It’s been a long time coming but The Seamstress on Cider Lane, the second novel in my WWII romance trilogy, is finally here. (The first in the trilogy, The Hobby Shop on Barnaby Street, is FREE for a limited time!)

The Germans pause their bombing raids on London but life on the homefront is certainly far from ordinary. The Seamstress on Cider Lane is a lighthearted and hopeful romance, perfect for fans of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and The Last Bookshop in London.

Gifted seamstress Nora Archer opens a sewing shop just as clothing becomes rationed and scarce in Britain. London’s fashionable elites soon discover her remarkable talent for giving garments new life and her skills are soon in high demand.

Having lost his flat during the Blitz, Jack Parker is relieved to finally locate a new home. He finds himself living under the same roof as Nora, the spirited and enchanting woman he thought he’d lost, as well as Nora’s protective aunt.

Despite her aunt’s warnings, Nora can’t help falling for Jack. However, the sweet and bookish teacher is from a different world and Nora doesn’t know if she fits in or if Jack might be too good to be true. She can’t deny the intense attraction between herself and Jack—and neither of them wants to.

When a struggling friend’s desperate plea for help lures Nora into the dodgy clothing black market, she risks not only her business and reputation but also her blossoming relationship with Jack.

Will Jack and Nora’s wartime romance survive when Nora’s secrets are revealed?

The Seamstress on Cider Lane is available on Amazon/Kindle, Kobo, Nook, Apple Books, and Google Play.

——

Fashion history has been an obsession of mine since I was a teenager. Although I admit to not loving the styles of the 1940s, there is an aspect to fashion history that is unique to that period in history: clothing rationing.

Image courtesy of the Imperial War Museum

Citizens of the UK had been rationing food for over a year when in June 1941, clothing also became rationed. People had warning that food was going to be rationed so many people stocked up and emptied the local food shops. Not wanting to repeat that mistake, the British government introduced clothing rationing very suddenly, catching a lot of people off guard and unprepared for the change.

How did clothing rationing work?

Everyone was given a book of coupons. In the first year of clothing rationing, each person had 66 coupons to “spend” on clothes but this was later decreased as availability of fabrics and products became more scarce. This program made it slightly more fair in that a wealthy person could buy the same number of garments as a poorer person. (The coupon scheme didn’t account for wealthier people still being able to afford better quality and longer lasting garments than a poorer person though.)

Different clothing items used up different numbers of coupons depending on what the item was made of and how much fabric it used. (Example: an undershirt wouldn’t use nearly as many coupons as a winter coat.)

Just because a person had coupons to spend didn’t mean all items would be available. Some products like silk stockings became so rare that people began staining their legs brown with tea and drawing lines on the back of their legs to fake the look of silk stockings.

A new business

Just like when food rationing began the year before, crimes related to clothing rationing spiked almost immediately. Forged clothing ration coupons appeared within months and many entrepreneurs willing to break the rules popped out of the woodwork. Newspapers from around this time feature plenty of articles about trucks carrying clothing and shoes getting hijacked and their products sold on the black market.

Skilled seamstresses and tailors did very well at this time, expertly turning unused garments into different garments for clients. Nora, the heroine of The Seamstress on Cider Lane, is one such seamstress, specializing in women’s fashions and finding clients among London’s upper classes.

——

The third in the Homefront Hearts trilogy, The Land Girl on Lily Road, will be on March 4 and is available for pre-order now.