"The Dressmaker's Secret" by Kellyn Roth

About this book:

  “It comes to the attention of curious eight-year-old Alice Chattoway that her father is seemingly nonexistent. After realizing that his absence is making her mother unhappy, Alice becomes determined to find him and pull her family together. But Miss Chattoway’s answers to her daughter’s questions are vague at best and Alice begins to wonder if she will ever discover her mother’s secret.”


Series: Book #1 in “The Chronicles of Alice & Ivy” series.

Spiritual Content- Each Chapter starts off with a Scripture (thirty-three); Prayers; Scriptures are quoted, talked about & thought over; Church going; Witnessing; Talks about God; Christmas; Claire doesn’t think she deserves God’s love & isn’t sure God is real (*Spoiler* But about a third in, she starts praying to Him. *End of Spoiler*); A few mentions of angels; Mentions of God, Heaven & praying; Mentions of prayers & blessings over food; Mentions of God blessing & keeping someone; Mentions of miracles & blessings; Mentions of Bibles & Bible reading; Mentions of church going, sermons & singing; Mentions of churches & a martyr; A few mentions of preaching; A couple mentions of those in the Bible; A mention of Catholics;

*Note: “Hell Hath No Fury” is the title of a chapter; A mention of a lovesick ghost; A couple mentions of someone burning in hell; A few mentions of an evil witch in a fairy-tale; A few mentions of worshiping a person; Mentions of ghosts & ghosts haunting a place.

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a form of ‘dumb’, a ‘golly’, a ‘sissy’, three forms of ‘stupid’ and six forms of ‘idiot’; Many mentions of dying, deaths, sickness, murders & being fatally hurt; Mentions of injuries, blood, pain, a death & horses hitting a woman (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of whippings & physical punishment; Mentions of jealousy; Mentions of gossip, bullies & mean girls; Mentions of keeping something from a mother & sneaking into her journal; A few mentions of terrible deaths (being hang, burned or cut up, no true details); A few mentions of wars, killing & fighting; A few mentions of slitting a throat (no details); A few mentions of older dogs picking on a puppy (everything is fine, barley-above-not-detailed); A few mentions of gambling & debts; A couple mentions of wine; A couple mentions of lying; A mention of blood on a dog’s nose (no details).

Sexual Content- a hand kiss, two not-detailed kisses & three barely-above-not-detailed kisses; All about the secret behind Alice & Ivy’s father (*Spoiler* Claire (age 17) eloped & then her father separated them. *End of Spoiler*); Mentions of rumors of what happen to Claire (that she has no husband, that her husband left, etc.); Mentions of labors & a difficult birth (barley-above-not-detailed); Mentions of men staring & gazing at Claire; Mentions of reputations & going out in just a nightgown; Mentions of touches (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of married couples kissing; Mentions of being in love; A few mentions of blushes & flirting; A few mentions of “naughty people” who have babies without being married; A few mentions of illegitimate children & their conception (no details); A few mentions of a wife who died in childbirth; A few mentions of the bond a man made with his first wife, that the second wife wasn’t the first to lay in his arms & him being intimate with the first wife (no details); A few mentions of a married couple not seeing each other & sleeping in separate rooms; A few mentions of a pill that will rid a woman of her baby (a couple characters say that’s murder, another is suggesting a girl take one); A few mentions of noticing; A couple mentions of jealousy; A mention of adultery;

            *Note: A mention of a painting of a scantily-clad woman; A couple mentions of The Stork; A few mentions of a low neckline.

-Alice Chattoway, age 8-10
                                      P.O.V. switches between Alice, Claire, Nettie & a few others

                                            Set in 1870-1872
                                                 165 pages

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Pre Teens-

New Teens-

Early High School Teens-

Older High School Teens-

My personal Rating-

Since who I thought was the main character was eight, this wasn’t quite what I was expecting. I don’t think it’s best for girls around that age due to some topics. However, it was well written, had a good amount of Spiritual Content and I thought Alice & Ivy were so cute. :)

See y’all on Wednesday with a new review!

*BFCG may (Read the review to see) recommend this book by this author. It does not mean I recommend all the books by this author.

*I received this book for free from the Author for this honest review.