Molly

 By: Rosalie Ham

Location: FIC HAM

Genre:  Historical Fiction

It's 1914 and Molly Dunnage wants to see at home, at work and in underwear.

Her burgeoning corsetry business is starting to take off, thanks to some high-profile supporters. She's marching with Melbourne's suffragists for better conditions for women everywhere. And her family - her eccentric, confounding, adored father and aunt - are turning their minds to country retirement.

But as the clouds of war gather and an ominous figure starts skulking in the shadows of her life, Molly's dreams begin to falter. Then, when true love drops out of the sky and into her arms, her hopes for her life and the world are entirely upended.

With the dark humour, richly detailed settings and vividly drawn characters we've come to expect from Rosalie Ham, this prequel to the international bestseller The Dressmaker is an unforgettable story of hopes lost, love found - and corsets loosened.

Review by Gloria

Molly by Rosalie Ham is the entertaining prequel to the best selling novel The Dressmaker and can easily be read as a standalone.

The main themes of the story are corsetry and women’s rights and the setting is Melbourne, 1914. Molly Dunnage is a corset designer and lives with her father and her Aunt in poverty, she’s working in a corsetry factory. Molly is hoping for her own corsetry business to take off but war is looming. Our protagonist is a modern woman and is marching with the Melbourne suffragists for better conditions for women.

The story starts off a slow burn but I found the pace soon sped up, it was absolutely intriguing reading about corsetry in that era and the family relationships were a delight. There’s a love story woven into the story that is heartbreaking.

The characters are quirky and well developed, I really adored Molly’s family.

If you love historical fiction and feminism this humorous and sometimes dark story will resonate with you. I’m now determined to read The Dressmaker next month to see what happens next to Molly and her daughter.