Lucas Blogs About the Prince and the Dressmaker

I suppose I could make a joke about how manly this picture isn't, but that seems out of keeping with the spirit of a book about being true to yourself, traditional gender roles be damned. Hmm, is pointing that out a way of trying to have my cake and eat it? ‾\_(ツ)_/‾

So, what's this book's dea—oh, wasn't this in your Unhelpfully Specific Holiday Gift Guide?

Yep! I gave it to my first cousin once removed. She's a precocious eight-year-old.

You mentioned that. What did she think?

Well, her mom said it was a hit, so I guess she liked it. [UPDATE: I just received a thank you note in which she claims to have read the book ~2,000 times. There isn't a date on the note, but even conservatively, that's more than 100 readings per day, I think we can safely say that this one was a hit. - 1/9/2020]

So . . . what's it about?

Well, Jen Wang's The Prince and Dressmaker is a graphic novel (but let's be real, it's a comic book) set in Paris some time around 1900 or so. It turns out that the royal family of Belgium is in town and hosting a ball in the hopes of finding a bride for the crown prince, Sebastian.

Wait, not that Belgian royal family, right?

Um . . . no. It appears to have nothing to do with the real world Belgian monarchy nor the atrocities committed by Leopold II. Sebastian's father is the fictional King Leroy. I suppose Wang chose Belgium because it was a small country with a monarchy near France. That said, I would say that maybe it was a mistake, but it's certainly not one that I would condemn the book for. Where was I?

A royal ball.

Right. So, the other titular character, Frances, is working as a seamstress in a tailor shop where a young lady has been brought in with a last minute emergency order. However, Lady Sophia is not so keen on catching the prince's eye and requests that Frances make her look like "the devil's wench." The resulting dress, which seems to quite satisfy Lady Sophia, leads to Frances losing her job. However, it did catch the attention of a certain anonymous aristocrat who would like to offer Frances a job as a personal dressmaker.

Is it Prince Sebastian?

Yes. Obviously it is the other title character. Anyway, Sebastian is a bit of a gawky teen who feels stifled by the expectations placed on him by being a member of the royal family. However, he finds that sometimes he feels more confident or maybe more himself when he wears dresses. It's not that he feels like he's living in the wrong gender, just that the binary conception of gender doesn't give him room to express who he really is.

But he goes by he.

When he's in the guise of Prince Sebastian, yes. However, in the guise of Lady Crystalia, taking in the Paris nightlife with Frances, Sebastian uses she/her. So, yeah, it's about being young and discovering yourself (whatever your self may be) set against a backdrop of Paris. Things get complicated when Frances's designs begin attracting attention. After all, Sebastian's parents know that Frances is his seamstress, and if it gets around that Frances is also Lady Crystalia's seamstress then eventually he'll be found out. Which, you know, wouldn't be something that people at the time would largely be understanding of.

Fair enough, is it any good?

Yes. Jen Wang is a talented artist and in places she allows the story to progress without any dialogue for several pages. Her character designs are slightly cartoon-y, but never in a way that's distracting. While she is capable of drawing nicely detailed backgrounds, she often will let them drop away so that the focus remains firmly on the characters of the story. Speaking of, Sebastian/Crystalia and Frances make for fun leads even if some parts of their story won't necessarily be relatable to younger readers.

Indeed, who can't relate to the problems of a prince?

Yeah, it's got a little of that. However, Wang focuses primarily on the pressure he feels to be a good son and live up to his family's expectations. Frances, as a friend and confidante, is someone who accepts him (almost immediately) without expectation and supports him. With that said, I like the way that Wang makes that trust that they share into a source of conflict by making the double life storyline an obstacle to Frances's fulfillment. After all, otherwise their friendship seems to make perfect sense, after all, he plucks her from relative obscurity and frees her up to design whatever she likes. However, while he might think of her as a friend, she is fundamentally an employee working under a non-disclosure agreement.

Huh, when you put it that way, that isn't actually such a great arrangement.

It is not. But the book acknowledges that and makes it into the core conflict.

Do you think an eight-year-old would get that?

Probably. I mean, I think it's more the contextual things that I'm  not sure she'll recognize, like when a certain character runs away to a monastery or when someone is drinking. Aside from that I'd say that the book, though aimed maybe at the middle school and up crowd is fine for any age. The whole thing has a very innocent and fairy-tale like atmosphere without just papering over the issues that it's trying to teach kids about. Heck, at one point someone even opines that the idea of monarchy has become obsolete.

All right, but do you have any nitpicks?

Oh, definitely. Overall, Wang acquits herself well as a writer, but sometimes the dialogue can sound too contemporary (expressions like "weirded out" come to mind). It's definitely an artistic choice, but it doesn't always work. Also, as we mentioned earlier, the actual King of the Belgians at the time the book is set was a festering shitbag.

No plans to make this review kid-appropriate.

No. Anyway, it's pretty good, not the kinda thing I'd normally go in for. That said, I hope my first cousin once removed enjoys it.

Why are you being so specific about your level of kinship.

It all goes back to my Great Great Grandaunt Aldora.

You know what, I don't need to know.

The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang, First Second trade paperback edition, 277 pages, pairs well with three cases of marmalade and a friend who understands you

Links:

Here's the author's profile on her publisher's page, if you're into that kinda thing.

Here's her Twitter, you know, if you're into that kinda thing.