Five brides, one wedding dress
Five Brides by Eva Marie Everson was well named. The title is a good summation the book follows five young ladies who all become brides and all wear the same dress for their weddings. In 1951, pen pals Joan Hunt and Evelyn Alexander agreed to meet in Chicago to start a new life. Joan travelled from England and Evelyn from Georgia. Joan arrived first and secured housing for both of them with Betty Estes and twins Magda and Inga Christenson. Joan eventually secured multiple jobs simultaneously in order to send money home to her family as well as have funds with which to live. She continually looked for opportunities to improve her situation. Evelyn left home without her mother's approval. Betty's parents still try to control and manipulate Betty's life even after she moved out of their house. Magda and Inga lived and worked with their uncle and aunt but thought they would feel less stifled if they moved on. Until the first wedding, the story flowed along with no time gaps. Inga was the first to marry in the wedding dress, and after her wedding, the reader was left hanging as to what happened in her life. Once the ladies became engaged or married, larger gaps of time were skipped in the story.
Overall, I enjoyed the story. Each lady faced her own set of unique challenges and responded to them in various ways. Sometimes I was cheering one on, sometimes I was wishing another would not make that mistake, other times I was shaking my head in sympathy. The story was told at a rather relaxed pace until the end when chunks of time were skipped, although they were not really necessary to the story.
I received a copy of this book through The Book Club Network in exchange for my honest review.
Five Brides by Eva Marie Everson was well named. The title is a good summation the book follows five young ladies who all become brides and all wear the same dress for their weddings. In 1951, pen pals Joan Hunt and Evelyn Alexander agreed to meet in Chicago to start a new life. Joan travelled from England and Evelyn from Georgia. Joan arrived first and secured housing for both of them with Betty Estes and twins Magda and Inga Christenson. Joan eventually secured multiple jobs simultaneously in order to send money home to her family as well as have funds with which to live. She continually looked for opportunities to improve her situation. Evelyn left home without her mother's approval. Betty's parents still try to control and manipulate Betty's life even after she moved out of their house. Magda and Inga lived and worked with their uncle and aunt but thought they would feel less stifled if they moved on. Until the first wedding, the story flowed along with no time gaps. Inga was the first to marry in the wedding dress, and after her wedding, the reader was left hanging as to what happened in her life. Once the ladies became engaged or married, larger gaps of time were skipped in the story.
Overall, I enjoyed the story. Each lady faced her own set of unique challenges and responded to them in various ways. Sometimes I was cheering one on, sometimes I was wishing another would not make that mistake, other times I was shaking my head in sympathy. The story was told at a rather relaxed pace until the end when chunks of time were skipped, although they were not really necessary to the story.
I received a copy of this book through The Book Club Network in exchange for my honest review.
