Little Black Dress

Summary (from the publisher): Two sisters whose lives seemed forever intertwined are torn apart when a magical little black dress gives each one a glimpse of an unavoidable future.

Antonia Ashton has worked hard to build a thriving career and a committed relationship, but she realizes her life has gone off-track. Forced to return home to Blue Hills when her mother, Evie, suffers a massive stroke, Toni finds the old Victorian where she grew up as crammed full of secrets as it is with clutter. Now she must put her mother’s house in order—and uncover long-buried truths about Evie and her aunt, Anna, who vanished fifty years earlier on the eve of her wedding. By shedding light on the past, Toni illuminates her own mistakes and learns the most unexpected things about love, magic, and a little black dress with the power to break hearts...and mend them.

Review: I won this book as a first reads giveaway on goodreads. First of all, there's no mistaking this book for what it is (chick lit) but it's very good chick lit so I'm giving it a 4 based on comparision to its literary peers.

This book alternates between the perspective of Antonia (Toni) and her mother Evie. They have a damaged relationship, complicated by the relationship between Evie and her sister, Anna. The three women in this family are all linked by a magical little black dress that reminded me strongly of the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants novel. The dress fits all three women perfectly and lets them have visions of their future and what will come to pass. Of course it was fantastical, but McBride did a good job with it and didn't over play the fantasy aspect of the book. I loved the relationships in this book as well as the story of this family, steeped in the history of their Missouri vineyard. I also liked that Toni isn't a young, virginal woman when she reunites with her mother and returns home but a middle aged woman who has lived her life fully and independently and knows exactly who she is.

My only criticism was the logistics of Evie narrating her life story when she's supposedly in a coma and the likelihood of a strong, independent woman like Toni dating such a douche like Greg. Other than that, McBride has created a captivating and endearing set of characters. I was happily surprised by how much I liked this book. Chick lit at its best!

Stars: 4