Overview

PRESENT DAY DUBLIN Lucy Young travels to Dublin to search for her ancestor Hugh Gavin who emigrated from Dublin to Boston in 1720. She brings with her a 300- year-old diary written by the Duchess of Alden of Boden Castle, Dublin. When Lucy contacts Professor Patrick Ralley of Trinity College Dublin to donate the Alden diary to the university, she asks for his help to research Hugh Gavin’s life and her family’s possible connection to the castle. In their search they will uncover a secret that has lain hidden for three hundred years. DUBLIN, 1719 Abigail Harton’s father is a medical doctor who has used the last of his family’s savings to fund a charitable hospital in the city. He has saved the lives of the wife and son of the Duke of Alden in childbirth and hopes that the Duke will provide an annuity to support his work. Meanwhile Abigail and her mother must use their considerable talent at embroidery to provide for the household, and Abigail designs an emerald-silk damask cloth for weaver Hugh Gavin. She also accepts work from Hugh’s sister Mary to embroider a dress made from the cloth, which has been commissioned by Miss Elizabeth Goulding to be worn at the upcoming Duke of Alden’s Ball at Boden Castle. But an event occurs at Boden Castle the night of the ball that will lie secret for the next three hundred years, until Lucy and the Professor uncover the secret of the emerald dress.

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9781781997574

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Wonderful characters .... deep... funny... An interesting story that will keep you reading. - Goodreads A fascinating peek into 18th century Dublin- Goodreads I really enjoyed this story. It was a mix of family drama, suspense, and romance. - Goodreads A vibrant mix of mystery, gorgous fabric, the moirés of class, secrets and discoveries. One of the must read novels of the year. – Senior Times For all fans of Historical Fiction. - Goodreads

Wonderful characters .... deep... funny... An interesting story that will keep you reading. - Goodreads A fascinating peek into 18th century Dublin- Goodreads I really enjoyed this story. It was a mix of family drama, suspense, and romance. - Goodreads A vibrant mix of mystery, gorgous fabric, the moires of class, secrets and discoveries. One of the must read novels of the year. - Senior Times For all fans of Historical Fiction. - Goodreads

Author Information

Vivienne Kearns grew up in Dublin as one of five children; living first in the city centre, before moving out to the newer suburbs in Tallaght which were built in the 70’s. As a teenager she became interested in fashion and started designing and making her own clothes. Dressmaking has always been in her family – her aunt Kathleen was a tailor and her grandmother made her daughters’ wedding gowns. At secondary school Vivienne decided she wanted to be a fashion designer, and one of her designs was chosen, along with NCAD graduate designs, for the ‘Youngline’ show on RTE in the early 1980s – she even got to go on the show to model her own dress. However, her love of literature would intervene and after reading Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre she knew she wanted to study English, which she did at University College Dublin. After college, she went onto train and qualify as an English teacher, but she was successful in the Donnelly visa and moved to Los Angeles for a year. When she returned from LA, she worked in Hodges Figgis bookshop in Dublin, which she still recalls as one of her best jobs ever. Vivienne went on to work as a technical writer and project manager in the e-learning industry for 20 years and now works in University College Dublin in an administrative role. She has travelled the world for work, mostly to the US and Cape Town, South Africa, and has also visited India, and China including the city of Xi’an, which is the terminus city of the Silk Road. It was after reading Tracy Chevalier’s ‘Girl with a Pearl Earring’ that Vivienne knew she wanted to write – and she would ultimately attend a historical writing course facilitated by Tracy Chevalier and Louise Doughty, which helped culminate in the publication of The Emerald Dress.

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