The Pink Suit, by Nicole Mary Kelby, Virago, 288 pages, £14.99
The latest novel by Nicole Mary Kelby brings into focus a style icon that many might have attempted to emulate at some point. Her A-line dresses, hats and bob were quite a success, especially when juxtaposed with a young American president that the world was quite enamoured with.
Jacqueline Kennedy or “Jackie” outlived her husband but is firmly etched in minds as the Kennedy First Lady.
“The Pink Suit” takes into account that fateful day in Fort Worth, Dallas, Texas when John F. Kennedy fell prey to an assassin’s bullets. Post that there have been numerous theories on whom or what killed the young president. But, on that day America stood still in shock.
The book is the story of the dress the young widow wore on that day — a copy of a Chanel creation with permission from the French atelier, and a young seamstress who made that transition possible with her skill and talent.
It is also the story of Irish immigrants in the US and how the Kennedy family offered them real hope of achieving the American dream. The romance in the book looks at the immigrant issue in terms of the loneliness many faced to make a new home. In the end, does success truly matter when there are no roads leading home?
A tough question to answer, especially as most reading this would be expatriates.
The clever part of the narrative is how the first lady is presented. She is there like a presence; especially in terms of the impact her dictates have — but it is not an overt existence. A shadow play that lets you focus on the seamstress rather than the customer.
What you will leave the book with is a renewed interest in fabrics and the art of dressmaking that all but seems to have become extinct today. Days are spent hemming blind stitches by the thousands into seams. The result is stunning but too high a price to pay in terms of effort and manpower.
