FICTION

The Seamstress of New Orleans

by Diane C. McPhail
John Scognamiglio. May 2022. 304p. ISBN 9781496738158. $26. F
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In McPhail’s sophomore historical novel (after The Abolitionist’s Daughter) two women from different backgrounds find strength in friendship with each other and the group of women they meet in early 20th-century New Orleans. One of the women, Constance Halstead, has suspicions about her husband’s behavior so she follows him when he leaves the house, only to have her life upended by a terrible incident. The other, Alice Butterworth, is also facing upheaval in Chicago. Her husband left for work one day and never returned. Desperate and alone, she must figure out a way to survive without him. She ends up in New Orleans, where she meets Constance. They begin to work together and form a growing bond of friendship. That friendship will be tested by the secrets they both are carrying.
VERDICT Though seasoned readers may see the twists in this novel coming before the characters do, the author’s research into the first all-female krewe of Mardi Gras enriches the backdrop of this historical title and provides a glimpse into the suffrage movement from a different angle. For fans of Jennifer Chiaverini and Fiona Davis.
Reviewed by Jane Jorgenson , Apr 09, 2022
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