The Dress Shop on King Street is a sweet Southern tale of finding family and following dreams. Written by Ashley Clark, this well-crafted historical fiction alternates between two characters–Harper and Millie. Millie’s story ranges from her youth to old age and is particularly poignant. She gracefully navigates challenge after challenge, while always working on her dream of owning a dress shop. The story is fraught with mystery, romance, and jumps between several time periods. The Dress Shop’s strength is in Clark’s use of vivid descriptions and detail. Readers will feel like they are actually in Fairhope, Alabama and Charleston, South Carolina. A major theme in the book is race and passing for white. Clark includes Book Club questions to allow groups to have meaningful discussions. The Dress Shop on King Street is a delightful read!
Review of Digital Advance Reading Copy
This book was sent to Compass Book Ratings for review by Bethany House Publishers
Content Analysis:
Profanity/Language: 1 religious exclamation.
Violence/Gore: Several secondhand reports of violence including a church bombing and a man beaten to death; a few brief scenes of violence including a fight between a drunk man and old woman and a thrown brick through a front window.
Sex/Nudity: Several incidents of kissing; a few implied occurrences of sexual activity between a master and slave.
Mature Subject Matter:
Death of family members, murder, racism, biracial, slavery and being sold, separation of families, church bombing, fistfight, death serving in Armed Forces, panic attacks.
Alcohol / Drug Use:
Two drunks attack an old woman.
