The Dressmaker's Secret

The Chronicles of Alice and Ivy, Book 1

By: Kellyn Roth

Narrated by: Alexandra Ralph

Length: 7 hrs and 58 mins

Publisher's summary

If they knew who she was, they’d never accept what she’s become.

Claire will stop at nothing to provide for her daughters. An unwed mother, she does everything possible to raise them whilst avoiding her scandalous past. Some secrets are best kept, even between mother and daughter.

Alice longs for a father, especially if that means her mother will be happy. She takes matters into her own hands — but she never expected what she finds.

Despite her efforts to shelter her daughters, Claire’s ghosts rise up to haunt her, and any semblance of control over her life vanishes. If her secrets are uncovered, what will become of her family?

The Dressmaker's Secret is the first novel in a Christian women's fiction saga, The Chronicles of Alice and Ivy.

©2016, 2020 Kellyn Roth, Author (P)2020 Wild Blue Wonder Press

Narrator is perfect!

This is a solid, well-written Christian historical fiction novel by Kellyn Roth. The time period and setting were so clear as I read. This book is full of lovable characters with unique and endearing qualities. There were a couple of twists I didn't see coming, and I appreciated the surprise factor.

Tough subject matter was dealt with delicately.

This book is full of love, encouragement, and compassion.

I plan to reread this book.

*I received a copy of this book from the publisher. All thoughts are my own.

Alice is the star of the story!

What a delightful story! I love how it is told from the perspectives of Alice and her mother Claire. The English narration is highly appealing and makes this audiobook tale come to life.

In The Dressmaker’s Secret, the introduction to The Chronicles of Alice and Ivy series, Claire attempts to keep her secretive past from nearly everyone, including her 8-year-old daughters Ivy and Alice. Her dear friend, Nettie is the only one who knows the truth, and I love how she stays loyal to Claire.

Young Ivy is meek and accepting, but Alice is quite spunky and bold and seeks answers. Especially about why she and Ivy don't have a father. I admire her tenacity, strength, and inquisitive nature. Usually, I’m not overly fond of children in books, but Alice is quite entertaining and easy to connect with.

Though the story focuses on Claire navigating her secretive life, the true star of the book is young Alice. I empathized with her and hoped she would find answers. I understood her mother’s reasoning, but I wanted so much for Alice to find answers. For the most part, the pacing is a bit on the slower side, but fits well with time period and plot. Ultimately, I enjoy how the mystery unfolds.

Disclosure: #CoverLoverBookReview received a complimentary copy of this book.

Sweet historical fiction with an amazing narrator

Well, yet another book outside of my genre that I enjoyed.
Kellyn is a great person and an extremely talented writer. This story was plotted incredibly well - I don't know how she managed to keep up with all of the strings and then tie them up nicely (I mean, except the ones that were intentionally left unfinished because, y'know, this is a series).
The characters are fun and real-life. Like, I'm not sure I'd be completely surprised I was able to meet them in person. The fact that they're from a different time period feels like more of a barrier than that they're fictional.
This book had serious moments with great bits of dialogue and writing, but then it had laugh-out-loud moments. And that's the best kind of story.
There's nothing I can even say was done badly. I just didn't enjoy it enough to give a full 5 stars. But it was still wonderfully written.

I would give a content review, but I think Kell covers that quite well in her Goodreads author review (which I greatly appreciate).

*Thanks to the author for providing a free copy of this book. A positive review was not required. All thoughts expressed are my own.*

Beautifully written historical fiction.

I am so in love with this book! The story, narration and writing were all amazing. It was my very first Christian historical fiction and I loved it! The plot twists were so shocking and I did not see any of them coming. Overall great book and recommend it for anyone and everyone.

