"Sometimes, a second chance is better than the first. . ."
Reviewed by Dot Dittman
Posted February 17, 2015
Women's Fiction | Contemporary
VINTAGE by Susan Gloss is one of those books that gets
into
your head. It grabs your interest from the first, but then
you find yourself thinking about it even when you are not
reading it. Even after it is finished.
Susan Gloss has created not one, but three complex female
characters and deftly weaves their stories together into
something wonderful. Violet Turner owns a store called
Hourglass Vintage in Madison, Wisconsin, that sells
previously owned clothing and other items. VINTAGE is
cleverly written with a description of an article
beginning
each chapter. Later in the story, the significance of the
article in someone's life is shown. Violet firmly believes
that every article that reaches her store has a rich
history and should get another chance to be cherished or
useful. She believes the same thing about people. She
tries
to make it true for her own life as she leaves an abusive
marriage behind and pursues her dream of owning a store
filled with beautiful things.
Her dream has suffered a setback. She has just been served
papers telling her that she has to vacate her store. She
is
devastated. That same day, two very different women come
into her store: a young woman named April Morgan, who is
trying to return a wedding dress even though there is a
no-
return policy; and an older woman, Amithi Singh, selling
jewelry, and who is obviously bitter about her life as a
wife and mother.
Their friendship and support develops into something that
is more like a sisterhood than a mere friendship. The
three
women discover that even though their old lives left them
feeling used and abused, they all deserve a second chance
at a happy life.
VINTAGE is Susan Gloss's debut novel. I look forward to
any
others that she writes.
Learn more about Vintage
SUMMARY
At Hourglass Vintage in Madison, Wisconsin, every item in
the boutique has a story to tell . . . and so do the women
whose lives the store touches. Yellow Samsonite
suitcase with ivory, quilted lining, 1950s A
small-town girl with a flair for fashion, Violet Turner had
always dreamed of owning a shop like Hourglass Vintage. But
while she values the personal history behind each beautiful
item she sells, Violet is running from her own past. Faced
with the possibility of losing the store to an unscrupulous
developer, she realizes that despite her usual self-reliance
she cannot save it alone. Taffeta tea-length
wedding gown with scooped neckline and cap sleeves,
1952 Eighteen-year-old April Morgan is nearly
five months along in an unplanned pregnancy when her hasty
engagement is broken. When she returns the perfect vintage
wedding dress to Violet's shop, she discovers a world of new
possibilities, and an unexpected sisterhood with women who
won't let her give up on her dreams. Orange silk
sari with gold paisley design, 1968 Betrayed by
her husband, Amithi Singh begins selling off her vibrant
Indian dresses, remnants of a life she's determined to leave
behind her. After decades of housekeeping and parenting a
daughter who rejects her traditional ways, she fears her
best days are behind her . . . until she discovers an outlet
for her creativity and skills with a needle and thread.
An engaging story that beautifully captures the
essence of friendship and style, Vintage is a
charming tale of possibility, of finding renewal, love, and
hope when we least expect it
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