Frank Carlson Library

1940: As the Germans advance upon Paris, young seamstress Estella Bissette is forced to flee everything she's ever known. She's bound for New York City with her signature gold dress, a few francs, and a dream: to make her mark on the world of fashion. Present day: Fabienne Bissette journeys to the Met's annual gala for an exhibit featuring the work of her ailing grandmother - a legend of women's fashion design. But as Fabienne begins to learn more...

The year 1900 ushers in a new century and the promise of social change, and women rise together toward equality. Yet rules and restrictions remain, especially for women like Alice Butterworth, whose husband has abruptly disappeared. Desperate to make a living for herself and the child she carries, Alice leaves the bitter cold of Chicago far behind, offering sewing lessons at a New Orleans orphanage. Constance Halstead, a young widow reeling with shock...

"In the Lower East Side of Manhattan during the early 1900s, third-grader Rachel's mother boldly starts her own dressmaking business and Rachel discovers the perfect way to set herself apart from tagalong little sister Hannah on Rosh Hashanah." --

"When an artist and a duke cross paths in the bustling London slums, an unlikely love story begins and their lives will be forever changed. Royal Academy painting student Lucy Coover quickly comes to the aid of the naked drunkard she stumbles upon one evening in the Shoreditch slums. If only she could banish his lovely form from her dreams as easily. Instead, she finds herself compelled to paint the man in his natural form. Little does she know that...