The Wedding Dress Sewing Circle: A Novel

Jennifer Ryan is a British historical fiction author based in the United States; she has written several novels, including The Chilbury Ladies’ Choir, The Spies of Shilling Lane, and The Kitchen Front. She was a book editor before moving to the United States and beginning her work as a writer.

Ryan’s novels are inspired by her grandmother’s stories about living through the war in Britain. She is fascinated by the bravery and hedonism of young women during the Blitz (the bombing of London), evident in her work through the stories of women like Grace, who decides to let loose at a military party and live vibrantly. In addition to the story of women coping with clothing shortages in The Wedding Dress Sewing Circle, The Spies of Shilling Lane focuses on one woman’s mission to discover what happened to her daughter, The Chilbury Ladies’ Choir tells the story of women who take on men’s work after their choir is dismissed during the war, and The Kitchen Front tells the story of women participating in a BBC-sponsored cooking competition during the war. Ryan’s most recent novel, The Underground Library, follows three women fighting to save their library from the bombings in London.