Mommy Dressing: A Love Story, After a Fashion

The unanimously acclaimed portrait of a bittersweet girlhood, capturing the glamour and cruelty of New York's fashion world in the middle of the century. Exquisitely written and painfully observant, Mommy Dressing tells the story of self-made fashion star Jo Copeland, and the daughter who struggled to please her. Lois Gould paints a mesmerizing picture of the kingdom of movie stars, fashion shows, and steamer trunks her mother ruled, from the viewpoint of an isolated girl acutely conscious that she would never enter that glittering domain. Featuring full-page period illustrations, including original sketches and designs by Jo Copeland, Mommy Dressing is "a sidelong tribute from one survivor to another, written in a brisk, fluid style... [Gould's] memories--half stardust, half ashes--underscore the fact that glamour is not a child-friendly business" (Daphne Merkin, The New Yorker ).