The Gown

From the author of bestsellers “The Society of Jane Austen” and “The Girls of Bloomsbury.” Vivien Lowry’s career as a playwright hangs in the balance—the play staged in the West End failed due to harsh reviews from critics. The future in London is foggy, and at the suggestion of her friend Peggy Guggenheim, Vivien travels to Rome to help work on a film script.

In Italy, torn between a tainted past and a potentially bright future, between the liberation of postwar cinema and the restrictions of the Catholic Church that run through the very soul of the country, Vivien tries to build a new life. But she encounters a truth long buried about the recent world war—and a secret about what really happened to her fiancé. “A captivating novel that unites the past and the future.” — Westport Magazine