"The Dressmaker" more than so-so

We had a smaller turn-out than usual to discuss Rosalie Ham's gothic Australian novel. Some folks had had trouble getting into the novel to start with and made several tentative attempts as they perceived it was not their preferred genre. However once they overcame this obstacle, they became thoroughly engrossed.

Many of our readers had experience of small Australian towns and thoroughly enjoyed the collection of over-the-top stereotypes. One of our readers had the notion that the story was influenced by ancient myths and Tilly was the nefarious spirit wafting over the town luring its inhabitants to their downfall. There was much discussion as to whether Tilly was contributing to, engineering or just witnessing the demise of the town's population. There was even the proposition that Tilly's role in the Macbeth production would have been one of the witches, presaging doom and destruction. Related to this was the conversation as to why Tilly returned to this town which had caused her so much pain. Some readers decided it was the only home she had known so it was the only place she could run to when she had lost her family in France; some thought she was returning to look after her mother and others thought she was returning to wreak revenge.

There was much chat about the tragedies that Tilly had endured in her life and how she managed to endure. Readers spoke of their shock with the suddenness and unfairness of Tilly's loss of Teddy. It seemed any small happiness Tilly experienced exacted a tremendous, tragic cost from those she loved. Discussion swirled around the way the locals treated Tilly even when she was obviously such a talented dress-maker who created such wonderful creations to enhance their attractiveness. Tilly used her skills generously but they could not even pay their accounts with her or acknowledge her as a local resident of their town. It was against this background that some of our readers decided  that  Tilly plotted the final demise of the town in the fine detail reminiscent of her gowns. She demanded payment up front thus ensuring the insurance money was not spent on the premiums and thus guarding against the reconstruction of the town following its fiery demise. There was speculation that the town itself was a major and malevolent character in the novel and its malignance predetermined its destruction.

Our readers enjoyed the way the author exploited and made fun of the townsfolk's foibles and the way these faults initiated their path to destruction. Readers spoke about the way most of the townsfolk were aware of and yet tacitly supported such wicked behaviour in their neighbours. There was discussion about the cruelty and depravity of the bullying, Tilly endured as a child and the way the bullying was supported by her classmates and teacher who had moulded the character of  generations of the townsfolk.

Rosalie Ham's book stimulated discussion on a massive range of topics. Our readers enjoyed her shrewd characterisation of small town stereotypes as well as her plotting of their just destruction. The Dressmaker touched on such a diversity of issues so it is difficult for this blog to do the discussion about it justice. Suffice it to say, our book club discussion was robust, fun and wide-ranging.

Our next book stays in a similar time-zone but moves us geographically to the immigrant camps of early Israel. Ronit Matalon's The Sound of our Steps is quite a different read so the ensuing discussion will no doubt be interesting.

Looking forward to sharing the experience at Cityside Book Club at 6.00pm on Thursday 7 April.