The Dressmaker by Rosalie Ham is the final book I needed to read for my 2011 booklist - essential preparation for the job that pays the bills! Subtitled an Australian gothic novel of love, hate & haute couture and published by the now-defunct Duffy & Snellgrove, it's a light-hearted and quirky romp through country Australia in the 1950s. It still reminds me of Dylan Thomas' Under Milk Wood, in terms of the characterisation and some of the descriptive detail, but these deliberate eccentricities are enjoyable and add contrast to the tale of long-suffering Tilly Dunnage and her 'mad' mother, both of whom are treated as witches by the parochial and despicable locals. It's a story with tragic elements, but vengeance is served up comic and sweet.
