The Dressmaker’s Dowry: A Novel

The novel The Dressmaker’s Dowry is a love letter to San Francisco’s colorful and turbulent history. Jaeger’s story alternates between the late 1870s and present day. A journalist-turned-maybe-novelist, Sarah, explores the plight of two dressmakers, Hannalore and Margaret, on San Francisco’s Barbary Coast. Sarah has her own secrets to hide, however, and they keep coming up as she explores her husband’s family’s connection to the missing dressmakers.

The novel had all the pieces I like–but in the end they didn’t come together seamlessly for a cohesive story. I found Hanna and Margaret’s story the most compelling thread in the novel, and it would have been better to limit Sarah’s story to direct connections with Hanna and Margaret. The author does do an excellent job of creating a sense of place, and her love of San Francisco is evident in every page.