Meredith Jaffé and Suzanne Leal

"Derek’s daughter Debbie is getting married. He’s desperate to be there, but he’s banged up in Yarrandarrah Correctional Centre for embezzling funds from the golf club, and, thanks to his ex-wife, Lorraine, he hasn’t spoken to Debbie in years.

He wants to make a grand gesture – to show her how much he loves her. But what?

Inspiration strikes while he’s embroidering a cushion at his weekly prison sewing circle – he’ll make her a wedding dress. His fellow stitchers rally around and soon this motley gang of crims is immersed in a joyous whirl of silks, satins and covered buttons."

A funny, dark and moving novel about finding humanity, friendship and redemption in unexpected places.

About the Author

About the author: Meredith Jaffé is the author of three novels for adults: The Dressmakers of Yarrandarrah Prison (May 2021), The Making of Christina (2017) and The Fence (2016). Horse Warrior, the first in a children’s series, was published in 2019. She also contributed a short story, ‘Emergency Undies’, to the 2019 anthology Funny Bones. She is the Festival Director of StoryFest, held on the NSW South Coast, and regularly facilitates at other writers’ festivals and author events. Previously, she wrote the weekly literary column for the online women’s magazine The Hoopla. Her feature articles, reviews, and opinion pieces have also appeared in The Guardian, The Huffington Post, and Mamamia.

About the Mediator

Suzanne Leal is the author of novels The Teacher’s Secret, Border Street and, most recently, The Deceptions which was shortlisted for the Mark and Evette Moran Nib Literary Award and won the Nib People’s Choice Prize. A regular presenter at literary events and board member of BAD Sydney Crime Writers Festival, she was the chair of the fiction and poetry panel for the 2020 Prime Minister’s Literary Awards and is the former senior judge for the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards. Suzanne is the host of Thursday Book Club, a relaxed, friendly book club connecting readers online.