the table.

"And you are?" She tilts her head, searching out eye contact again. She allows her smile to deepen. Now is not the moment to be intimidated by anyone, least of all someone she is about to have a close working relationship with. Their eyes reconnect for a second or two longer than she suspects he has awarded anyone else so far today.

"William." There is the subtlest curve upward at the corners of his mouth. She's reminded of the efficiency of Peter's smile earlier. It wasn't friendly. It was intended to communicate something else altogether, his doubt about how much she might enjoy being here, perhaps. William's smile is different, more genuine.

"Well, I'm looking forward to working with you, William."

Meredith hears the door open again behind her and feels the faintest shift of energy in the room. She looks over her shoulder just as Catherine enters, instantly recognizable with her dark shoulder-length hair and an immaculate jet-black trouser suit, the jacket open, its sleeves pushed a little up her arms, ready for work. Meredith didn't imagine she would meet her so soon. She's considerably more beautiful than the few images of her in the press suggest. But it isn't her looks that impress Meredith. Here is a woman at the very top of her game, whose creativity and work ethic have ensured the kind of meteoric rise that might give birth to a giant ego in some. Not so, in this case. Meredith has read enough to know this is where she wants to be and whom she wants to learn from.

Catherine extends a hand. "A pleasure to have you with us. Meredith, isn't it?"

"It is, yes." The two women exchange a firm handshake before Catherine makes her way to the back of the room to chat with Peter.

Meredith turns to take her seat and notices that William is yet to return to his task. He is watching her, a subtle curiosity in his eyes, and apparently feels no need to hide the fact.

TWO

Jayne

Bath

July 2018

Margot is so much like me. Hates unnecessary noise. Prefers to be alone. Very happy just to sit, as we are now, side by side, her weight leaning into my right arm, watching the early-morning mist lift off the grass, the city far below us starting to stretch and wake.

The realization that I have more in common with a scrappy Jack Russell than I do with most people always makes me smile. A smile that is 80 percent genuine-this dog has a lot going for her-and 20 percent denial, but at least I can admit that. I am okay with the fact that Margot and I share a love of peaceful solitude, but I have some awareness that others think I shouldn't be.

It's eight a.m. and we have just completed the two-hour skyline walk of the city, as we do at least twice a week together. Her at my heel, fiercely obedient until her nose lifts, she catches a whiff of something she likes, then she's gone. I learned early on not to panic. Unlike some of the other dogs I walk, Margot always comes back. I don't even have to pause for her to catch up. She will find me again. Loyalty is everything to her. Plus, she knows I'm carrying tripe sticks.

As I stretch my long nettle-scratched legs out in front of me, I feel the heat of the new day starting to burn away the last of the clouds, and the sharpness of the scorched grass on the back of my knees. It's going to be another brilliant blue-sky day. Margot's owner, the highly impressive Davina, will be manhandling her two children off to school by now, while I sit here, surely the lucky one, feeling a deep contentment. I have made this dog happy and I didn't have to say a single word. That's the great thing about dogs. The more you get to know them, the better they are. I can't always say the same for humans.

We didn't see anyone on our walk this morning. Too early for the tourists who always get lost in the network of fields and trails and need redirecting, or the grumpy older men determined to make me solely responsible for every poop bag thoughtlessly left behind. Not even a text from Mum. Two hours of uninterrupted isolation with just a series of kissing gates and stiles...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Penguin Publishing Group
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2024
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 0593436830
• ISBN 13: 9780593436837
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Anzahl der Seiten: 400
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: gpsr@libri.de; gpsr@libri.de; ; Friedensallee 273; Hamburg; 22763; Deutschland