The Winter Dress

In 2014 divers discovered the remains of a chest in a ship that sank off the coast of the Dutch island, Texel, in the 17th century. When the contents were examined the most surprising find was a silk dress. Who had owned it, how had it ended up on a sunken ship and how had it survived all those years under water? In this work of historical fiction Australian author, Lauren Chater, has imagined a possible story about the survival of the dress which she intertwines with a story of textile historian Jo Baaker's attempt to solve the mystery.

In The Winter Dress, alternating chapters tell the story of Anna in 1651 and Jo.  Anna lived in Amsterdam where she works as a washer-woman, a very different life from the life she was born into before her father lost his money. Then she was offered a position as a companion the the artist Catharina van Shurman (possibly based on Anna Maria van Shurman, a Dutch artist, engraver and poet). One of the few possessions that Anna owns is a beautiful silk dress once owned by her mother. Anna wears the dress when she accompanies Catharina to important social functions and meets people who have escaped Cromwell's England.

Jo Baaker was born on Texler but after the death of her parents moved to Australia. When Bram, a childhood friend on Texler, contacts her to tell her of the find that he and some other divers had made she agrees to immediately travel to Texler to examine the dress. As well as having the opportunity to try and discover the long forgotten story of the find, Jo also is able to finally come to terms with the memories of her previous life with her family at Texler.

A list of suggested Book Club questions is provided at the end of the book.

More information:

'Perfect' 17th century dress rescued from the sea displayed in Dutch expo - 9 News