"We began the dress on the last evening in October." For
three sisters, it will become a banner of hope, spun from
delicate memories of genteel tradition and woven with
threads of possibility. Through the desolate landscape of
winter, it will act as a beacon of unexpected fortune and
faith in a world void of promise. It will inspire the noble
heart that lies dormant beneath layers of grief. Together,
the stalwart ladies of Oak Creek, Virginia will fashion
their impossible dreams into . . .
SummaryIn post-Civil War Virginia, there is little to wish for in
the lives of the Atwater women. Julia and Victoria were
barely brides before their husbands marched off with the
doomed Confederate army. Now alone, with scarcely enough
money to see them through until spring, they embark on an
impetuous mission to bring a sparkle of joy back into their
youngest sister's eyes. Seventeen-year-old Claire has
always wanted to be married. And though she has no intended
groom, her sisters decide to sew her a wedding gown. As the
dress takes shape, the gates of their meager plantation
home welcome the arrival of Sergeant Monroe Tacy. He has
come to fulfill a dying man's last request, but his
presence begins a series of remarkable events that will
transform the Atwater sisters forever.
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