Review: Little Black Dress by Susan McBride

Little Black Dress
Author:  Susan McBride
Copyright:  2011
Publisher:  Harper Collins Publishers
Pages:  295
Includes Book Club Questions and Author Q & A
Source:  A complimentary copy was provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.

"Two sisters whose lives seemed forever intertwined are torn apart when a magical little black dress gives each one a glimpse of an unavoidable future.

Antonia Ashton has worked hard to build a thriving career and a committed relationship, but she realizes her life has gone off track.  Forced to return home to Blue Hills when her mother, Evie, suffers a massive stroke, Toni finds the old Victorian where she grew up as crammed full of secrets as it is with clutter.  Now she must put her mother's house in order -- an uncover long-buried truths about Evie and her aunt, Anna, who vanished fifty years earlier on the eve of her wedding.  By shedding light on the past, Toni illuminates her own mistakes and learns the most unexpected things about love, magic, and a little black dress with the power to break hearts...and mend them."  (from the back cover)

My Review:

Family secrets, a magical black dress that shows the wearer their destiny, an estranged family member, love  and mystery... all these make Little Black Dress one of my favourite chick lit books this year!  Susan McBride is the author of this masterfully written quick paced novel. Her previously published works include The Cougar Club and the award-winning Debutante Dropout mysteries. 

Little Black Dress is an entertaining visit to the wine country of Missouri where mysteries, magic and secrets abound.  The characters are incredibly well developed with personalities that ring true.  You probably know an Evie, a down to earth, straight-laced woman who knows much heartache, or Anna, the adventure seeking, make your own rules kind of person who is as different from her sister Evie as she can be; or the daughter Antonia (Toni), a successful wedding planner who leaves behind her busy calendar and a boyfriend who may or may not be Mr. Right to be at her mother's side in the hospital following a massive stroke.  Their relationship is strained but this may be the chance to bridge those chasms that separate mother and daughter and perhaps a sister too.  Evie's stroke may reunite a family but not without reservations.  A dilemma of a decision faces the two sisters, Anna and Evie, and one wonders which is the better choice.  I think they made the right one. Read Little Black Dress to see if you agree.

If Little Black Dress is an inkling of an indication of Susan McBride's abilities as a novelist, then I look forward to tracking down her previous works.

Rated 4.5/5 (adult situations)