The Dressmaker of Dachau. Mary Chamberlain

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       Copyright

      The Borough Press

      An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd

      1 London Bridge Street

      London SE1 9GF

       www.harpercollins.co.uk

      First published in Great Britain by The Borough Press 2016

      Copyright © Mary Chamberlain 2016

      Cover design © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2019. Cover photographs © Marie Carr/Arcangel Images (woman), Prisma Archivo/Alamy Stock Photo (Dachau Concentration Camp), Shutterstock.com (all other images)

      Mary Chamberlain asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

      A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

      This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it, while at times based on historical events and figures, are the work of the author’s imagination.

      All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

      Source ISBN: 9780007591558

      Ebook Edition © 2019 ISBN: 9780007591541

      Version: 2019-07-09

       Praise for The Dressmaker of Dachau:

      ‘The Dressmaker of Dachau is a thrilling story, brilliantly told. I couldn’t put it down. Ada Vaughan is a character to fall in love with: utterly real, flawed and beguiling’

      Saskia Sarginson, author of R&J pick, The Twins and Without You

      ‘I found myself completely swept up in this tale of love, ambition and vanity’

      Julie West, author of Before the Fall

      ‘A powerful and gripping tale of longings and dreams, and how a chance meeting that seems to offer the answers and more, instead comes with devastating consequences. It’s a story about what a person will do and can do under force. The world before, during and after World War II is amazingly well-drawn. But it is the character of Ada Vaughan that lingers, her resolve, her passion and her flaws’

      Cecelia Ekbäck

       Dedication

      For the little ones – Aaron, Lola, Cosmo,

      Trilby – and their Ba.

      Contents

       Cover

       Title Page

      Copyright

      Praise for The Dressmaker of Dachau

      Dedication

      Prologue

      One: London, January 1939

       Two: London, July 1945

       Three: London, November 1947

       Historical Note

       Acknowledgements

       A Q&A: with Mary Chamberlain

       About the Author

       Also by Mary Chamberlain

       About the Publisher

       PROLOGUE

      The April sun cast shafts of light onto the thick slubs of black silk, turning it into a sea of ebony and jet, silver and slate. Ada watched as Anni ran her hand along the fine, crisp edges of the jacket, tracing the rich, warm threads and fingering the corsage as if the petals were tender, living blooms.

      She was wearing it over a thick wool jumper and her cook’s apron, so it pulled tight around the shoulders. No, Ada wanted to say, not like that. It won’t fit. But she kept her mouth shut. She could see from Anni’s face that the jacket was the most beautiful thing she had ever possessed.

      Anni was holding the key to Ada’s room in one hand and a suitcase in the other.

      ‘Goodbye,’ she said, throwing the key on the floor and kicking it towards Ada.

      She walked away, leaving the door open.

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