Community Library Notes
“The Dressmaker” by Kate Alcott is the story of Tess who, in 1912, is hired by famous gown designer Lucile to be her servant and to go on the Titanic from England to America. She takes her sketchbook of designs, her best dress and a picture of her mother. She meets Lucile and her sister, Elinor, a Hollywood writer, on the dock. Tess sleeps in steerage. Lucile points out the celebrities onboard, and has her cabin moved from E to A deck. A young sailor offers to walk with her. Why not, she thinks.
Tess meets Jack Bremerton in the gym where she tries the mechanical camel. Later, he leads her to the elegant dining room, but she leaves when she spies Madame Lucile and Cosmos, her husband. That night, she feels a slight bump. The steward tells them to go on deck in their life vests, nothing to worry about. Passengers are in the hallway in pajamas. Tess sees sailors launching lifeboats, and people looking for spaces in them. Lucile orders a sailor to launch one for her. A man begs Tess to take his two boys and she jumps into a lifeboat with them in her arms.
The sailors argue about who is to row and a woman grabs the oars and rows with Tess. They watch as the Titanic tips upward and Tess hears the orchestra playing on deck. Author Alcott drives the tension like a hammer.
At the New York Times news desk, editor Van Anda gets a telegram that the Titanic has hit an iceberg. He intuits there were not enough lifeboats and writes the headline that the ship has sunk. He calls Pinky to cover the story. She’s determined to get to the truth of a story and to place blame where it belongs. She’s the best human interest reporter he has, with courage and strong opinions. Meanwhile, the Carpathia comes and lifts people from the Titanic’s life boats. Bonney, the young sailor Tess had met earlier, tells her of his ambitions.
Senator Smith will be chairman of the investigation into the cause of the sinking. He and Pinky sneak onto the rescue ship. Tess sees Pinky and helps her tuck her hair into a cap to disguise herself as a boy. Pinky tells her that Lady Duff Gordon was in a half-empty life boat. There’s a story there. And Senator Smith talks to Bruce Ismay, the owner of the line.
There were 700 survivors out of more than 2,000 passengers and 60 percent of the first-class passengers survived and only 25 percent of those in steerage.
The next day at the hotel, Tess takes notes as Lucile tells her about her Spring line of clothes, her shows in New York and London, the clients and the models. Bruce Ismay is the first witness at the hearing. He gives vague answers, and never admits there were not enough lifeboats for everyone.
Jim Bonney sees Tess and they go for a walk and a hot dog on Fifth Avenue. Tess loves this huge wonderful city.
The New York Times says the baronet (Lucile’s husband) bribed sailors not to go back for the drowning ones. It’s written under Pinky’s byline. At the hearing, the courtroom is packed.
At Lucile’s workroom, Tess has a wonderful day, handling the fabrics and watching everything. Pinky goes home to her ailing father, then sees Tess at the marketplace. They argue about what happened in the lifeboat. Tess wasn’t in Lucile’s boat so she doesn’t know. Because of Lucile’s cruel statements to the press, Jordan Darling, a dancer, who posed as a woman to get in the lifeboat, has hanged himself.
The hearing moves to Washington, DC to the Senate. The principal navigator is the first witness. He says there had been no warnings of ice in their path. The weather was clear and calm. They hadn’t increased the lookout. Pinky thinks the incident was due to speed and stupidity. Lucile has taken the day off from her workshop and Tess is in charge. Someone has ripped the wedding dress, the centerpiece of the upcoming show. Tess mends it as best she can, trying not to change the design.
Jack Bremerton shows up at Tess’ door of her new apartment thanks to the generosity of Lucile and Cosmos. He takes her to a different elegant restaurant every night. He proposes marriage to her. She knows it would be a rich, glorious life with him. But Bonney has a new job as a master craftsman and also wants her in marriage. She is torn. Pinky asks her editor for a raise to one dollar an hour. She’s been offered a job at another newspaper.
Does Pinky get the raise she bravely demanded? Does Tess quit Lucile’s studio? Whom does Tess choose to spend her life with? Who was responsible for the sinking of the Titanic? Alcott explains it all at the end. Find this interesting book at your Mendocino Community Library when it reopens April 1. Call 707-937-5773 for more information.