Why a Booktrail?
1819: You can never really run from your past….nor hide from it..
The Dressmaker’s Secret
What you need to know before your trail
Emilia Barton and her mother Sarah live a nomadic existence as dressmakers travelling from town to town. They settle in the idyllic coastal town of Pesaro, hoping that, this time, they have found a permanent home. But when Sarah is brutally attacked by an unknown assailant, a deathbed confession turns Emilia’s world upside down.
Seeking refuge as a dressmaker in the eccentric household of Princess Caroline of Brunswick, her troubling history gnaws away at her. When the Princess sends her on an assignment to London, she grasps the opportunity to unravel the truth.
Emilia is determined to discover who she really is – even if she risks losing everything . . .
Locations
Reset- Italy - Le Marche - Pesaro
- A: Pesaro harbour
- B: Monte San Bartolo
- C: "Villa Vitoria"
- D: Piazza del Popolo
- E: Baia Flaminia
- England - London
- F: Portman Street
- G: Grosvenor St
- H: Westminster Bridge
Travel Guide
Pesaro and Princess Carole Of Brunswick
This novel is based on a true story – which the author was keen to explore and fictionalise.
In 1794 Princess Caroline of Bruswick was 26 years old and longing for marriage and children. In London, the Prince of Wales was encouraged to marry since he was in severe debt and if he married, parliament would have to increase his annual allowance. The cousins had never met at this point and the Prince’s envoy was sent to arrange the marriage. They met three days before the wedding. Soon after, he employed his mistress as the Princess’s lady in waiting. Not surprisingly, the marriage was not a happy one.
Nevertheless, Princess Charlotte was born nine months after. Caroline soon began to react to the unhappiness and began acting recklessly with parties, flirting and then began to adopt bablies and be guardian to several more.
She finally left England for Italy to escape the press and bad rumours, where she hired a dressmaker. She settled in Pesaro in 1818.
The facts of her life from 1819 to her death in 1821 are fictionalised in the Dressmaker’s Secret (Emilia is fictional)
Following her death, She was buried in Brunswick Cathedral in London
Streetview Maps
C) Italy - Pesaro - "Villa Vitoria"
D) Italy - Pesaro - Piazza Popolo
Booktrailer Review
Susan: @thebooktrailer
A lovely immersive read with just the right dose of historical intrigue, real life mixed with fiction,human interest, romance and lots of family secrets.
I’ve read all of Charlotte’s novels now and I’ve loved every one and the way she draws the reader in early on and never lets go. There’s a lot going on in this novel and the characters are all very interesting. That Caroline is aright one though! she had my sympathy on some pages but then she acted up on others so I can’t imagine what she was like in real life. The dressmaker of the title was an interesting addition though she was green at times. Yet I enjoyed seeing the world of her poor life in Italy, then her arrival into the Royal household and beyond.
Charlotte does write some wonderfully evocative and immersive novels and I was enthralled with this Italian story!
Booktrail Boarding Pass: The Dressmaker’s Secret
Destination : Pesaro, Italy, London Author/Guide: Charlotte Betts Departure Time: 1819
Back to ResultsWhere Next?
