Wedding Dress (Hauck)

The Wedding Wedding 
Rachel Hauck, 2012
Thomas Nelson
352 pp.
ISBN-13: 9781595549631


Summary
Four brides. One Dress—a tale of faith, redemption, and timeless love.

Charlotte owns a chic Birmingham bridal boutique. Dressing brides for their big day is her gift...and her passion. But with her own wedding day approaching, why can’t she find the perfect dress…or feel certain she should marry Tim?

Then Charlotte discovers a vintage dress in a battered trunk at an estate sale. It looks brand-new—shimmering with pearls and satin, hand-stitched and timeless in its design.

But where did it come from? Who wore it? Who welded the lock shut and tucked the dog tags in that little sachet? Who left it in the basement for a ten-year-old girl? And what about the mysterious man in the purple vest who insists the dress had been “redeemed.”

Charlotte’s search for the gown’s history—and its new bride—begins as a distraction from her sputtering love life. But it takes on a life of its own as she comes to know the women who have worn the dress. Emily from 1912. Mary Grace from 1939. Hillary from 1968. Each with her own story of promise, pain, and destiny.

And each with something unique to share. For woven within the threads of the beautiful hundred-year-old gown is the truth about Charlotte’s heritage, the power of courage and faith, and the timeless beauty of finding true love. (From the publisher.)

Author Bio
Rachel Hauck is the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA TODAY bestselling author of The Wedding Dress, which was also named Inspirational Novel of the Year by Romantic Times and was a RITA finalist. Rachel lives in central Florida with her husband and two pets and writes from her ivory tower. (From the publisher.)

Book Reviews
Charlotte Malone...discovers a beautiful hundred-year-old wedding gown in a battered trunk with a welded lock, she’s compelled to uncover the mystery of the dress....  Although her portrayals of the story’s elderly female characters are sometimes a bit “gushy,” they simply add to the charm.
AudioFile

Discussion Questions
Use our LitLovers Book Club Resources; they can help with discussions for any book:

• How to Discuss a Book (helpful discussion tips)
• Generic Discussion Questions—Fiction and Nonfiction
• Read-Think-Talk (a guided reading chart)

Also, consider these talking points to help start a discussion for The Wedding Dress...then take off on your own:

1. Consider each of the three wearers of the wedding dress—Emily, Mary Grace, and Hillary—and their stories. Talk about their personalities: is there one you identify with or prefer over the others? Also discuss the challenges and the uncertainties each faces.

2. Do you understand Charlotte's indecisiveness at the beginning of the novel? What are her concerns over marrying Tim? What do you think of Tim at the onset of the book, and does you opinion change? As Charlotte begins to solve the mysteries behind the dress, how do the revelations help, even change, her?

3. The stories are told from varying points of view, including Daniel and Tim. Were you able to keep the stories and voices straight? What do all the perspectives add the the overall story?

4. Had you figured out the mystery of the dress...or were you surprised?

5. Talk about the man in the purple vest.

(We'll add specific questions if and when they're made available by the publisher. In the meantime feel free to use these, online or off, with attribution. Thanks.)

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