The Midnight Dress

Name: The Midnight Dress
Brand: Penguin Random House
Availability: InStock
Author: Karen Foxlee
ISBN: 9780804123648

Author: Karen Foxlee

Narrator: Olivia Mackenzie-Smith

Unabridged: 8 hr 38 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Listening Library

Published: 10/08/2013

Categories: Young Adult Fiction, Mystery & Detective, Magical Realism, Social Themes

Synopsis

Quiet misfit Rose doesn't expect to fall in love with the sleepy beach town of Leonora. Nor does she expect to become fast friends with beautiful, vivacious Pearl Kelly, organizer of the high school float at the annual Harvest Festival parade. It's better not to get too attached when Rose and her father live on the road, driving their caravan from one place to the next whenever her dad gets itchy feet. But Rose can't resist the mysterious charms of the town or the popular girl, try as she might.

Pearl convinces Rose to visit Edie Baker, once a renowned dressmaker, now a rumored witch. Together Rose and Edie hand-stitch an unforgettable dress of midnight blue for Rose to wear at the Harvest Festival—a dress that will have long-lasting consequences on life in Leonora, a dress that will seal the fate of one of the girls. Karen Foxlee's breathtaking novel weaves friendship, magic, and a murder mystery into something moving, real, and distinctly original.

About The Author

KAREN FOXLEE is the author of The Anatomy of Wings, winner of the Commonweath Writer's Prize and a Parents' Choice Gold Winner. She lives in Gympie, Australia.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Shelleyrae on March 15, 2013

Will you forgive me if I tell you the ending? The Midnight Dress begins with a girl waiting anxiously in the darkness, the sounds of the town celebrating echoing in the distance, wondering what she will say when he comes for her. This is the girl that will disappear, the girl wearing the midnight dre......more

Goodreads review by Jeretta on January 12, 2015

Since the reviews were so good for this book I was excited to read it. However, after the first chapter my enthusiasm waned. I felt that the writing was disjointed, jumping from one storyline or character point of view to the next. As far as the plot goes, I figured out who the missing girl was, wha......more

Goodreads review by Roberta R. (Offbeat YA) on August 17, 2023

Excerpt from my review - originally published at Offbeat YA. Pros: Atmospheric read, with characters who get under your skin. Evocative writing. Cons: Quiet (if gloomy) story, where not much happens - at least on the surface. WARNING! Description of a dead body (not graphic). Suicide by hanging. Alcoh......more

Goodreads review by Kate on January 01, 2014

The Midnight Dress is a beautiful, haunting, tragic tale of love and loss and yearning. Told in a series of stories within stories, it circles around the mysterious disappearance of a girl one night in a far north Queensland town. The setting is superbly created, the characters are vivid and achingl......more

Goodreads review by Diane on April 09, 2017

I tried to like this book, really. Alas, it was just kind of boring. Most of the characters were boring. Oh well, they can't all be "my favorite book ever"!......more

Quotes

Starred Review, Kirkus Reviews, September 1, 2013:
"Atmospheric, lyric and unexpected.”

Starred Review, Publishers Weekly, September 9, 2013:
"The casual beauty of the language and the complex storytelling style create a haunting, atmospheric novel about friendship, betrayal, and loss."

Starred Review, The Horn Book, January/February 2014:
" Though the layers are many, they coalesce into a dreamlike, eerie whole told in mesmerizing, sensuous prose.”