The Gown

After Jeremy assaults Ann, he says that no judge will convict him since she went into his house willingly. How do the people who find out about Ann’s rape react, and how do their reactions shape how Ann responds?

Ann tells her family nothing of her past while she’s alive, only leaving a trail for Heather to follow once she’s dead. Does Heather have the right to be angry at Ann for withholding this information? How would the story have changed if Ann had told Heather instead of letting Heather figure it out for herself?

The state of postwar Britain is depicted in this novel. What is it like for Miriam and Ann to live in this world? How is the reality of the postwar years presented as different from the war?

After the war, the man responsible for turning Miriam’s family over to the Nazis is allowed to go free because he later helped the French Resistance. What does Miriam’s story show about attitudes toward Jews in postwar France?

Jennifer Robson set out to tell the story of the women behind Queen Elizabeth’s gown. What was the women’s role in making the gown? Does who gets credit for making the gown matter?

Ann defends the monarchy believing that it does important work for the country. Miriam and Milly both critique the royals and their position in society. Do their discussions about royalty affect their friendship?

When Ann is out to dinner with Jeremy, she compliments his friend’s wife on her gown, one that Ann herself worked on. The woman responds by pulling her husband away. How does this novel explore classism through fashion?

When Heather goes looking for her grandmother’s English home, she finds that it has been torn down. Ann also describes how Barking changed from when she was a girl to an adult. What does the changing of Barking throughout the novel show about London in the decades after the war?