Girls in White Dresses by Jennifer Close
Publisher: Knopf (An imprint of Random House)
Release Date: August 09, 2025
Rating: 4/5
Source: The publisher, Knopf, provided this copy for review. Thank you!
Publishers Summary:

Wickedly hilarious and utterly recognizable, Girls in White Dresses tells the story of three women grappling with heartbreak and career change, family pressure and new love—all while suffering through an endless round of weddings and bridal showers.

Isabella, Mary, and Lauren feel like everyone they know is getting married. On Sunday after Sunday, at bridal shower after bridal shower, they coo over toasters, collect ribbons and wrapping paper, eat minuscule sandwiches and doll-sized cakes. They wear pastel dresses and drink champagne by the case, but amid the celebration these women have their own lives to contend with: Isabella is working at a mailing-list company, dizzy with the mixed signals of a boss who claims she’s on a diet but has Isabella file all morning if she forgets to bring her a chocolate muffin. Mary thinks she might cry with happiness when she finally meets a nice guy who loves his mother, only to realize he’ll never love Mary quite as much. And Lauren, a waitress at a Midtown bar, swears up and down she won’t fall for the sleazy bartender—a promise that his dirty blond curls and perfect vodka sodas make hard to keep.

With a wry sense of humor, Jennifer Close brings us through those thrilling, bewildering, what-on-earth-am-I-going-to-do-with-my-life years of early adulthood. These are the years when everyone else seems to have a plan, a great job, and an appropriate boyfriend, while Isabella has a blind date with a gay man, Mary has a crush on her boss, and Lauren has a goldfish named Willard. Through boozy family holidays and disastrous ski vacations, relationships lost to politics and relationships found in pet stores, Girls in White Dresses pulls us deep inside the circle of these friends, perfectly capturing the wild frustrations and soaring joys of modern life.

Growing up is definitely harder to do than was ever explained to the girls of Girls in White Dresses. For Lauren, Isabella and Mary especially, the life of a responsible adult becomes less and less appealing and more frightening as the years march on. Along the path to a life of two car garages, jobs, marriage and possibly even children the three are exposed to some often interesting situations and almost always entertaining companions. In a world where everything including perfection is expected of you Lauren, Isabella and Mary stumble & stagger through their own journeys only to discover they may have already landed in the realm of adulthood without knowing it.

These are three of the funniest characters I’ve read in a very long time. I’m certain that much of my enjoyment while reading the stories of these three women had everything to do with being able to laugh at myself. Being that I’ve already arrived at that stage that the three are most terrified of it was incredibly easy to connect with each of their stories and in turn laugh at myself in a way. I’ve endured the horrible dates, the ridiculous amounts of showers for everything from weddings to babies, and also struggled through the slog that is finding a career path. And though I was able to relate to each character what I loved about each was how they had their own unique quirks and story to follow along with.

When I initially started reading the story I had a slight problem following who the story was about, but within pages that vanished as each of the character’s personalities shined through. Jennifer Close wrote the story so that the narrative switches between at least the above mentioned three characters, but also a few others. Like I mentioned, at first it took some getting used to, but the part of the story that really cemented the characters for me was the bridal showers about mid-way through the book. Not only was it one of the funniest part of the book, but I loved how crazily real it was in many ways. Not to mention the humor, I absolutely adore this type of dry humor and Girls in White Dresses certainly fits the bill.

With three main characters struggling to walk blindly through the phase of life between their early twenties and “adulthood” you’re bound to find a few laughs. Girls in White Dresses in no way disappoints in this aspect. A cast of characters with witty dialogue and dynamic friendship, Girls in White Dresses was a story that I have no doubt many readers will relate to easily. Lauren, Isabella and Mary each had their own unique situation & personality that made them stand out and often had me laughing so hard I could barely breathe. This is the perfect read for twenty & thirty somethings looking a book they’ll relate to and be able to laugh at as well. I certainly fell in love with the journey of these hilarious women and I can’t wait to read more novels by Jennifer Close!

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