The Woman in the Movie Star Dress

The Woman in the Movie Star Dress by Praveen Asthana
                                   (NetGalley Review copy)

Can clothing from other people, if worn by you, transfer the personality and essence of the owner onto you?  Genevieve discovered yes. She works in a vintage clothing store where the articles of clothing belonged to, were worn by or were replicas of clothes worn by movie stars in various movie roles. The shop is well known, a destination shop, and one day a woman comes in and purchases a red dress that was a replica of one worn by Marilyn Monroe. Almost immediately after, a mysterious man comes in asking for the same dress.  Thus begins the mystery part of this story. The chase to find that dress and prevent the new owner from assuming the personality of the original owner.

 Genevieve is shy, withdrawn and not one to put herself out there. She is responsible for her alcoholic father and teen aged brother.  The family carries the sorrow of her mother’s death and deals with it in each their own way. One day while trying on a dress from the shop she discovers the Chi of an article of clothing and her personality ‘becomes’ that of the original wearer of the dress. She also discovers the secret behind the red dress and tries to find the owner and warn her of the dress’ power. 

This is a bit more mystery than paranormal but I found the transformation of Genevieve from shy to showy and brassy and daring to be a bit unsettling at first but then I realized that she is in her 20’s, makes decisions as a 20-something and is both scared by her discoveries, intrigued by them and figures out a way to use them. In the end Genevieve makes a decision that of course, changes her life.

If you like old movies and old Hollywood, this is a fun ride.