Customer Reviews

Painted Dresses: A Novel

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
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Painted Dresses by Patricia Hickman is a story of one woman's search for her place in her family her marriage, and her world. Gaylen arrives home to organize her father's funeral and take care of his effects, but ends up on the lam with sister Delia and delivering a series of painted dresses made by Aunt Amity. Delia is troubled; it's never clear if she suffers from some kind of mental condition or is just off. She shoots her boyfriend's wife after a confrontation and is not at all remorseful. Gaylen grabs Delia and runs. She's running herself from a broken marriage and the damage she did to her husband's aircraft business by crashing a plane. When visiting deceased Aunt Amity's cottage, they discover that she had made paintings of several different dresses, and each is marked with the intended recipient's name. With no better plan in mind, the two sisters deliver the paintings, picking up bits and pieces of family history on the way. Gaylen is incredibly difficult to understand. Her actions are always reactions, and she has trouble trying not to control Delia. The hidden truths she discovers about her parents and her own history are devastating. The opening chapters are cloudy and distant; it feels almost like the characters are in a dream. When the truth about the past is revealed, the story suddenly becomes much clearer and moves quickly. It's a powerful story, but honestly but Gaylen and Delia were difficult to relate to. It was hard to care about Gaylen's marriage when both she and her husband acted like immature brats. It's a good book with some rough spots.

Heart wrenching and suspenseful at the same time. This semi autobiography is a eye opener and warning to all that may suspect or have suspicions about their childhood.

This book touched me in a very personal way. It is the story of a young woman dealing with the breakup of her marriage, the death of parents, and a whacky, needy sister. On a journey with her sister, she uncovers some dark secrets from her past and also finds healing. I loved the way this book was written. You can tell it was personal for the author and cost her to tell it.

Remember the old woman who secretly gives a penny offering and the Master tells his followers her reward is greater than all the rest? This is the lesson that comes to mind after reading Patricia Hickman's novel, Painted Dresses. Out of the harshness of life, Patricia offers us a penny, all she has, and it is precious. Painted Dresses reminded me of Barbara Kingslover's earlier novels like Bean Trees, and later, Prodigal Summer. I read Painted Dresses last summer with a friend and we discussed it on one of our walks. We both liked it, though it deals with difficult themes--family wanting to take care of each other, not knowing how, but wanting to. It is the story of two damaged sisters, Gaylan and Delia, and how one learns to cope while the other does not. It's about setting judgment aside in search of truth and compassion. Painted Dresses is about the clothes we wear underneath it all that stain our souls. This is a great read.

Bren Smith

I recognize Gaylen and Delia. Unfortunately, that means there are families so touched by deep, dark secrets that members of those families become unable to function in a normal relationship. We all have those broken spots in our lives...can we swing in a circle and not bump into someone who is scarred?

Delia is flighty, rebellious and out of control. She peppers her surroundings with emotional buckshot. Gaylen spins like a toy top, bouncing and whirling elsewhere (anywhere) attempting to do what she knows is right. Her crippled past guarantees that those right things will fail.

This novel is a very gritty read. Not your traditional inspiring Christian fiction. If there are categories of Christian fiction...one being sharing the hope and light of Christ and His power, the other showing how desperately hope, light and power are needed, Painted Dresses falls in the second category. You won't feel warm and fuzzy after reading it. You may find hope, it's not a hopeless read, but it is a very long look into lives of people who spend weeks and months grasping, gasping and trying to protect their view of themselves, regardless of the cost.

I applaud Patricia Hickman's desire to open a closet door, and if you love fiction that goes to the dark place in a human's soul, you definitely need to read the first chapter. Those who've been there may find healing by opening up and peeking in.

I wasn't sure what to expect but I fell in love with the characters, could relate to what they were going through and I highly recommend this book.

It's probably my own fault that I'm disappointed in Painted Dresses.

The acknowledgements mention an editor I highly respect and another author I enjoy. The press material said, "In the rich tradition of powerful Southern writing..." and I was hooked. Anticipation at reading something akin to Anne Rivers Siddons or Margaret Maron tickled my page-turning fingers.

Chapter One lived up to my hopes. I was ready to love Gaylen Boatwright and her quirky sister Delia as much as I loved Siddons's Shep Bondurant and his cousin Lucy Venable. But once the scene was decorated and the characters set on their journey, Hickman lost her way-and me.

First person stories are tricky and Hickman doesn't pull it off. She falls into the easy traps of too much telling, and not enough detail to pull the reader in. By the end of the novel, the characters are conversing with no subtexting, description, or nuances to help the reader fill in the emotion.

The characters themselves aren't sure who they are. Gaylen and her husband Braden are estranged-but I didn't care if they mended the relationship. Gaylen shared a flashback to Braden's rudeness when she was a newlywed learning to cook, and I disliked Braden and understood Gaylen's ambivalence. Later though, I learned Gaylen brought much of their problems on herself. Of course life is like that, with no one clearly to blame. But I never felt sure who was supposed to be growing up and changing and getting their life together, Gaylen or Braden.

Delia ranged from quirky and charming to delusional and violent, a threat to herself and others.

The sisters began a quest to learn why their half-brother was evicted from the family when they were children. Along the way, they deliver artwork by an aunt whose creations started as dresses belonging to family and friends. I loved visualizing the art. The painted over fabric is a lovely metaphor for the secrets Gaylen and Delia tried to uncover.

Painted Dresses is a near miss. But as I said, it's probably my own fault for expecting too much.

Armchair Interviews says: Heed this reviewer's comments.

Twenty something Gaylen Syler-Boatwright had dreams of forever when she married; now her marriage is dead and her fantasy nuked as she and Braden broke up. With her father dying, she comes home to Boiling Springs, North Carolina to say good-bye and to bury him. Afterward needing to escape, Gaylen accompanied by her flakey younger sister Delia leaves town to hide away at her late Aunt Amity's mountain cottage.

Gaylen figures in this isolated locale she will be left alone to reassess her goals. However, her aunt's cabin is freaky as on display is a gallery of framed painted dresses accompanied by a fascinating travelogue. The two sisters agree to hit the road to meet family members they never knew existed and learn more about the original owners of the painted dresses.

This engaging intelligent character study makes a strong case that hiding family shame makes the incident even darker and more shameful even if it is never exposed; those concealing the truth know it in their hearts. Although some might challenge the truth will free you concept, Patricia Hickman makes a compelling argument. Filled with angst, the Syler sisters seek solace as they search the new south for their heritage.

Harriet Klausner