The Seamstress of New Orleans
by Diane Cox McPhail
Published: May 2022 | Pages: 304
Facilitator: TBD
Hostess: TBD

1900 and the dawn of a new century carries with it a sense of change, possibility, and female empowerment. As the Suffrage Movement gathers steam across the country, society women in New Orleans prepare behind parlor doors to take the reins as the only all-female krewe, Les Mysterieuses, at the leap year’s Mardi Gras celebrations. For Constance Halstead—a young, wealthy widow whose husband’s suspicious death leaves her vulnerable to the vicious Black Hand gang of Storyville—Les Mysterieuses is a rare opportunity to take control of her life and upend social convention. It’s also a fleeting escape from her grief over the death of her infant son. While for Alice Butterworth, broke, pregnant, abandoned by her husband, newly arrived from Chicago, sewing Constance’s Krewe gown means survival and an opportunity to be a part of the historic event.

Piece by piece, the breathtaking gown takes shape, becoming a symbol of strength and a path towards greater independence. But as the Mardi Gras festivities reach their fruition, a secret emerges that will cement the bond between Alice and Constance even as it threatens the lives they’re building.

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