Rosalie Ham continues to explore the lives of the Dunnage women in her latest novel, a prequel to her bestselling debut novel The Dressmaker (2000) and its sequel The Dressmaker’s Secret (2020). But don’t worry if you haven’t read these books or watched the film adaptation of The Dressmaker (2015), Molly is a charming and bittersweet story in its own right about finding love, facing death and loss, seeking freedom, fighting for equality – and the art of corsetry!
Set in Melbourne’s inner city, with real-life street names and landmarks providing a vivid and nostalgic backdrop for local readers, this is the story of 24-year-old Molly Dunnage, a spirited and independent young woman who dreams of travelling to Paris, revolutionising women’s underwear and getting her family out of poverty.
However, it’s 1914, the world is on the brink of another war and opportunities for even the most educated and wealthy women are still limited, let alone a young woman who lives is a dingy shack and works in a local factory.
Molly lives with her father August, a ceramicist and painter who is quite unwell, and her aunt April, a suffragette who dabbles in the sciences and is often called a witch. Next door is her childhood best friend, Gladys, whose only dream is to be married – taking great pride in her appearance to attract a potential husband.
While quite attractive herself, Molly has no interest in men or marriage, instead preferring to spend her spare time sketching and sewing or accompanying her aunt to protests that call for equal pay for women, protection against violence and more ladies’ bathroom facilities in the CBD.
Molly’s visionary corset designs, described as ‘wearable architecture’, allow the wearer a greater range of movement and freedom, while still providing support and shape. Unlike the restrictive old-fashioned versions, her corsets and ‘bust stays’ let women breathe, ride a bike and run! As word gets out about her innovations and talents, Molly picks up some high-profile customers and feels that she’s on the cusp of being catapulted towards fame and fortune.
Life does not run smoothly for our heroine, however, and the world is quickly changing – war has been declared and not everyone is being truthful about their intentions. Molly finds herself escaping to the town of Dungatar, which is where The Dressmaker was set.
A couple of sayings come to mind when reading this novel: ‘Life isn’t fair’ and ‘It’s better to have loved and lost, than to have never experienced love at all.’ Perhaps it’s fate or a Dunnage family curse, but Molly, her father and her aunt have all found and lost great loves and struggle to fit into expectations of the traditional patriarchal society in which they live.
Despite the characters being repeatedly beaten down, Ham’s writing is full of rich imagery and humour, supported by a cast of vibrant and unique characters – even the unlikeable ones – that makes this book hard to put down.
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It can be disheartening to consider the fight for women’s rights from more than a century ago may have progressed so little today, but it’s not all hopeless. Ham balances moments of joy with the challenges of the day, and Molly teaches us never to give up in the face of setbacks, becoming more resilient and taking the future into her own hands.
Molly, Rosalie Ham
Publisher: Pan MacMillan
Format: Paperback
Pages: 387pp
Publication: 29 October 2024
RRP: $34.99
