IHeartYAFiction

Short and Sweet:The Midnight Dress is beautiful, magical and heartbreaking. One of the best for me in 2013 for sure. Karen Foxlee is one of those authors who can create a captivating, gorgeous atmosphere worth losing yourself in. A truly unique and wonderful story!To Elaborate....Rose has 'landed' in the small town of Leonora where her and her father have run out of gas. They decide to stay a while but Rose has every expectation that she'll soon be leaving again.... like they always do. So she isn't looking to make friends. However, sweet & charismatic Pearl latches on to prickly Rose and doesn't let go. The friendship that is formed between them surprises and softens Rose and before long she finds that she has been convinced to participate in the annual Harvest Festival and is in need of a dress.Pearl suggests that Rose go to Edith Baker, a mysterious old lady on the edge of town whom everyone believes to be a witch. Eventually Rose does go to her and finds the woman waiting for her on the porch of her run down home. Edith agrees to make the dress, but only if Rose assists her. Rose protests that she doesn't know how, but Edith only offers to teach her and asks her to return the following week on Wednesday. Which Rose reluctantly does.As the Harvest Festival nears, Rose grows nervous watching Pearl play a dangerous game with a man twice her age. But she also grows more comfortable in the company of Edie as the two sit week after week stitching together her midnight blue dress. Edie has an incredible past which she reveals to Rose piece by piece each Wednesday night and through these stories Edie gives Rose what she may need most: a place of her own.The book itself is told with bits of the ending sprinkled throughout in italics. You know from the first page that someone dies in the end. You even have a pretty good idea of who it is and who did it, but the ending is far from predictable. I really adored Edie's character and story. She definitely has a bit of magic woven into her and she was exactly what closed off, guarded Rose needed. I recommend this book to fans of The Lovely Bones as it has a similar vibe and beauty about it for a murder mystery. Really an amazing book! Pick it up when it comes out this October!(Originally posted at iheartyafiction.blogspot.com)