The Midnight Dress by Foxlee, Karen (2013) Paperback Paperback – 1656

Original story, well written. The characters were well drawn and I particularly enjoyed the way their different perspectives linked together.

A strange teen story, but enjoyable.

In the little town of Leonora, a girl is missing... and later found dead. She wears a dress the color of midnight, stitched by a woman said to be a witch.And throughout "The Midnight Dress," we are haunted by the question of who killed the girl, and which girl she is (there are a number of them). This lush, bittersweet coming-of-age novel is the sort of thing Sarah Addison Allen would write if she were Australian -- beautifully written, fragrant, and with a hint of benevolent magic woven in.Rose and her distant father are drifters, roaming from town to town. She doesn't expect to put down any roots when they settle in Leonora, but she does anyway -- an immediate friendship with the quirky, beautiful Pearl. Currently they're approaching the harvest festival, where it's tradition for all the teenage girls to wear beautiful dresses.But since Rose has no money, Pearl whisks her off to Edie, the local dressmaker -- who is also rumored to be a witch. Edie is willing to help Rose sew a dress made out of midnight-colored cloth, and tells her stories as they work. As the harvest festival approaches, Rose and Pearl experience the pangs of growing up, love, family and -- ultimately -- tragedy."The Midnight Dress" is one of those stories that is steeped in beauty -- Karen Foxlee drapes it in ornate fabrics, colored pebbles, the scent of flowers, hidden beaches and many-colored dresses that shine in the darkness. Her prose is soft, lush, shimmering, with clever descriptive prose ("It smells like the bottom of an old lady's handbag, perfumed, powdery, dusty") that gives the mundane a touch of magic.The story has a touch of magic too, but mostly it focuses on the coming-of-age of Pearl and Rose. Foxlee weaves many other tales into the story, mostly from Edie -- but mostly it's a simple story about how these two girls grow and change over a short period of time. It's a bittersweet story, because you know it cannot end well -- which makes the story all the more exquisitely lovely.And of course, Foxlee keeps you hanging with the question of who the girl in the midnight dress is, and what happened to her. Every chapter begins with an italicized flashforward, which deftly avoids revealing who she is until the end.It's a wrench when her identity is revealed, because by then, both the girls have become wonderfully well-rounded, intricate characters. Pearl is bright, enthusiastic and somewhat odd, sending letters to random Orlovs to find her long-lost father; Rose is introverted and hard-bitten from her lonely life, but begins to bloom out into greater confidence and love as she gains friends. And Edie is a character rounded out by her stories, revealing her compassion, sorrows and oddness."The Midnight Dress" is a sensual, bittersweet little novel about two girls' friendship, and it leaves you slightly sad but fascinated.

I loved almost everything about this book and often go back to re-read some of the beautiful prose. I enjoyed the build up and the how the whole story is gradually teased out and finally revealed. The characters were fully rounded and wonderfully drawn. If I was going to critisise anything it would be that I didn't quite believe the old lady Edie would describe herself as being 'the best there is', which she did a number of times. To me, it seems far too modern a thing to do. However, it is a very small criticism when overall I thought it was a wonderfully told story.

*Thank you so much Hot Key Books for this review copy, this in no way affected my review*Review originally posted at [...]The Midnight Dress is very hard for me to describe, because it's not my usual read. I was really fascinated with the blurb and the whole idea encasing it, so I decided to take the jump and request it. It's a story about friendship, mystery and things that are not as they seem. First of all, Foxlee's writing style is probably the most beautiful I've read in a while. I have certain preference when it comes to author's writing; for example, I really don't like Cassandra Clare's writing. As much as I love her fantastic world and characters, her description is stuffy and feels like it's suffocating me. I'm no expert, but I simply want it edited. Anyway, Foxlee's vivid description is the kind that washes over you when you're reading it. I also loved the fact that it was set in Australia, which made the description that much more captivating.It was very different the way Foxlee carried me through the book and let me discover things, about Rose specifically. We learn about her mostly through the story and not through her thoughts, because it's in a certain style of third person. There's an incredibly subtle magical element that intrigued me, and weaves in the story quite well.The thing that I didn't like was the epic slowness of the book. I can appreciate the build of tension, but Karen Foxlee builds tension throughout practically the whole book, and things aren't made clear until the very end.I loved that every chapter is named after a stitch, for example 'anchor stitch' and at the beginning of each chapter a little snippet of the ending is revealed. We see the missing person's case through the detectives eyes, and little pieces of what happens at the end are shown carefully. I thought that was really crafty and well-written. Except, it kept me wanting to know more, and then I felt like the actual chapter itself was a bit anti-climactic and boring. I mostly enjoyed the tension, and the way the characters developed different relationships. So much of the book tells what's happening to Rose and about everyone else and their antics in the town it seems as if the ending was an afterthought, except it's always present. I can't help but feel that doesn't make sense, but if you read it, hopefully you would understand my ramblings better.The Midnight Dress is very hard to describe without giving anything at all away, but I can tell you, the ending is a shocker. Foxlee cleverly played against my assumptions and twisted it into something completely different. I was pretty shocked. This is a great read if you like tension, beautiful writing, ambiguity and slow-burning mysteries. It's not something to read if you want something fast-paced and conventional.Rating: 3 Stars-- I guess it was the slowness that put me off. Nothing really happened for a good portion of the books as everything builds up. However, I did simply adore the writing style and the way the characters relationships developed throughout. I will definitely check more of Foxlee's books.