Lessons in Chemistry meets The Scarlet Letter in this homage that reimagines Hester raising her daughter in 1950s small-town Iowa, defying the gossips who shun her and evading her estranged husband as her bespoke designs become the darlings of wealthy fashionistas in not-far-off Des Moines.

Hester Prudhomme steps off a Trailways bus in Winterset, Iowa, on a summer day in 1956, a wedding band on her finger, but no husband in sight. She lands a job at the town’s best dress shop, and at church on Sunday, her beauty captivates Arthur Hightower, First Methodist’s unmarried junior pastor, leading to a passionate encounter with Arthur in City Park that results in Hester’s pregnancy.

Months later, Hester’s husband Roger arrives in Winterset and searches for his wife in vain, until the day he sees Hester walking down the street, her infant daughter Pearl in her arms. Enraged, Roger vows to find the man who has wronged him.

A reimagining of an American classic that centers Hester's remarkable dressmaking skills and her determination to provide a good life for Pearl, The Dressmaker of Winterset is a cozy book club novel that celebrates the strength of women.