Charming. Delightful. A perfect read for a weekend day. I can’t say enough about Jane L. Rosen’s Nine Women, One Dress. It may be the little black dress of books. I can’t wait to share it with a friend.

The last dress Morris Siegel cut the pattern for before his retirement at almost ninety was a little black dress. And, he just had a feeling this was going to be the dress of the year, the one everyone wanted to own. It was a dress to make every woman feel gorgeous. From the day Morris cast his lot with Max Hammer in 1939 as they left Poland for New York, the two were linked. Now, Morris’ last pattern for the company would be magic.

That little black dress changes the lives of a number of women, and some of the men who see those women in it. The eighteen-year-old runway model who wears “the dress” is fresh from the South, a new face, a new accent in New York. Natalie, a Bloomingdale’s clerk, catches the eye of a movie star who has tabloid problems. There’s the private detective who sets out to catch a husband cheating. And, there are the wonderful Bloomingdale’s sales clerks who manage a little magic of their own.

I loved the characters and the variety of storylines. How could I not love the setting, New York City? The author sets various scenes in Grand Central Station, the High Line, the Brooks Atkinson Theatre.  She captures the spirit of the city.

Rosen tells multiple stories in this book that comes together beautifully, with the black dress as its linchpin. And, it comes full circle, beginning and ending with the same people. Rosen doesn’t leave the reader wondering too much about relationships. Why should she? Nine Women, One Dress is a contemporary fairy tale with multiple happy endings. It’s a charming little number with a little revenge, a lot of humor, and plenty of romance. It’s magic.

Nine Women, One Dress by Jane L. Rosen. Doubleday. 2016. ISBN 9780385541404 (hardcover), 272p.

*****
FTC Full Disclosure – The publisher sent me a copy of the book, hoping I would review it.