A review by aprilbosworth
By Her Own Design by Piper Huguley

3.0

While I really enjoyed this based on real life story of a black dressmaker 2 generations removed from slavery, it fell prey to two common problems of the genre: 1-over emphasis of the fiction part of the novel (in this case, her childhood especially the rotten sexual relationship of the child marriage) 2-lack of steam at the end. That said I found the first person telling to be engaging. The character herself is interesting and complex. And the view of the changes in the world and in attitudes and experiences as she lived before, during, and after the civil rights era (without that major history really being a big part of her story) were skillfully portrayed.