*I received this audiobook for free from the author for this honest review.*

Great start to a series

I loved that this had the point of view of the mom and the eight-year-old daughter, Alice. The young girl's curiosity was spot on, making me chuckle when she spoke her mind or smiled at her inner thoughts.
Her longing to know of and about her father pulled at my mother's heartstrings. I think the story was well written until the end some extra twists were thrown in, leaving somewhat of an open ending. Because it's a series, I'm hoping Alice will uncover her full story in the future. I, for one, want to know the remainder of her family's secrets. ;)
While not a swoony historical romance, there is a bit of a love story in the mom's storyline but, hers is more of a single mom trying to make ends meet for herself and twin daughters in an era where being a single mom could cause such a scandal.
The narrator did a fantastic job with voice changes going from a girl's voice to the mom's, the nanny's, and the male characters involved. She kept me hooked to the end.
I rate it 4/5 stars.

A “feel good” captivating Christian Story

This is a story of the interference of a controlling, hateful father among British ton and misunderstanding, unfounded judgment, and of the ones who chose to believe in God and of those who chose not to believe.
This is a wonderful tale of strong friendship, perseverance, and dedication of two women and of a loving brother.!
The ending is very surprising and stirs up more questions within the reader/listener. It is a great lead-in to further stories.
The characters are so realistic and the scenes so vivid that the reader/listener feels he/she is in the story.
The Narrator Alexandra Ralph does a very good job in performing the various characters' voices and in emphasizing all the correct phrases with energy and consistency.
This is a very inspiring and touching tale.

Great

The Dressmaker's Secret (The Chronicles of Alice and Ivy, Book 1) by Kellyn Roth was a great audiobook! I have to say that Alexandra Ralph did an amazing job with the narration, especially with the voices. The story itself pulled me in right from the start, and I quickly found myself really liking Claire. I am excited to start book 2!

Beautiful, heartfelt story

FTC Disclosure: I received a free copy of the audiobook from the author in exchange for a review. A positive review was not required. The following review is my honest opinion.

Such a sweet story! I become a bigger fan of Kellyn Roth's writing with every story of hers I read. She has such a talent for telling stories full of heart and well fleshed-out characters. I loved getting to know Claire, Alice, and Ivy and watching their journeys from broken to healing. I also thought Kellyn did a great job handling the subject matter of a single mother in a time when a woman in that situation would have been gossiped about and judged. Kellyn handled it with much grace, skill, and tact and I thought that adding the children's perspectives on everything was a great touch. I'll also note that she did an excellent job making the children actually sound their respective ages. That's something that can be difficult, but she pulled it off!

As for the quality of the audiobook, it was excellent. The narrator spoke clearly and brought the characters to life.

Overall, I enjoyed this story very much and am excited to read more books about these characters!

Love love love this book!

Third time through! Even more makes sense having read the following books! Highly recommend!! It’s excellent!

Not For Me

*Thanks to the author for a free copy of the audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

Kellyn Roth’s The Dressmaker’s Secret is a story of two sisters and their mother’s mysterious past. I appreciated the characters. Nettie, Uncle Charlie, and Hazel were some of my favorites. I also liked the Scriptural elements included in the story, for example, Nettie and Hazel sharing their faith with Claire and the simple faith of children. It also had a classic and sweet feel to it.


There were some things I did not like about this story. One of them was the pace. It seemed to slow down and speed up and rush, in places where it would’ve been better off doing the opposite. There were also many characters, and I had a hard time keeping track of them all.
I have to share what is bothering me the most about this, and that is the outcome of the story.

**SPOILER ALERT. Eventually finding out who the girls’ father was, and finding that one of the girls wasn’t related to either Claire or to the supposed father, then even more secrets at the end… I just did not appreciate that, and it left me very disappointed and confused. Another spoiler here—I didn’t appreciate that the author killed off a character to give a hallmark/disney perfect ending instead of a realistic and not-always-happy ending. End of Spoiler.**

All of these are the reasons for my rating.

Content guide:
Violence: 2/10 (death, illness, mention of abuse, miscarriage)
Sexual content: 5/10 (rumors of children out of wedlock)