The Secret Lives of Dresses

這裡的衣服，都有獨一無二的秘密人生，
只要你買下它，這故事將為你一人訴說……

　　每一件衣服，都會說故事，它們靜靜地觀察、傾聽，珍藏穿著它們的人的七情六欲……

　　朵拉的大三學期剛結束，一帆風順的她考慮提早畢業，反正課差不多都修完了、反正她的課業表現夠好、反正她也不知道自己想做什麼。她老是循著最沒有阻礙的道路前進，穿著看起來最不容易髒的衣服。她一頭栽進校園咖啡店的工作，喜歡上愛到處亂放電的老板葛瑞……

　　「不知道」是她的生命寫照，是她最常掛在嘴上的話，是她難以跨出的國境。

　　直到撫養她長大的奶奶咪咪突然中風，打亂了朵拉的生活步調。她趕回北卡羅萊納州的福賽斯老家，幫忙經營奶奶鍾愛的古董衣服飾店。

　　朵拉賣出第一件洋裝時，發現咪咪為店裡的衣服寫下了「秘密人生」。咪咪的古董衣故事、俊俏體貼的承包商康恩，以及自己對未來的不確定感，讓朵拉開始認真思索……

　　她可以把身上了無趣味的衣服換成精緻亮麗的古董衣，但她是否能把枯燥無味的人生，換成自己真正想要的生活？

　　Dora has always taken the path of least resistance. She went to the college that offered her a scholarship, is majoring in "vagueness studies," and wears whatever shows the least dirt. She falls into a job at the college coffee shop, and a crush on her flirty boss, Gary.

　　Just when she's about to test Gary's feelings, Mimi, the grandmother who raised her, suffers a stroke. Dora rushes back home to Forsyth, NC, and finds herself running her grandmother's vintage clothing store. The store has always been a fixture in Dora's life; though she grew up more of a jeans-and-sweatshirt kind of girl, before she even knew how to write, Mimi taught her that a vintage 1920s dress could lift a woman's spirit.

　　While working there, Dora befriends Mimi's adorable contractor, Conrad. Is he after Dora, or is working from a different blueprint? And why did Mimi start writing down--and giving away--stories of the dresses in her shop?

　　When Mimi dies, Dora can't get out of town fast enough and cedes control of the store to her money-hungry aunt who wants to turn it into a t-shirt shop for tourists. But ultimately, she returns to Forsyth, willing to battle whatever may stand in the way of her staying there. Dora can trade her boring clothes for vintage glamour, but can she trade her boring life for one she actually wants?

　　★本書中譯版《衣服故事專賣店》由皇冠出版。

作者簡介

愛琳．麥肯Erin McKean

　　是線上字典Wordnik.com的創辦人與執行長。她曾任牛津大學出版社美語辭典的主編，以及《新牛津美語辭典》再版的編輯。其他作品包括《怪奇文字》、《更多怪奇文字》、《徹底怪奇文字》、與《就是愛》（也是一本文字輯集）。

　　她是維基媒體基金會與Credo Reference電子參考書的顧問成員，也長期替《波士頓環球報》撰寫「詞彙」專欄。「一日一衣」是她用心經營的部落格，整理記錄了古董衣的特色樣式，還有衣服私語，進而啟發了這本小說處女作。《衣服故事專賣店》是她第一本不是按照英文字母排序而寫的書。

　　愛琳現居加州南舊金山，閒暇時光都耗在閱讀、縫紉、寫部落格，與溜滑輪。她喜歡鮮艷的印染、安靜的人們，還有美好結局的長篇故事。

　　作者部落格：www.dressaday.com

　　Erin McKean is the blogger behind A Dress A Day, the inspiration for this novel. Her writing has been featured in many media outlets from The NY Times Magazine to Foreign Affairs. She currently works as the editor of VERBATIM, and was previously at OUP.