Hello everyone and welcome to the last stop on the “Dumplin'” tour. Please feel free to hop on the other stops and enjoy the review.
You don’t need to be a hard-core fan of Dolly Parton to get this, however I am willing to bet that even if you’re not there’s at least one song you can name from this lady’s vast repertoire.
You see, I like to think that we all have a little Dolly in us, and sometimes we need to let her come out so that we dare to do those things in life that we thought we never would, and this is what Willowdean’s story (Will for short) is about.
Willowdean is a self-proclaimed happy big girl who exudes confidence, she does not apologise for who she is and why should she have to anyway? She just wants to be free to be her real self and if big and happy is who she is then this is who she should be. But then, Bo the young man she works with who she’s got the biggest crush on enters the scene and he actually likes her…a lot! Anyone liking Willowdean is a major game changer, as her insecurities shoot up and her confidence plummets. So what better remedy than entering the pageant her own mother and former beauty queen presides over? Is Willowdean taking on more than she can handle?
I thoroughly enjoyed watching Willowdean (sorry I have not warmed to her given nickname of Dumplin’), going through this personal journey of standing for herself unknowingly being an inspiration to other less confident young ladies and although unsure, she carries on the road ahead.
I absolutely loved the contrast between Willowdean and her mother, one is free while the other imprisons herself every year without fail into a body she is struggling to keep to fit in that same one dress over and over, sadly holding on to a past she can no longer have.
The main highlight for me however as to be the pageant itself, a testimony to all women of all shapes and size with only one message, which is that they all have the right to be.
A real feel good novel that everyone can relate to that I am happy to recommend.
LaChouett
Thanking Team @harper360uk for providing me an early copy of this title.
And now for the GIVEAWAY (now CLOSED)