Little Black Dress

June 6, 2011
A little black dress spills more than a little magic and mystery on three generations of wearers whose convoluted family dynamics and a Hatfields and McCoysâlike feud leads them all to the lives they were destined to live. Told in the alternating voices of 46-year-old Toni and 71-year-old Evie, this shopworn but well-told tale of a mother-daughter relationship is fraught with secrets, disappointment, and unspoken love. Adding to the friction is the disappearance of renegade aunt Anna, who first bought the mysterious little black dress from a gypsy, unleashing a wild chain of events after she ditches her fiancé and leaves Evie and their parents to follow the vision the devilish frock unfurls. Though Evie tries to shed the distressing dress, she falls under its trance as well, finding the love of her life and then the child of her dreams. Finally, Toni falls into the rabbit hole after trying the magic dress on for size and discovering her long-lost aunt, a cache of her mom's secrets, and just who and what she loves. McBride (The Cougar Club) plays this well-paced love story to those who can appreciate three "mature" but sexy heroines who know history and have rich ones of their own.