The Winter Dress
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The Winter Dress
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Narrated by:
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Anthea Greco
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Yesse Spence
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By:
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Lauren Chater
About this listen
Longlisted for the 2022 ARA Historical Novel Prize.
‘From a few shimmering strands of truth, Lauren Chater has spun an intriguing story of love, loss and fulfilment.’ Pip Williams, bestselling author of The Dictionary of Lost Words
Two women separated by centuries but connected by one beautiful silk dress. A captivating novel based on a real-life shipwreck discovered off Texel Island by the bestselling author of Gulliver's Wife, Lauren Chater.
The brightness of silk in that dull room was like the heavens parting after a storm ... She saw herself remade, no longer a poor laundress but a woman with means.
Jo Baaker, a textiles historian and Dutch expat is drawn back to the island where she was born to investigate the provenance of a 17th-century silk dress. Retrieved by local divers from a sunken shipwreck, the dress offers tantalising clues about the way people lived and died during Holland's famous Golden Age.
Jo's research leads her to Anna Tesseltje, a poor Amsterdam laundress turned ladies’ companion who served the enigmatic artist Catharina van Shurman. The two women were said to share a powerful bond, so why did Anna abandon Catharina at the height of her misfortune?
Jo is convinced the truth lies hidden between the folds of this extraordinary dress. But as she delves deeper into Anna’s history, troubling details about her own past begin to emerge.
On the small Dutch island of Texel where fortunes are lost and secrets lie buried for centuries, Jo will finally discover the truth about herself and the woman who wore the Winter Dress.
Praise for The Winter Dress
'Chater has delivered a beautifully told story that takes an intriguing historical mystery and weaves it into a richly imagined tale that is every bit as breathtaking and beguiling as the remarkable dress it is based on.' Better Reading
‘Vivid, expansive and richly imagined, The Winter Dress weaves together a fascinating historical mystery and an uncompromising portrait of the possibility and price of female autonomy with remarkable and deeply affecting results.’ James Bradley, author of Wrack
'Wrap yourself in Chater's prose. The Winter Dress is a captivating tale of discovery and obsession by one of Australia's very best historical fiction authors. Absolutely essential reading.' Melissa Ashley, author of The Birdman’s Wife
Critic Reviews
'From a few shimmering strands of truth, Lauren Chater has spun an intriguing story of love, loss and fulfilment.’ (Pip Williams, author of The Dictionary of Lost Words)
What listeners say about The Winter Dress
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 22-01-2023
The Winter Dress
Overall a good story, a bit graphic in places. Some descriptive scenes could’ve been left out.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Annie Reeves
- 27-08-2023
Interesting story, not yet finished, fighting to stick with it …
But the littany of mispronunciations is doing my head in … anathema (as in an-Athena), ‘archalogical’, ‘deteriation’ to name a few. It’s all the more jarring when a university lecturer is speaking in the first person and can’t pronounce her own written words!
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Ruth Maria Fortune
- 20-10-2023
Great Story
Fascinating story, great listen. Unfortunately, the edit of the audio file wasn’t done too well. A lot of doubled-up sentences.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Jac
- 21-07-2022
Machine reader?
I enjoyed the audio but found the poor pronunciation of polysyllabic words surprising. And irritating. If a machine reader, needs an update. Ditto if a person.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 10-05-2022
Beautiful story that I didn’t want to end
What a great book. Enjoyed the story and the way it evolved and really just wanted another chapter and another!
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- SJ
- 29-12-2023
Good story, tainted by poor performance
The present-day performer was robotic and provided little tonal difference between speech, narration and characters, making it less easy and enjoyable to follow. Sometimes a phrase was repeated and not edited out and some pronunciation indicated unfamiliarity with some words. The past-day performer was very good.
The story was of of average enjoyment. Although someone with scuba or material conservation experience may find some scenarios a bit unrealistic.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 20-05-2022
Loved this book
Really interesting, great characters, would love to see the dress in real life. Deserves the 5 stars.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- michelle murray
- 22-08-2022
Lovely story but should have had Dutch accents
I loved the story and the narrator but it would have been so much better to have had Dutch accent and different voices or tones for the characters.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 23-11-2022
Dutch archeological discovery - fictional?
I found the story so enthralling and enjoyed the connection to the amazing era of Dutch artists .
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 07-02-2024
The dress
The language was a little over descriptive in places. Also the recording did repeat itself 2-3x each chapter.
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