Rating: 
Summary: A Victorian Marvel
Review: A truly interesting and transfixing read. For those or you out there who are devotees of the Victorian era, I highly recommend this novel. The story starts out on a very strange and disturbing note and I was tempted to put it down and chalk it up to just another tale of the macabre by an author wrongly and misleadingly touting her story as a period piece on social mores, attitudes, and behavior that did not bear credence. However, after reading the first 50 pages, I discovered to the contrary that I was wrong in that assumption because I became throughly engrossed in Gustine's story and was convinced that the author was not merely writing a gothic shocker but was very much in command of the period in which she was writing about. The practice of Medicine in this period is thoroughly engrossing and mesmerizing and its impact on the people who were a part of its evolution into its present state, provides reminders of the contributions and sacrifices the lower social classes of this period unknowingly gave to allow for the advancement of modern Medicine.Ms. Holmans depiction of life in the early 19th century is full of historical content and is extremly well written without being romanticized. Ms. Holman has developed a very strong female character who is in charge of her life in the face of very adverse economic and social conditions true to historical form. Gustine is not a tragic figure in the mode of Victor Hugo's "Fantine" but one comparable to higher elevations of heroines in literature such as those drawn by Jane Austin and Boris Pasternak. This is a character who comes to grips with her past, present, and future and uses the worst of her condition to perserve. The level to which Gustine rises above her social rank is a testimony to life and love in the face of extreme adversity.
Rating: 
Summary: "I Like Mike"
Review: Mike the Ferret was one of the few likable characters in this book. While many of the others were interesting, such as the Eye, Mag Scurr, Fos, Whilky Robinson, I was attracted to them as curiosities, as oddities, but believe me, I would never want to spend any time alone with them. The novel begins with a strong narrative line and I found some of the early scenes to be quite compelling. I especially liked the scene where the resourceful Gustine carries away the corpse dubbed "Dick Liss" just minutes before the poor soul's real wife arrives, and the dramatic tension created by the hectoring Robert Cooley in the operating theater while Drs. Clanny and Chivers struggle to save Jack Crawford in the throes of a cholera attack. But in the end, I was disappointed. Perhaps it was due to the development of the Dr. Henry Chivers character. Rather than evolving into the medical hero we are set up to expect from the early pages of the book, he spirals downward into a compulsive graverobber. The Frankenstein-like scene with the townspeople storming Dr. Chiver's house as he prepares to dissect Gustine's unnamed infant boy is macabre and by this point I think the novel is out of control. I was also turned off by gratuitous sex scene when he finally has his way with Gustine in the anatomy lab ("he drives into her sump" ???) -- totally unbelievable with her clothes caked in mud, hair wet with snow, and the baby nearby. And Gustine...our unrelenting heroine, this cross between the Eveready Rabbit and Scarlett O'Hara, is there any obstacle this plucky teenage girl cannot overcome? And what's with the Spoon River narrative convention? The revelation near the end of the novel felt tacked on and too obvious; I could do with out it. Sheri Holman clearly has a gift for creating a vibrant world peopled with strange and unique characters. Though the plot was a bit too episodic for my taste, Ms. Holman is a marvelous story-teller with an inventive imagination.
Rating:
Summary: A Fascinating But Confusing Story.
Review: This book has a great premise and interesting,well-drawn main charactors although the secondary ones were a bit too sketchy. Also is the so-called "Student Of Life" charactor supposed to be Charles Dickens? (Since the author is so obviously influenced by the author,just wondering..) The main problem with this book is that it's over-written. This is an extremely interesting plot to begin with,but the author is obviously so in love with the English language that it bogs the story down. Also the spotty British spellings were distracting,but that could be the fault of the editor. It is very different,and a good historical account of 19th century industrial England.So if you are'nt too squeamish I do recommmend it. P.S. I have no critcism of the book's cover art,it's great and perfectly captures the mood of the story.
Rating: 
Summary: Best Historical Novel of 1999
Review: "The Dress Lodger" is an astonishingly accurate portrait of 19th century working-class England. Were Dickens alive today, he would be proud to have written it. In the Autumn 2000 issue of "The Hudson Review," my fiction chronicle covers the best (and a few of the worst) novels of 1999. Holman's rates as the best, in my opinion. Now reading her comments here on Amazon (I never read anyone else's review before I write my own, so I had not seen these), I see that she did indeed know of Henry Mayhew's contemporary study of the London poor when she wrote her novel--I thought I recognized a character in the book who was young & foolish Mayhew himself. Holman, at any rate, has done a brilliant job of bringing the ills of the century to light in the medium most likely to inform the masses: a rippingly good novel. Anyway, I recommend the book here on Amazon because few general readers may see the critical raves in The Hudson Review and this is a book you should not miss. I'm amazed that more people have not already signed on to review it. More power to Holman!
Rating:
Summary: What a way to make a living!
Review: I am always looking for books that will take me away to places I can't imagine; to meet people living lives as different from the familiar as possible. I want to go "into" a book -- leave my place and go to their place. The Dress Lodger will take you to a time and place full of people whose lives are amazingly strange. The difficulties of daily life, the conditions under which lives were spent are drawn by the author with a fine hand. The characters become real and you care deeply about them. I highly recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: A tragi-comedy
Review: It's referred to as "Dickensian" but, viewed from our perspective at the dawn of the 21st century, the conditions of the day are even more chilling. By the end, however, there is light at the end of the tunnel--like a Stephen King novel gone horribly right!
Rating:
Summary: Engrossing
Review: Frequently when I read a historical novel, I feel like I am not getting a true sense of the period. This was definitely not the case in The Dress Lodger. Although I did not identify closely with any of the characters, I was engrossed by the book and enjoyed reading it.
Rating:
Summary: Morbid and engrossing
Review: Once I started this book I was unable to put it down...what held my attention was a sense of enjoyment in the author's descriptive prose and skill in creating the atmosphere of 19th century England -- these were both very good. However, the darkness of the novel, though essential considering the themes involved, become more and more oppressive as the book goes on. Overall, a very good read, but expect to finish in a gloomy mood.
Rating:
Summary: Powerful, but not for the faint of heart
Review: This is an unflinching view of a poverty-beset and cholera-plagued time in industrial England. As graphic as it is, it definitely is not for the faint of heart. But for those who are willing to explore--even painfully deep--this book presents a courser time in "Western History" unflichingly graphic. I find the use of person in the narrtive interesting -- who are we, you, I? Others reviewing this work dislike the mix as morose, distasteful, etc; I see it as a seasoned view of poor industrial revolutionary life.
Rating:
Summary: Great Historical Fiction -- Dickensian in scope and style
Review: Usually I don't like historical fiction, but this was a fascinating read. It was a real page turner, and although graphic and distasteful at times, it reveals much about a time and place largely foreign to us. It reminds me much of the best of Dickens in that it introduces a character only to reveal later the relationships that that character shares with the others. The plot twists are intriguing and keep the reader interested. I think the narrative manner was also fascinating in that it mirrored Dickens almost perfectly except that when revealed at the end why the author chose that manner of telling the story, it became even more meaningful. But like all good fiction this was not mired down in only the past, but gave us insight into our own times. The themes of mysterious and largely unrecognized disease and the the war between rich and poor reverberate still today. All in all a fascinating book, well worth the time.
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