Retrato do autor

William Norwich

Autor(a) de My Mrs. Brown: A Novel

6 Works 144 Membros 12 Críticas

About the Author

Includes the name: William Norwich

Obras por William Norwich

My Mrs. Brown: A Novel (2016) 102 exemplares
Learning to Drive (1996) 23 exemplares
Molly and the Magic Dress (2002) 15 exemplares
Yabu Pushelberg (2009) 2 exemplares
My Mrs. Brown 1 exemplar
My Mrs. Brown: A Novel (2016) 1 exemplar

Etiquetado

Conhecimento Comum

Data de nascimento
1954
Sexo
male
Nacionalidade
USA
Locais de residência
New York, New York, USA
Ocupações
journalist
Organizações
Vogue (USA)

Membros

Críticas

A very short book and reading other reviews 'charming' is how I too would describe it. It would be a great book club book, especially for a group with different age women in it. I suspect it might be seen differently by different people. It was interesting to me that it was written by a man in the fashion industry as it referred to some things about the industry that are so true to me... like there is so little good fashion for more mature women instead of just for young thin twenty-somethings. The author seemed to have some idea how silly some of 'high fashion' is and also what the big city of New York would look like to a newcomer. When I read about the author I was afraid the book would treat a non-New Yorker well. The character development is thin and the story jumps ahead quickly to move it along when I was wishing for more. It does have a fairy tale quality but also some deeper issues. Read it!… (mais)
 
Assinalado
PamS76 | 11 outras críticas | Feb 17, 2021 |
This feels like a novel out of 1950 except for the anachronistic references to cell phones, ipads, and f-bombs. Emilia Brown is a simple, plain woman in her 60s who supports herself with sewing, cleaning, and other odd jobs -- her current position is cleaning up at the local beauty salon in her small town of Ashville RI. She lives by an antiquated code of hard work, routine, and meeting basic needs without a lot of frills. "...if she was a scent she was tea with honey, but if she was a color, she was a study in gray.....[which] isn't to say she was sad or threadbare. It's just that in a world where status is measure in how much space one takes up and how much noise one makes....a quiet person like Mrs. Brown falls invisible." (2) She and her cat Santo live in a tiny two-flat next to her best friend Mrs. Fox, both widows. When Mrs. Brown has the opportunity to help catalog possessions of the late Mrs. Groton, a local society matron she has long admired, her life changes drastically. There in her closet is a classic, gorgeous Oscar de la Renta suit in black. It is the exact dignified, simple, timeless outfit that would suit Mrs. Brown perfectly. But it is destined for auction in NY and costs $7,000. Mrs. Brown's life now becomes a quest to acquire the dress and takes her out of her comfort zone in many different ways. With the help of Alice, Mrs. Fox's 20-something granddaughter, an unexpected encounter with a super-model who rooms with her for a short time, and some unexpected kindness from strangers, she acquires the money and heads to NYC for a 48-hour adventure the likes of which she has never had in her simple sheltered life. Hurrah for Mrs. Brown and her late-life courage! The best part is learning why she wanted the dress so badly in the first place. Definitely a feel-good read.… (mais)
 
Assinalado
CarrieWuj | 11 outras críticas | Oct 24, 2020 |
The beginning of this book was frustratingly not my taste AT ALL, and I almost gave up but it was for book club. The second act in NYC was quite sweet. I just will never be sympathetic to narratives that paint people who like kale or use swear words or are young-ish as less good versions of older, more sedate people. It's a stupid narrative that implies a value judgment, and while there are plenty of insufferable millennials, dear lord are there also olds whose polite manners area facade for a whole host of -isms. No. It makes me grumpy.

I did really love her whole day in the city and the fairy-tale feel to the ending, I just would have liked it more if it didn't feel like a morality tale scolding anyone who uses a cell phone and likes Beyoncé more than Queen Victoria. Like, I get that enough from EVERYWHERE ELSE, book. Ugh.
… (mais)
 
Assinalado
bookbrig | 11 outras críticas | Aug 5, 2020 |
This is a fast read with a lot going for it. Mrs. Brown comes out of her quiet, brown life when she comes in contact with a timeless Oscar de la Renta dress while she is helping pack up the wardrobe of a local society grand dame. The author has been part of the fashion industry and comments critically on mistakes he feels designers make in ignoring important segments of the buying public. There are feel-good messages and experiences throughout the book.
 
Assinalado
terran | 11 outras críticas | Oct 23, 2018 |

Estatísticas

Obras
6
Membros
144
Popularidade
#143,281
Avaliação
½ 3.6
Críticas
12
ISBN
15

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